Intelligent and predictive maintenance in manufacturing systems

In recent years manufacturing companies have been facing a major shift in the manufacturing requirements, for example the shift in demand for highly customized products resulting in a shorter product life cycle, rather than the traditional mass production of standardized products. As a consequence of the change, the enterprises are facing the need to adapt, forcing all sectors of the manufacturing activity to move accordingly. Maintenance is one of the major activities in manufacturing as it highly influences production productivity and quality, and has a direct impact on production cost and customer satisfaction. Nowadays, corrective and scheduled maintenance are widely implemented. However, the manufacturing world need to adapt to this new reality by implementing new, intelligent and innovative maintenance systems capable of predicting in advance possible failures. Lately, predictive maintenance systems and tools have been developed and continue to be studied and improved. However, companies do not have enough trust on these systems to fully rely on them. Considering all these aspects, the work developed on this thesis introduces a system architecture for an intelligent predictive maintenance system based on the Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) to be used in the Catraport case study, focusing particularly on the development of the monitoring module of the system architecture. This module comprises a tool developed by using Node-RED that displays the collected data alongside with the warnings triggered by cross-checking the incoming data with implemented decision rules, through the use of graphics and text. Additionally, an Android mobile application was also developed to allow consulting remotely the operating state of the assets.Nos últimos anos, as empresas de manufatura têm enfrentado uma grande mudança nos requisitos de fabrico, nomeadamente, na procura por produtos altamente personalizados, resultando num ciclo de vida do produto mais curto, contrariamente à tradicional produção em massa de produtos padronizados. Como consequência desta mudança, as empresas, bem como todos os setores da atividade de manufatura, enfrentam a necessidade de se adaptar. A manutenção é uma das principais atividades de fabrico, visto que influência fortemente a produtividade e a qualidade da produção, e tem um impacto direto no custo do produto e na satisfação do cliente. Atualmente, as estratégias de manutenção corretiva e programada são amplamente implementadas. No entanto, o mundo da manufatura precisa de se adaptar à nova realidade, implementando sistemas de manutenção novos, inteligentes e inovadores, capazes de prever possíveis falhas. Ultimamente, os sistemas e ferramentas de manutenção preditiva têm sido desenvolvidos e continuam a ser estudados e melhorados. No entanto, as empresas não possuem confiança suficiente nesses sistemas para os implementar nas suas instalações. Considerando todos esses aspetos, o trabalho desenvolvido nesta dissertação introduz uma arquitetura para um sistema inteligente de manutenção preditiva baseado na técnica Condition- Based Maintenance (CBM) a ser usado no estudo de caso da Catraport, focando-se particularmente no desenvolvimento do módulo de monitorização da arquitetura. Este módulo compreende uma ferramenta desenvolvida com recurso ao Node-RED que exibe os dados colecionados. Adicionalmente são apresentados avisos originados pelo cruzamento dos dados recebidos com as regras de decisão implementadas. Além disso, uma aplicação móvel Android também foi desenvolvida para permitir a consulta remota o estado operacional dos equipamentos

Modelação matemática da camada de plasma em microcanais

Neste estudo apresenta-se uma proposta de modelação matemática da camada de plasma observada em escoamentos sanguíneos. Numa fase inicial, a resolução do problema fez uso da otimização não linear para encontrar o modelo matemático que minimiza o erro quadrático não linear entre o modelo e os dados numéricos que caracterizam a camada de plasma. Para tal, foram testados os algoritmos Simulated Annealing, Pattern Search, Algoritmo Genético e Quasi-Newton. Neste estudo conclui-se que o método de otimização que obteve melhores resultados foi o Algoritmo Genético. Também foi possível concluir que o melhor modelo para aproximar os dados numéricos que caracterizam a camada de plasma presente em escoamentos sanguíneos é baseado na soma de funções trigonométricas.Os autores agradecem à FCT, COMPETE, QREN e União Europeia (FEDER) no âmbito dos projetos PTDC/SAU-ENB/116929/2010 e EXPL/EMS-SIS/2215/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Petri nets approach for designing the migration process towards industrial cyber-physical production systems

Presently, many industries are facing strong challenges related to the demand of customized and high-quality products. These pressures lead to internal company's conflicts where current production systems have a rigid structure, forcing the company into a organization stall when a fast product change is required. Therefore, the need to smoothly migrate traditional systems into more feature-rich and cost-effective systems, namely Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), became a highly discussed topic. PERFoRM project focuses the conceptual transformation of existing production systems towards plug\&produce ones to achieve flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing environments. In particular, the smooth migration process is considered crucial to effectively transpose existing production systems into truly CPPS. This paper describes the use of Petri nets to design the migration process under the PERFoRM perspective, taking advantage of its inherent capabilities to design, analyze, simulate and validate such complex processes.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 680435.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PERFoRM migration strategy towards cyber-physical systems

In the last years, many organizations intend to convert their existing production systems towards ones that are characterized by adaptability, openness, flexibility and modularity. This requires a redesign of existing information processing systems especially related to control, leading possibly to the implementation of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). However, the implementation of new control technologies will have a direct impact on the normal operational status of production while engineers will also face several challenges and obstacles in adopting intelligent automation systems. New step-wise migration strategies are required to holistically support industries in their journey towards CPPS taking into account technical, economic and social aspects. This work describes the definition of a migration approach for innovative production systems, particularly those CPPS that are developed under the PERFoRM ecosystem, establishing guidelines for a smooth migration from a traditional system to agile plug-and-produce systems in a secure and efficient way. The designed migration approach comprises five phases, namely Preparation, Options Investigation, Design, Implementation and Deployment, sustained by three different migration strategies, namely One-Shot, Parallel and Phased. The modelling of the migration process uses the Petri nets formalism taking advantage of its inherent capabilities to synthesize the process specifications but also to verify, simulate and validate the correctness of the system specifications during the design phase.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF USING COPPER SULPHATE TO AVOID GRAPEVINE POWDERY MILDEW IN THREE VINEYARDS OF THE DOURO REGION, PORTUGAL

Copper-based fungicides have been used in vineyards throughout the world, for many decades to protect against downy mildew. However, their use results in an accumulation of Cu in surface soils which can potentially impact on the biological health of the soil and could be transported and stored in the sediments deposited close to valley bottoms. In Douro region, northern of Portugal, vineyards are located on steep slopes and are susceptible to accelerated soil erosion. In this study, 50 soils samples were collected in 3 vineyards of different ages, one with more of 50 years, other with more 15 years and one recently planted. Two rivers converge into a water reservoir located close to vineyards. Five samples of stream sediment, pore water and superficial water were collected in the rivers and reservoir. The total Cu (CuT) content in the soils varies between 17.8 and 211 mg/Kg (mean = 79.4 mg/Kg). However in the old vineyard the Cu concentration is higher than in the others (mean value of 144.8 mg/kg). The total Cu content in stream sediments ranges from 19.4 to 35 mg/Kg (mean = 26.1). The average Cu concentration in soils is 3 times higher than in sediments. The solid phase distribution of copper in stream sediments shows that the metal is associated with Fe-Oxyhydroxides and silicates, indicating that most Cu in the sediment has a geogenic source. In sediment pore water the Cu content is always below 2µg/L, with the exception of the sample collected in the reservoir. For superficial waters no Cu was detected. These results suggest that the rate of erosion is low and the contribution of soils Cu in stream sediments is irrelevant. The sediment core was divided in 31 sub-samples and a pore-water sample was extracted when possible. The distribution of CuTalong the profile seems shows a slight increase with depth, with values ranging from 55.3 (surface) to 73.8 mg/Kg. In the pore water, Cu distribution shows an antipathetic patter

GRAPEVINE CULTIVATION AND THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF ZINC: IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EQUILIBRIUM OF A VULNERABLE SITE WITHIN THE ALTO DOURO WINE REGION

This study presents preliminary results of a research project that aims assessing the environmental impact of intensive grapevine cultivation in the Alto Douro wine region, a World Heritage Site. A total of 50 soil samples were collected from three nearby vineyards of different ages. Surface drainage of these vineyards discharges into an important water reservoir, the Varosa Dam. The dam collects water from two rivers, the Varosa and the Balsemão Rivers. At the dam, 5 sites were selected to collect water, sediment and sediment pore-water. One sediment core was collected in the middle of the dam as representative of the entire reservoir. The depth of the water column is 80 m and the sediment core has a length of 50 cm. The core was divided and sampled in 31 sections. Core sediment pore-water was extracted at several depths. Anthropogenic zinc is introduced in the vineyard soils through the use of a fungicidal spray. Near total concentrations of zinc in the soils range from 73 to 195 mg kg-1 and the highest values occur in the oldest vineyard. In the sediment samples the concentrations of zinc range from 91 to 120 mg kg-1 and the highest value occurs in the sample collected at the confluence with the Balsemão River. The correspondent pore-water sample has a zinc concentration that is 10 times higher (2210 µg l-1) than that of the other pore water samples. This result indicates that the sediment is probably supplying zinc to the water. The solid-phase distribution study shows that four of the sediment samples have most of the zinc bounded to Fe-oxyhydroxides phases and to the residue. However, the sediment collected in the confluence with the Balsemão River has an important fraction of zinc associated to more labile phases, which may explain why the pore water has such an elevated concentration. Zinc concentration increases with depth in the core sediments but is highly erratic in the correspondent pore-water samples

Multivariate analysis for assessing sources, and potential risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Lisbon urban soils

Urban soils quality may be severely affected by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination, as is the case of Lisbon (Portugal). However, to conduct a risk assessment analysis in an urban area can be a very difficult task due to the patchy nature and heterogeneity of these soils. Thus, the present study aims to provide an example on how to perform the first tier of a risk assessment plan in the case of urban soils using a simpler, cost effective, and reliable framework. Thus, a study was conducted in Lisbon to assess the levels of PAH, their potential risks to the environment and human health, and to identify their major sources. Source apportionment was performed by studying PAHs profiles, their relationship with potentially toxic elements, and general characteristics of soil using multivariate statistical methods. Results showed that geostatistical tools are useful for evaluating the spatial distribution and major inputs of PAHs in urban soils, as well as to identify areas of potential concern, showing their usefulness in risk assessment analysis and urban planning. Particularly, the prediction maps obtained allowed for a clear identification of areas with the highest levels of PAHs (close to the airport and in the city center). The high concentrations found in soils from the city center should be a result of long-term accumulation due to diffuse pollution mostly from traffic (through atmospheric emissions, tire debris and fuel exhaust, as well as pavement debris). Indeed, most of the sites sampled in the city center were historical gardens and parks. The calculation of potential risks based on different models showed that there is a high discrepancy among guidelines, and that risks will be extremely associated with the endpoint or parameters used in the different models. Nevertheless, this initial approach based on total levels was useful for identifying areas where a more detailed risk assessment is needed (close to the airport and in the city center). Therefore, the use of prediction maps can be very useful for urban planning, for example, by crossing information obtained with land uses, it is possible to define the most problematic areas (e.g., playgrounds and schools).This research was funded by FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), through an individual research grant attributed to A. Cachada (SFRH/BPD/100429/2014), and through the research project URBSOIL-LISBON (PTDC/CTE-GEX/68523/2006). This work was also supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 (CIIMAR), UID/GEO/04035/2013 (GEOBIOTEC), and UID/AMB/50017/2013 (CESAM RU), through national funds provided by FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the PT2020 Partnership Agreement

Long-term application of the organic and inorganic pesticides in vineyards: Environmental record of past use

Areas such as Douro Demarcated Region (Portugal), where vineyards are frequently located on steep slopes of narrow valleys, can be particularly sensitive to runoff and erosion processes. These particular conditions are expected to enhance the transport of pollutants, acting as a potential source of contamination to freshwater systems. The intense vine cultivation in this region includes decades of pesticides application, that have resulted in the accumulation of these chemicals and its degradation products in the vineyards soils and sediments. Residues of several pesticides related to agricultural activities were found in soils, with older vineyards showing higher levels of Cu and banned insecticides (such as DDT). The metabolite 4,4-DDE was the compound found at higher levels in soils and in sediments. The relatively high levels in more recent sediments suggest that soils are still a source of contamination. Levels of currently used pesticides were low, which is related with their physicochemical properties, the application period, and climacteric conditions

Using AR interfaces to support industrial maintenance procedures

Industries are becoming more and more digitized to better implement intelligent and predictive maintenance support systems, aligned with Industry 4.0, which requires the progressive digitization of data collection and processes. Maintenance interventions, in an evolving technological context, are increasingly more complex and difficult for technicians to perform. In these environments, the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to help assist and guide in the maintenance operations, can accomplish a considerable gain in productivity. AR allows to superimpose information objects in real scenes, such as text, images, audiovisuals, and 2D/3D model animations, making available contextual information about the process, based on location and perspective. This paper describes the design and implementation of a prototype augmented reality application to support maintenance tasks inside a metal stamping production unit, that produces components for the automotive sector. It aims to train and guide personnel during the maintenance operations, and offering an extra channel to reach expert help.2411-78B2-7CDB | Pedro Miguel MoreiraN/