Technical report of Raspberry Pi prototype for lectures in public universities

This paper presents a low-cost prototype for lectures in public universities based on Raspberry Pi. It is described how to connect and configure the prototype using an infrared remote control. Technologies applied in education are widely explored in recent researches and can be held to lower the cost. The proposed prototype is 86\% cheaper on average (compared to ordinary computer) and can be used for automation of the classrooms besides lectures. For example, the prototype can be additionally used to access control, environment monitoring, and management of the environment utilization by the users

End-User programming in mobile devices through reusable visual components composition

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Editorial (Português): Uma breve história do hardware, seus desafios, e impacto sobre o consumo de energia

Este artigo representa a opinião do autor sobre o campo da arquitetura de computadores e os desafios futuros. Este trabalho tenta estabelecer como a computação se tornou tão importante como é hoje. Além disso, procura elencar alguns dos principais desafios da área de projetos de computadores. Assim, este artigo foi escrito para estudantes e pesquisadores que desejam ver o panorama geral do assunto, e nenhum destes é amplamente discutido, depois, essa tarefa é quase impossível e não é a intenção. No entanto, alguns grandes insights podem surgir deste artigo, uma vez que o futuro parece ser co-design e aproximado

Optimization of state assignment in a finite state machine: evaluation of a simulated annealing approach

In this research, the application of the Simulated Annealing algorithm to solve the state assignment problem in finite state machines is investigated. The state assignment is a classic NP-Complete problem in digital systems design and impacts directly on both area and power costs as well as on the design time. The solutions found in the literature uses population-based methods that consume additional computer resources. The Simulated Annealing algorithm has been chosen because it does not use populations while seeking a solution. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the impact on the quality of the solution when using the Simulated Annealing approach. The proposed solution is evaluated using the LGSynth89 benchmark and compared with other approaches in the state-of-the-art. The experimental simulations point out an average loss in solution quality of 11%, while an average processing performance of 86%. The results indicate that it is possible to have few quality losses with a significant increase in processing performance

Embedded server to automatic control of wireless transducer network for irrigation based on Internet of things

The growth of the Internet of Things, as well as the optimization needs for agriculture, have opened many opportunities for projects with the integration of these two areas. This paper shows the development of a solution to monitoring crops using the Internet of Things. The sensors and actuators for this precision agriculture design are able to exchange data with an embedded server, which runs on an Intel Edison device. Therefore, an ad-hoc wireless sensor network is established among the devices, using the MQTT protocol. As a result, the monitoring and control of a watering crop project were possible using the proposed solution. In addition, the embedded server allowed the creation of a web interface for the farmer, which can interact with the whole system throughout a web browser.Keywords: Embedded server. Internet of things. Precision agriculture. Wireless sensor network

A formação continuada de professores dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental no contexto do encontro e das trocas intergeracionais

This study is based on a Master’s research in progress that aims to analyze that formative relationships are established between beginning young teachers, recently graduated or with a maximum of five years of teaching experience - and experienced teachers - aged forty years or more and about fifteen or more years of teaching, within an elementary school (early years), conceived as a training space. It has been hypothesized that these groups conduct exchanges and intergenerational transmissions, and from them add knowledge and values to their academic, professional and personal education as they have distinct generational belongings and made their initial training for teaching at different times and spaces, supported by different versions of the Law of guidelines and bases for national education. It should be considered that the presence of different generation teachers in the same school environment, may enable experience sharing moments and analysis of school everyday problems from different points, fruit of subjects with historical background, social and professional distinct. In this way, the relationship of these teachers in a complex context as the school may raise attitudes of solidarity, mutual growth and cooperation.This study is based on a Master’s research in progress thataims to analyze that formative relationships are established betweenbeginning young teachers, recently graduated or with a maximum of fiveyears of teaching experience - and experienced teachers - aged forty yearsor more and about fifteen or more years of teaching, within an elementaryschool (early years), conceived as a training space. It has been hypothesizedO presente trabalho baseia-se em uma pesquisa de Mestrado em andamento que tem como objetivo analisar que relações formativas são estabelecidas entre os professores iniciantes – jovens, recém-formados ou com no máximo cinco anos de experiência docente – e professores experientes – na faixa etária de quarenta anos ou mais e com cerca de quinze anos ou mais de docência, dentro de uma escola de ensino fundamental (anos iniciais), concebida como um espaço formativo. Tem-se como hipótese que estes grupos realizam trocas e transmissões intergeracionais, e a partir delas agregam conhecimentos e valores à sua formação acadêmica, profissional e pessoal, já que possuem pertencimentos geracionais distintos e realizaram sua formação inicial para docência em diferentes tempos e espaços, respaldados por diferentes versões da lei de diretrizes e bases da educação nacional. Há que se considerar que a presença de professores de gerações distintas, em um mesmo espaço escolar, pode possibilitar momentos de compartilhamento de experiências e análise dos problemas do cotidiano da escola a partir de olhares diferenciados, frutos de sujeitos com formação histórica, social e profissional distintas. Desta maneira, a relação destes professores em um contexto complexo como a escola pode suscitar atitudes de solidariedade, crescimento mútuo e colaboração