Exploring the practical use of a collaborative robot for academic purposes

This article presents a set of experiences related to the setup and exploration of potential educational uses of a collaborative robot (cobot). The basic principles that have guided the work carried out have been three. First and foremost, study of all the functionalities offered by the robot and exploration of its potential academic uses both in subjects focused on industrial robotics and in subjects of related disciplines (automation, communications, computer vision). Second, achieve the total integration of the cobot at the laboratory, seeking not only independent uses of it but also seeking for applications (laboratory practices) in which the cobot interacts with some of the other devices already existing at the laboratory (other industrial robots and a flexible manufacturing system). Third, reuse of some available components and minimization of the number and associated cost of required new components. The experiences, carried out following a project-based learning methodology under the framework of bachelor and master subjects and thesis, have focused on the integration of mechanical, electronic and programming aspects in new design solutions (end effector, cooperative workspace, artificial vision system integration) and case studies (advanced task programming, cybersecure communication, remote access). These experiences have consolidated the students' acquisition of skills in the transition to professional life by having the close collaboration of the university faculty with the experts of the robotics company.Postprint (published version

Optimal sensor placement for classifier-based leak localization in drinking water networks

© 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.This paper presents a sensor placement method for classifier-based leak localization in Water Distribution Networks. The proposed approach consists in applying a Genetic Algorithm to decide the sensors to be used by a classifier (based on the k-Nearest Neighbor approach). The sensors are placed in an optimal way maximizing the accuracy of the leak localization. The results are illustrated by means of the application to the Hanoi District Metered Area and they are compared to the ones obtained by the Exhaustive Search Algorithm. A comparison with the results of a previous optimal sensor placement method is provided as well.Postprint (author's final draft

Admissible Model Matching Fault Tolerant Control based on LPV Fault Representation

Postprint (published version

Pumps condition assessment in water distribution networks

Postprint (published version

Leak localization in water distribution networks using a mixed model-based/data-driven approach

“The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conengprac.2016.07.006”This paper proposes a new method for leak localization in water distribution networks (WDNs). In a first stage, residuals are obtained by comparing pressure measurements with the estimations provided by a WDN model. In a second stage, a classifier is applied to the residuals with the aim of determining the leak location. The classifier is trained with data generated by simulation of the WDN under different leak scenarios and uncertainty conditions. The proposed method is tested both by using synthetic and experimental data with real WDNs of different sizes. The comparison with the current existing approaches shows a performance improvement.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Robust fault detection of non-linear systems using set-membership state estimation based on constraint satisfaction

In this paper, the robust fault detection problem for non-linear systems considering both bounded parametric modelling errors and measurement noises is addressed. The non-linear system is monitored by using a state estimator with bounded modelling uncertainty and bounded process and measurement noises. Additionally, time-variant and time-invariant system models are taken into account. Fault detection is formulated as a set-membership state estimation problem, which is implemented by means of constraint satisfaction techniques. Two solutions are presented: the first one solves the general case while the second solves the time-variant case, being this latter a relaxed solution of the first one. The performance of the time-variant approach is tested in two applications: the well-known quadruple-tank benchmark and the dynamic model of a representative portion of the Barcelona's sewer network. In both applications, different scenarios are presented: a faultless situation and some faulty situations. All considered scenarios are intended to show the effectiveness of the presented approach.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Set-membership identification and fault detection using a Bayesian framework

This paper deals with the problem of set-membership identification and fault detection using a Bayesian framework. The paper presents how the set-membership model estimation problem can be reformulated from the Bayesian viewpoint in order to, first, determine the feasible parameter set in the identification stage and, second, check the consistency between the measurement data and the model in the fault-detection stage. The paper shows that, assuming uniform distributed measurement noise and uniform model prior probability distributions, the Bayesian approach leads to the same feasible parameter set than the well-known set-membership technique based on approximating the feasible parameter set using sets. Additionally, it can deal with models that are nonlinear in the parameters. The single-output and multiple-output cases are addressed as well. The procedure and results are illustrated by means of the application to a quadruple-tank process.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Design of human-robot tasks in academic environment

Este artículo expone la necesidad de adaptación del currículo universitario a las nuevas tecnologías, en concreto en aspectos de robótica colaborativa. Y se incide cómo, a través de la disciplina interacción persona-ordenador, es posible aportar aspectos de diseño de interacción con la finalidad de mejorar el rendimiento de sistemas persona-robot. La principal contribución de este artículo es el contexto interdisciplinar, que transcurre inicialmente desde la ergonomía e interacción para fusionarse con aspectos de ingeniería y tecnología.This article exposes the need to adapt the University curriculum to new technologies, in particular collaborative robotics. In addition, this article shows how, through the field of human-computer interaction, it is possible to provide interaction design approach with the purpose of improving the performance of human-robot systems. The main contribution of this article is an interdisciplinary context, which initially goes from ergonomics and interaction to merge with engineering and technology aspects.El desarrollo de este trabajo ha sido posible con el soporte económico del programa ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia 2014-2020.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Data-driven approach for leak localization in water distribution networks using pressure sensors and spatial interpolation

This paper presents a new data-driven method for leak localization in water distribution networks. The proposed method relies on the use of available pressure measurements in some selected internal network nodes and on the estimation of the pressure at the remaining nodes using Kriging spatial interpolation. Online leak localization is attained by comparing current pressure values with their reference values. Supported by Kriging; this comparison can be performed for all the network nodes, not only for those equipped with pressure sensors. On the one hand, reference pressure values in all nodes are obtained by applying Kriging to measurement data previously recorded under network operation without leaks. On the other hand, current pressure values at all nodes are obtained by applying Kriging to the current measured pressure values. The node that presents the maximum difference (residual) between current and reference pressure values is proposed as a leaky node candidate. Thereafter, a time horizon computation based on Bayesian reasoning is applied to consider the residual time evolution, resulting in an improved leak localization accuracy. As a data-driven approach, the proposed method does not need a hydraulic model; only historical data from normal operation is required. This is an advantage with respect to most data-driven methods that need historical data for the considered leak scenarios. Since, in practice, the obtained leak localization results will strongly depend on the number of available pressure measurements and their location, an optimal sensor placement procedure is also proposed in the paper. Three different case studies illustrate the performance of the proposed methodologies.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Robust fault diagnosis of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using a Takagi-Sugeno interval observer approach

In this paper, the problem of robust fault diagnosis of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells is addressed by introducing the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) interval observers that consider uncertainty in a bounded context, adapting TS observers to the so-called interval approach. Design conditions for the TS interval observer based on regional pole placement are also introduced to guarantee the fault detection and isolation (FDI) performance. The fault detection test is based on checking the consistency between the measurements and the output estimations provided by the TS observers. In presence of bounded uncertainty, this check relies on determining if all the measurements lie inside their corresponding estimated interval bounds. When a fault is detected, the measurements that are inconsistent with their corresponding estimations are annotated and a fault isolation procedure is triggered. By using the theoretical fault signature matrix (FSM), which summarizes the effects of the different faults on the available residuals, the fault is isolated by means of a logic reasoning that takes into account the bounded uncertainty, and if the number of candidate faults is more than one, a correlation analysis is used to obtain the most likely fault candidate. Finally, the proposed approach is tested using a PEM fuel cell case study proposed in the literature.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft