Construction management learning in Portugal

Construction management in Portugal is chiefly lectured in higher education institutions. Construction management topics are included both in undergraduate and graduate programmes. However, these programmes are seldom structured in terms of a specific curriculum or even in terms of options within other curricula. Moreover, some subjects are included in several courses lacking consistency to the set of subjects lectured. This paper reports a survey made to Portuguese higher education institutions in the scope of a Leonardo da Vinci project that aimed at establishing specific curricula for management in construction. The paper further presents the conclusions of the project and suggests a set of lecturing management areas in construction

Training needs in construction project management in Portugal

Training in construction project management is an important issue in European construction industry nowadays. The need for training on this area has been felt by all project participants holding various academic backgrounds, yet working for a common goal, that is, project efficiency. Several countries in Europe, with special relevance to the UK, have greatly expanded training in this topic through academic courses, professional continuous development and experience improvement of practioners. Other countries have not yet achieved this stage but the need to prepare professionals to work in the open European market is impelling efforts for convergence in this matter. Lack of knowledge on this topic has been highlighted by several researchers in the literature. The Portuguese experience is scarce but a recent research project conducted by the authors reveals the main problematic factors for project success, namely, delays, cost overruns, lack of safety and insufficient quality. This calls for specific training on related management areas. This paper reports a survey on professional training needs in Portugal in the scope of an international project on management of infrastructure projects. The survey was carried by a questionnaire delivered to the construction stakeholders of participating countries. The Portuguese results show that the areas selected by the organizations inquired reflect the desire of the industry on more knowledge to overcome the issues approached by the mentioned project.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Reasons for the lack of accomplishment of schedule, costs and safety objectives in construction

Applying real-time pricing for wind curtailment scenario using D2RD module of TOOCC

Multi-agent systems are widely used tools to simulate and study the energy sector because of their distributed architecture. There are several simulator tools available in literature, however, much of these prove to be very domain specific. The emergence of the Tools Control Center tool allows these simulators to cooperate in order to solve more comprehensive problems and more complex scenarios. This paper presents a module of this tool known as Demand Response Registration Digital, which allows the study of the model and programs of Demand Response. To understand the operation of this module, an example is given considering a wind curtailment scenario.The present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: H2020 DREAM-GO Project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 641794); and UID/EEA/00760/2019 and funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Classificação de pacientes para adaptação de cadeira de rodas inteligente

Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA importância e preocupação dedicadas à autonomia e independência das pessoas idosas e dos pacientes que sofrem de algum tipo de deficiência tem vindo a aumentar significativamente ao longo das últimas décadas. As cadeiras de rodas inteligentes (CRI) são tecnologias que podem ajudar este tipo de população a aumentar a sua autonomia, sendo atualmente uma área de investigação bastante ativa. Contudo, a adaptação das CRIs a pacientes específicos e a realização de experiências com utilizadores reais são assuntos de estudo ainda muito pouco aprofundados. A cadeira de rodas inteligente, desenvolvida no âmbito do Projeto IntellWheels, é controlada a alto nível utilizando uma interface multimodal flexível, recorrendo a comandos de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e através de joystick. Este trabalho teve como finalidade a adaptação automática da CRI atendendo às características dos potenciais utilizadores. Foi desenvolvida uma metodologia capaz de criar um modelo do utilizador. A investigação foi baseada num sistema de recolha de dados que permite obter e armazenar dados de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e do corpo dos pacientes. A utilização da CRI pode ser efetuada em diferentes situações em ambiente real e simulado e um jogo sério foi desenvolvido permitindo especificar um conjunto de tarefas a ser realizado pelos utilizadores. Os dados foram analisados recorrendo a métodos de extração de conhecimento, de modo a obter o modelo dos utilizadores. Usando os resultados obtidos pelo sistema de classificação, foi criada uma metodologia que permite selecionar a melhor interface e linguagem de comando da cadeira para cada utilizador. A avaliação para validação da abordagem foi realizada no âmbito do Projeto FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/2009 - "IntellWheels - Intelligent Wheelchair with Flexible Multimodal Interface". As experiências envolveram um vasto conjunto de indivíduos que sofrem de diversos níveis de deficiência, em estreita colaboração com a Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto e a Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. Os dados recolhidos através das experiências de navegação na CRI foram acompanhados por questionários preenchidos pelos utilizadores. Estes dados foram analisados estatisticamente, a fim de provar a eficácia e usabilidade na adequação da interface da CRI ao utilizador. Os resultados mostraram, em ambiente simulado, um valor de usabilidade do sistema de 67, baseado na opinião de uma amostra de pacientes que apresentam os graus IV e V (os mais severos) de Paralisia Cerebral. Foi também demonstrado estatisticamente que a interface atribuída automaticamente pela ferramenta tem uma avaliação superior à sugerida pelos técnicos de Terapia Ocupacional, mostrando a possibilidade de atribuir automaticamente uma linguagem de comando adaptada a cada utilizador. Experiências realizadas com distintos modos de controlo revelaram a preferência dos utilizadores por um controlo compartilhado com um nível de ajuda associado ao nível de constrangimento do paciente. Em conclusão, este trabalho demonstra que é possível adaptar automaticamente uma CRI ao utilizador com claros benefícios a nível de usabilidade e segurança.The importance and concern given to the autonomy and independence of elderly people and patients suffering from some kind of disability has been growing significantly in the last few decades. Intelligent wheelchairs (IW) are technologies that can increase the autonomy and independence of this kind of population and are nowadays a very active research area. However, the adaptations to users’ specificities and experiments with real users are topics that lack deeper studies. The intelligent wheelchair, developed in the context of the IntellWheels project, is controlled at a high-level through a flexible multimodal interface, using voice commands, facial expressions, head movements and joystick as its main input modalities. This work intended to develop a system enabling the automatic adaptation, to the user characteristics, of the previously developed intelligent wheelchair. A methodology was created enabling the creation of a user model. The research was based on the development of a data gathering system, enabling the collection and storage of data from voice commands, facial expressions, head and body movements from several patients with distinct disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy. The wheelchair can be used in different situations in real and simulated environments and a serious game was developed where different tasks may be performed by users. Data was analysed using knowledge discovery methods in order to create an automatic patient classification system. Based on the classification system, a methodology was developed enabling to select the best wheelchair interface and command language for each patient. Evaluation was performed in the context of Project FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/ 2009 – “IntellWheels – Intelligent Wheelchair with Flexible Multimodal Interface”. Experiments were conducted, using a large set of patients suffering from severe physical constraints in close collaboration with Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto and Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. The experiments using the intelligent wheelchair were followed by user questionnaires. The results were statistically analysed in order to prove the effectiveness and usability of the adaptation of the Intelligent Wheelchair multimodal interface to the user characteristics. The results obtained in a simulated environment showed a 67 score on the system usability scale based in the opinion of a sample of cerebral palsy patients with the most severe cases IV and V of the Gross Motor Function Scale. It was also statistically demonstrated that the data analysis system advised the use of an adapted interface with higher evaluation than the one suggested by the occupational therapists, showing the usefulness of defining a command language adapted to each user. Experiments conducted with distinct control modes revealed the users' preference for a shared control with an aid level taking into account the level of constraint of the patient. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that it is possible to adapt an intelligent wheelchair to the user with clear usability and safety benefits

Framework to Enable Heterogeneous Systems Interoperability

The electricity markets have been suffering profound changes over the years. Nowadays, the European Union comes to reformulate its politics related with renewable energy sources, in order to encourage microgeneration, having demand response as one of the biggest challenges. Various simulators have been developed that intend to give decision support to the various entities. However, they present the limitation of being designed to answer specific problems. This paper proposes the framework Tools Control Center (TOOCC) as the mechanism to integrate various independent and heterogeneous simulators, so they operate as a unique simulation tool and become capable of answering to more complex problems.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Power Systems Simulation Using Ontologies to Enable the Interoperability of Multi-Agent Systems

A key challenge in the power and energy field is the development of decision-support systems that enable studying big problems as a whole. The interoperability between systems that address specific parts of the global problem is essential. Ontologies ease the interoperability between heterogeneous systems providing semantic meaning to the information exchanged between the various parties. The use of ontologies within Smart Grids has been proposed based on the Common Information Model, which defines a common vocabulary describing the basic components used in electricity transportation and distribution. However, these ontologies are focused on utilities needs. The development of ontologies that allow the representation of diverse knowledge sources is essential, aiming at supporting the interaction between entities of different natures, facilitating the interoperability between these systems. This paper proposes a set of ontologies to enable the interoperability between different types of simulators, namely regarding electricity markets, the smart grid, and residential energy management. A case study based on real data shows the advantages of the proposed approach in enabling comprehensive power system simulation studies.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703689 (project ADAPT), from the EUREKA - ITEA2 Project M2MGrids (ITEA-13011), Project SIMOCE (ANI—P2020 17690), and has received funding from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Special Issue Robótica 2014

This special issue presents extended and revised versions of a selection of papers presented on the IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions (ICARSC-2014), that took place 14-15 May 2014 in the city of Espinho, Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Energy consumption forecasting using genetic fuzzy rule-based systems based on MOGUL learning methodology

One of the most challenging tasks for energy domain stakeholders is to have a better preview of the electricity consumption. Having a more trustable expectation of electricity consumption can help minimizing the cost of electricity and also enable a better control on the electricity tariff. This paper presents a study using a Methodology to Obtain Genetic fuzzy rule-based systems Under the iterative rule Learning approach (MOGUL) methodology in order to have a better profile of the electricity consumption of the following hours. The proposed approach uses the electricity consumption of the past hours to forecast the consumption value for the following hours. Results from this study are compared to those of previous approaches, namely two fuzzy based systems: and several different approaches based on artificial neural networks. The comparison of the achieved results with those achieved by the previous approaches shows that this approach can calculate a more reliable value for the electricity consumption in the following hours, as it is able to achieve lower forecasting errors, and a less standard deviation of the forecasting error resultsThe present work was done and funded in the scope of the following projects: European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703689 (project ADAPT); EUREKA - ITEA2 Project FUSE-IT (ITEA-13023), Project GREEDI (ANI|P2020 17822), and has received funding from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Demonstration of Tools Control Center for Multi-agent Energy Systems Simulation

The use of energy from renewable sources is one of the major concerns of today’s society. In recent years, the European Union has been changing legislation and implementing policies aimed at promoting its investment and encouraging its use in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases [1].This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO), from the CONTEST project - SAICT-POL/23575/2016; and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TOOCC: Enabling heterogeneous systems interoperability in the study of energy systems

The environmental impact and the scarcity of limited fossil fuels led to the need of investment in energy based on renewable sources. This has driven Europe to implement several policies that changed the energy market's paradigm, namely the incentive to microgeneration. The penetration of energy sources from intermittent nature has increased the unpredictability of the system, which makes simulation and analysis tools essential in order to provide decision support to entities in this sector. This paper presents the Tools Control Center (TOOCC) as a solution to increase the interoperability between heterogeneous agent-based systems, in the energy field. The proposed approach acts as a facilitator in the interaction between different systems through the usage of ontologies, allowing them to communicate in the same language. To understand the real applicability of this tool, a case study is presented concerning the interaction between several systems, with the purpose of enabling the energy resource scheduling of a microgrid, and the reaction of a house managed by a house management system.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio