Interprete di comandi vocali come ausilio per persone diversamente abili

Questo lavoro di Tesi è finalizzato allo sviluppo di un dispositivo portatile a comando vocale per il controllo tramite infrarossi di apparati domestici; il dispositivo è espressamente rivolto a persone diversamente abili, in particolare ai disabili motori agli arti superiori. E’ stato perseguito l’obiettivo di progettare un dispositivo che possa presentare basso prezzo rispetto agli analoghi ausili esistenti, disponendo contestualmente di funzioni di ausilio presenti solo in dispositivi di fascia alta. E' stata scelta la tecnologia di riconoscimento vocale Speaker Dependent, e individuato un opportuno modulo hardware commerciale che la implementa. Nella maggior parte dei dispositivi stand-alone di riconoscimento vocale, risulta necessario affiancare a tale hardware un dispositivo host per la gestione di altre parti e funzioni del dispositivo. E’ stato sviluppato un protocollo di comunicazione per l’interazione fra un generico host e il modulo di riconoscimento vocale. Il firmware sul modulo di riconoscimento vocale è stato sviluppato in modo da consentirne l’utilizzo come periferica di riconoscimento Speaker Dependent per impieghi generali. E’ stata sviluppata e implementata su PC l’architettura firmware/software dell’host per l’applicazione oggetto di questo lavoro. Tale architettura gestisce gli aspetti generali dell’interazione con la periferica di riconoscimento vocale e implementa le funzioni di ausilio all’utente diversabile richieste da specifica. Sono state soddisfatte le specifiche sul numero e l'organizzazione dei comandi vocali gestibili dal sistema. E’ stato totalmente progettato e parzialmente realizzato l’hardware del sistema telecomando. E' stata soddisfatta la specifica sul costo del sistema

Wireless Sensing Based on RFID and Capacitive Technologies for Safety in Marble Industry Process Control

This paper presents wireless sensing systems to increase safety and robustness in industrial process control, particularly in industrial machines for marble slab working. The process is performed by abrasive or cutting heads activated independently by the machine controller when the slab, transported on a conveyer belt, is under them. Current slab detection systems are based on electromechanical or optical devices at the machine entrance stage, suffering from deterioration and from the harsh environment. Slab displacement or break inside the machine due to the working stress may result in safety issues and damages to the conveyer belt due to incorrect driving of the working tools. The experimented contactless sensing techniques are based on four RFID and two capacitive sensing technologies and on customized hardware/software. The proposed solutions aim at overcoming some limitations of current state-of-the-art detection systems, allowing for reliable slab detection, outside and/or inside the machine, while maintaining low complexity and at the same time robustness to industrial harsh conditions. The proposed sensing devices may implement a wireless or wired sensor network feeding detection data to the machine controller. Data integrity check and process control algorithms have to be implemented for the safety and reliability of the overall industrial process

Testing of DC/DC converters for 48 V electric vehicles

DC/DC applications in automotive market are expected to require new system specifications in next years. Because of the spreading of electrical cars, the power line at 48V will be very common. Moreover, the converter chips and external passives are required to occupy less area. A DC/DC solution, meeting such requirements, is presented in this work. The switched capacitors architecture is intended to reduce external passive devices space occupation, whereas sustained electrical power is kept high. This paper discusses a preliminary version of the converter, with experimental results from measurements, and presents the final chip architecture, with some simulation result data

Self electrocardiogram acquisition device

An electrocardiographic device (40) comprises a central portion (31) and two side portions (33) that have respective conductive surfaces (1,3) configured as acquisition electrodes for receiving a raw electrocardiographic signal from a patient's (99) respective hands (98); an acquisition unit (25) electrically connected to the conductive surfaces (1,3), so as to receive the raw signal and configured for filtering it within a predetermined passband to obtain a filtered signal; a digitalization unit (18) connected to the acquisition unit (25), so as to receive the filtered signal, and configured for sampling it to obtain a digital signalized; a data interface unit (22) electrically connected to the digitalization unit (18), so as to receive the digital signalized, and configured for providing it so as it can be drawn; wherein the side portions (33) have a base surface (36) that is opposite to the conductive surfaces (1,3) configured to be arranged on a plane; a height (D) between a base surface (36) and the conductive surfaces (1,3) set between 1 cm and 8 cm, the side portions having a front edge (37) to be arranged distally with respect to the patient (99) and in such a way that the distance between the front edge (37) and the conductive surfaces (1,3) is shorter than a predetermined value (L), so that the patient (99), arranging the bases (36) on the plane (28), can cause the palm (97) of his own respective hands (98) to bear on the side portions (33), maintaining the hand palm (97) in contact with the conductive surfaces (1,3) and at the same time assisting the fingers (98") of the hands (98) to possibly rest on the plane (28). This way, by causing the hand palm to bear on the raised side portions allows to discharge a large part of the weight of the arm on the conductive surfaces substantially without any muscle tension and without any movement, which would affect the contact surface during the acquisition, and substantially without any noise associated thereto, so that a filtering passband can be chosen that has a lower limit value lower than in the prior art devices, which allows preserving a large part of the information content of the electrocardiographic signal

User-friendly single-lead ECG device for home telemonitoring applications

Chronic Heart Failure is a chronic disease that often leads to frequent hospitalizations of patients, with consequences on their quality of life and on the expense sustained by the Health System. Enabling early diagnosis through a frequent monitoring performed directly by the patients can improve the management of such disease. This paper introduces a user-friendly single-lead ECG device conceived to be easily used at home by affected patients. The device requires few basic actions to be operated and it is able to send transparently the acquired ECG to the designated service centre exploiting a Bluetooth connection with an Internet gateway. © 2014 IEEE

A Modular Suite to Support Human-Smartphone Interaction for People with Motor Skill Impairments

Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are nowadays not only the de facto choice for interpersonal communication, social networking or Web access, but also an important tool for an increasing number of every-day activities. Thus, maximum accessibility for people with disability is very important to ensure social inclusion and to promote an independent style of life. In this paper we present a suite of hardware and software components that allows people with motor skills impairments to control a mobile device via switch sensors for the exploitation of specific user’s residual abilities. A gateway and a headset adapter allow the user to connect switches or a power wheelchair control system to the smartphone in different ways (wired or wireless). A simplified user interface on the mobile device can be used to access the main functionalities (voice call, SMS, media player), whereas a scanning keyboard enables textual input in other pre-existing apps

Wireless Sensing Based on RFID and Capacitive Technologies for Safety in Marble Industry Process Control

This paper presents wireless sensing systems to increase safety and robustness in industrial process control, particularly in industrial machines for marble slab working. The process is performed by abrasive or cutting heads activated independently by the machine controller when the slab, transported on a conveyer belt, is under them. Current slab detection systems are based on electromechanical or optical devices at the machine entrance stage, suffering from deterioration and from the harsh environment. Slab displacement or break inside the machine due to the working stress may result in safety issues and damages to the conveyer belt due to incorrect driving of the working tools. The experimented contactless sensing techniques are based on four RFID and two capacitive sensing technologies and on customized hardware/software. The proposed solutions aim at overcoming some limitations of current state-of-the-art detection systems, allowing for reliable slab detection, outside and/or inside the machine, while maintaining low complexity and at the same time robustness to industrial harsh conditions. The proposed sensing devices may implement a wireless or wired sensor network feeding detection data to the machine controller. Data integrity check and process control algorithms have to be implemented for the safety and reliability of the overall industrial process