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Publications

Publications by Nuno Miguel Ferreira

2020

Gamified platform to aid physiotherapeutic treatment of epicondylitis

Authors
de Araújo, FMA; Fonseca Ferreira, NM; Valente, A; Soares, SFSP; Trindade, GDdM; Pimentel, HIC; Bruno, LC; Neto, MJA; Nunes, MVCB; Macedo, SS;

Publication
8th IEEE International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health, SeGAH 2020, Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 12-14, 2020

Abstract
The physiotherapeutic process is widely discussed and of fundamental importance for the recovery of patients who suffer from any injury or adverse muscle condition. For best results, it is of primary importance that the patient maintains a pace of treatment and remains engaged in the activities required by the Physiotherapist. In this context, an approach that improves such engagement with concern for usability and acceptance by patients is explored in this article. A gamified platform was created, capable of capturing the time of exposure to the movement of squeezing a handgrip and expressing the patient's results in a swordsman-themed versus game, through the reading of neuromuscular signals captured by a MYO armband. © 2020 IEEE.

2020

Configurable External Defibrillator Devoted to Education and Clinical Trials

Authors
Santos, VDN; Candido Santos, JC; Fonseca Ferreira, NMF;

Publication
BIODEVICES: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL JOINT CONFERENCE ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES, VOL 1: BIODEVICES, 2020

Abstract
External defibrillators are recognized effective to revert ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. This paper presents a new settable defibrillator, designed to assess the effectiveness of the following defibrillation waveforms during clinical trials: monophasic damped sinusoidal (MDS); biphasic truncated exponential (BTE) and rectilinear biphasic waveform (RBW). The device flexibility allows the setting of the defibrillation waveforms most relevant parameters, namely energy and pulses duration. The device usage is also relevant in biomedical engineer and medical staff education and training programs.

2020

A Generalized Matlab/ROS/Robotic Platform Framework for Teaching Robotics

Authors
Rosillo, N; Montes, N; Alves, JP; Fonseca Ferreira, NMF;

Publication
ROBOTICS IN EDUCATION: CURRENT RESEARCH AND INNOVATIONS

Abstract
In previous works, an educational platform based on Matlab/Simulink/Lego EV3 has been developed that allows interacting in real time with the robot. However, this platform is limited to the capacity of Simulink to adapt to different robotic devices, limiting its use to LEGO and Arduino or Rasberry Pi robots. In this paper we present a generalization of this platform to any type of robot, based on Matlab/ROS/Robot. Robot Operating System (ROS) is a robotic middleware, that is, a collection of frameworks for software development of robots [4]. Despite not being an operating system, ROS provides standard services such as hardware abstraction, control of low-level devices, etc. MATLAB (R) support for ROS is a library of functions that allows you to exchange data with ROS-enabled physical robots. Matlab/ROS/Robot interaction is tested in a generic robot with Arduino Mega and Raspberry Pi 3, demonstrating the viability of the presented educational robotic platform.

2020

Environment Virtualization for Visual Localization and Mapping

Authors
Valiente, D; Berenguer, Y; Paya, L; Fonseca Ferreira, NMF; Reinoso, O;

Publication
ROBOTICS IN EDUCATION: CURRENT RESEARCH AND INNOVATIONS

Abstract
Mobile robotics has become an essential content in many subjects within most Bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering. Visual sensors have emerged as a powerful tool to perform reliable localization and mapping tasks for a mobile robot. Moreover, the use of images permits achieving other high level tasks such as object and people detection, recognition, or tracking. Nonetheless, our teaching experience confirms that students encounter many difficulties before dealing with visual localization and mapping algorithms. Initial stages such as data acquisition (images and trajectory), preprocessing or visual feature extraction, usually imply a considerable effort for many students. Consequently, the teaching process is prolonged, whereas the active learning and the students' achievement are certainly affected. Considering these facts, we have implemented a Matlab software tool to generate an open variety of virtual environments. This allows students to easily obtain synthetic raw data, according to a predefined robot trajectory inside the designed environment. The virtualization software also produces a set of images along the trajectory for performing visual localization and mapping experiments. As a result, the overall testing procedure is alleviated and students report to take better advantage of the lectures and the practical sessions, thus demonstrating higher achievement in terms of comprehension of fundamental mobile robotics concepts. Comparison results regarding the achievement of students, engagement, satisfaction and attitude to the use of the tool, are presented.

2020

Eye Tracking in Framework for the Development of Games for People with Motor Disabilities

Authors
de Araújo, FMA; Fonseca Ferreira, NM; Mascarenhas, VTOC; Adad Filho, JA; Viana Filho, PRF;

Publication
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering

Abstract
In research carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), alarming data on motor diseases are disclosed, in which it is shown that 7% of the Brazilian population has some type of motor deficiency. The gaming industry is the most profitable entertainment industry today, yet the area of gaming adapted for people with motor disabilities is under-explored. Thinking about it, this work proposes to develop a work environment (Framework) to facilitate the creation of accessible games using eye tracking, thus giving the possibility of playing with just the eyes. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020.

2020

Intensive summer course in robotics – Robotcraft

Authors
Fonseca Ferreira, NM; Araujo, A; Couceiro, MS; Portugal, D;

Publication
Applied Computing and Informatics

Abstract
This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level details of embedded systems. Attendants started this course with a brief introduction to robotics; learned to draw, design and create a personalized 3D structure for their mobile robotic platform and developed skills in embedded systems. They were familiarize with the practices used in robotics, learning to connect all sensors and actuator, developing a typical application on differential kinematic using Arduino, exploring ROS features under Raspberry Pi environment and Arduino – Raspberry Pi communication. Different paradigms and some real applications and programming were addressed on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course, participants were introduced to programming languages (including Python and C++), advanced programming concepts such as ROS, basic API development, system concepts such as I2C and UART serial interfaces, PWM motor control and sensor fusion to improve robotic navigation and localization. This paper describes not just the concept, layout and methodology used on RobotCraft 2017 but also presents the participants knowledge background and their overall opinions, leading to focus on lessons learned and suggestions for future editions. © 2018 The Authors

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