Study to Increase the TRL of Exoskeleton ERMIS Based on a Methodology to the Identification of Real Performance Parameters

Many exoskeletons in scientific communications and patents only reach a technology readiness level corresponding to an experimental physical model (EPM) or a low-fidelity prototype. While only operational in a laboratory environment, the increasing technology readiness level (TRL) in exoskeletons is not widely studied. This work presents a study to reach this aim based on a new methodology that includes two phases, eleven steps, and four case studies from EPM (TRL3) of ERMIS up to TRL 5 of ERMIS. The results of this article show the increase in TRL based on the analysis of the operational parameters of the ERMIS exoskeleton. The validation of the passive rehabilitation movements was made by characterizing the points of their trajectories assisted by an anthropomorphic mechanism used to measure the end-effector position of ERMIS by means of the acquisition of data, obtaining an error of 20 mm. In conclusion, the real performance parameters are detailed, explaining their causes according to the behavior of the exoskeleton in a real environment operating the four case studies. It presents the group of parameters that reach the TRL 5, which were validated in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software.Beca Conacyt Maestrí

A Cyber-Physical System for integrated remote control andprotection of smart grid critical infrastructures

This work proposes a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) for protecting Smart Electric Grid Critical Infrastructures (CI) using video surveillance while remotely monitoring them. Due to the critical nature of Smart Grid, it is necessary to guarantee an adequate level of safety, security and reliability. Thus, this CPS is back-boned by a Time-Sensitive Network solution (TSN) providing concurrent support for smart-video surveillance and Smart Grid control over a single communication infrastructure. To this end, TSN delivers high-bandwidth communication for video surveil-lance and deterministic Quality of Service (QoS), latency and bandwidth guarantees, required by the time-critical Smart Grid control. On the one hand, the CPS utilizes High-availability Seamless Redundancy (HSR) in the control subsystem via Remote Terminal Units (RTU) guaranteeing seamless failover against failures in Smart Grid. On the other hand, the smart video surveillance subsystem applies machine learning to monitor secured perimeters and detect people around the Smart Grid CI. Moreover, it is also able to directly interoperate with RTUs via MODBUS protocol to send alarms in case of e.g. intrusion. The work evaluates the accuracy and performance of the detection using common metrics in surveillance field. An integrated monitoring dashboard has also been developed in which all CPS information is available in real timeThis work was partially supported by the EU Project FitOptiVis [3] through the ECSEL Joint Undertaking under GA n. 783162, a Spanish National grant funded by MINECO through APCIN PCI2018-093184, and partially by the Research Network RED2018-102511-

INFLUENCIA POSITIVA DEL USO DE UN ASISTENTE MATEMÁTICO LIBRE EN LA EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR

El presente trabajo es fruto de investigaciones realizadas en la Universidad de Cienfuegos con el fin de migrar hacia una herramienta basada en software libre para ser utilizada en la disciplina Matemática Básica de la carrera Ingeniería Informática. Resultados importantes de estas investigaciones arrojaron que el asistente matemático Maxima cumple con las características adecuadas para competir con la herramienta históricamente utilizada, Derive, de licencia privativa. Sin embargo, una vez comenzada la explotación de Maxima se constató, además, que influía positivamente en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la disciplina. Este estudio tiene como objetivo probar que el uso de Maxima, en esta carrera, ha elevado el nivel de satisfacción de los estudiantes y ha permitido mejorar sus resultados en la disciplina. Se utiliza la encuesta a estudiantes para medir el nivel de satisfacción, tomando una muestra de 82. Se estudian los resultados obtenidos por los alumnos en proyectos integradores,  durante  cuatro  cursos  sucesivos,  los dos  primeros  desarrollados  sin  la  utilización  de  Maxima  y  los otros dos con la utilización del mismo. Los resultados muestran que la satisfacción de los estudiantes, con el uso de Maxima, es buena y que las notas obtenidas en proyectos integradores de curso, al conocer Maxima, se han elevado, demostrando de esta forma que la utilización de software libre en el nivel universitario influye positivamente en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.&nbsp

A Review of the Bayesian Occupancy Filter

Autonomous vehicle systems are currently the object of intense research within scientific and industrial communities; however, many problems remain to be solved. One of the most critical aspects addressed in both autonomous driving and robotics is environment perception, since it consists of the ability to understand the surroundings of the vehicle to estimate risks and make decisions on future movements. In recent years, the Bayesian Occupancy Filter (BOF) method has been developed to evaluate occupancy by tessellation of the environment. A review of the BOF and its variants is presented in this paper. Moreover, we propose a detailed taxonomy where the BOF is decomposed into five progressive layers, from the level closest to the sensor to the highest abstract level of risk assessment. In addition, we present a study of implemented use cases to provide a practical understanding on the main uses of the BOF and its taxonomy.This work has been founded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness along with the European Structural and Investment Funds in the National Project TCAP-AUTO (RTC-2015-3942-4) in the program of “Retos Colaboración 2014”

A Comparison of FPGA and GPGPU Designs for Bayesian Occupancy Filters

Grid-based perception techniques in the automotive sector based on fusing information from different sensors and their robust perceptions of the environment are proliferating in the industry. However, one of the main drawbacks of these techniques is the traditionally prohibitive, high computing performance that is required for embedded automotive systems. In this work, the capabilities of new computing architectures that embed these algorithms are assessed in a real car. The paper compares two ad hoc optimized designs of the Bayesian Occupancy Filter; one for General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) and the other for Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The resulting implementations are compared in terms of development effort, accuracy and performance, using datasets from a realistic simulator and from a real automated vehicle.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with the National Projects TCAP-AUTO (RTC-2015-3942-4) and NAVEGASE (DPI2014-53525-C3-1-R)

Thermal balance of wet-steam turbines in nuclear power plants: a case study

Conventional methodology is applied in this study to estimate the efficiency of nuclear power generation and the electrical power that is generated at a nuclear plant built in the nineteen-sixties. A simulation of the whole power plant is conducted with this methodology. The characteristic parameters from the study are compared with those estimated by the manufacturer for its on-design operation mode. Furthermore, the model calculates the anticipated pressures, temperatures, mass flows and electrical power on the basis of the data from various performance tests. These estimated parameters are then compared with real values measured in the plant. The objective of the present paper is to study whether the conventional approach is acceptable for the simulation of the parameters of the power station, and to identify areas where the results of the simulation may be improved, in order to minimize the deviations between the simulated parameters and the actual measurements

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO