2019
Authors
Malheiro, B; Silva, MF; Ferreira, P; Guedes, P;
Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING PEDAGOGY
Abstract
This paper presents an overview on how the European Project Semester capstone programme offered by the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (EPS@ISEP) fosters learning by challenging engineering, business and product development undergraduates to address sustainability issues afflicting cities and communities nowadays. This will be done by analysing the reports and the learning journey of three multicultural and multidisciplinary EPS@ISEP teams during the design, development and test of a smart billboard, a self-oriented solar mirror and a level monitoring system for waste oil bins. These three projects were conducted within EPS@ISEP, a project-based learning framework dedicated to the development of key engineering skills, namely multidisciplinary teamwork, intercultural communication, ethical and sustainability-oriented problem-solving. The involved students contributed, not only, to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, one of UNESCO's sustainable development goals, but learnt and practiced together sustainability-driven design, while searching for an innovative solution for a smart city problem. This conclusion is supported by the analysis of the content the three project reports.
2019
Authors
Winter, A; Justo, J; Silva, MF; Ferreira, P; Guedes, P; Pedro, E; Slasko, J; Battaglini, J; Faelker, M; Kivipelto, R; Duarte, AJ; Malheiro, B; Ribeiro, C;
Publication
TEEM'19: SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGICAL ECOSYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING MULTICULTURALITY
Abstract
This paper describes the journey of a multinational and multidisciplinary team enrolled in the European Project Semester (EPS) at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) during the spring semester of 2019. The team embraced the idea of repurposing coffee leftovers to cultivate oyster mushrooms and benefited from the background diversity of the team members as well as from newly acquired marketing, sustainability and design ethics skills to consolidate and strengthen the overall feasibility of the project. The project was set to design, develop and test grey oyster mushroom growth kits with an automated monitoring system, using coffee grounds as growing substrate and complying with the applicable regulations and pre-defined requirements. The ulterior aims of the project were to reconnect people with the food they eat and to disseminate sustainable food production processes, which are not only healthy but environmentally friendly. To achieve these goals, the team developed a circular economy business model where grey oyster mushroom growth kits reuse coffee grounds as growing beds and food buckets as containers. The designed growth kits include a controlled fruiting chamber with an integrated monitoring system. This allows easy domestic cultivation, monitoring through a smart phone. Moreover, the proposed solution contemplates information sharing on the mushroom cultivation process, monitoring system and recipes as well as the maintenance of a dedicated discussion forum. Tests have been conducted to test the concept, cultivation process, monitoring system and fruiting chamber from the incubation of mycelium all the way to the harvesting. Results show the feasibility of creating a business based on the devised concept. © 2019 ACM.
2019
Authors
Szabó, D; Justo, J; Silva, MF; Ferreira, P; Guedes, P; Gillet, E; Vallés, I; Pereira, J; Keppens, M; Krommendijk, P; Duarte, AJ; Malheiro, B; Ribeiro, C;
Publication
TEEM'19: SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGICAL ECOSYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING MULTICULTURALITY
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the development of a solar dehydrator, a project undertaken by a team of six Erasmus students from different countries during the European Project Semester at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto in the spring of 2019. The main objective of the European Project Semester is to develop teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills through team work and project-based learning. The purpose of the project was to design a sustainable solution to dehydrate and preserve food, build and test the corresponding proof-of-concept prototype, while respecting requirements such as the budget, the use of reusable materials and components or European Union directives. To achieve this goal, the team considered the technological, ethical and deontological, economic and environmental perspectives in the design of the Dryfoo prototype. This paper describes, after a short introduction, the performed research, the development and the testing of the proof-of-concept prototype, as well as the personal outcomes of this learning experience.
2020
Authors
Silva, MF; Malheiro, B; Guedes, P; Ferreira, P;
Publication
FOURTH IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE: ADVANCES IN ROBOTICS, ROBOT 2019, VOL 1
Abstract
Ocean exploration and monitoring with autonomous platforms can provide researchers and decision makers with valuable data, trends and insights into the largest ecosystem on Earth. Regardless of the recognition of the importance of such platforms in this scenario, their design and development remains an open challenge. In particular, energy efficiency, control and robustness are major concerns with implications in terms of autonomy and sustainability. Wingsails allow autonomous boats to navigate with increased autonomy, due to lower power consumption, and greater robustness, due to simpler control. Within the scope of a project that addresses the design, development and deployment of a rigid wing autonomous sailboat to perform long term missions in the ocean, this paper summarises the general principles for airfoil selection and wingsail design in robotic sailing, and are given some insights on how these aspects influence the autonomous sailboat being developed by the authors.
2020
Authors
dos Reis, AS; Gielen, E; Wopereis, K; Pasternak, M; Sooaar, V; Schneider, T; Duarte, AJ; Malheiro, B; Justo, J; Ribeiro, C; Silva, MF; Ferreira, P; Guedes, P;
Publication
FOURTH IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE: ADVANCES IN ROBOTICS, ROBOT 2019, VOL 2
Abstract
This paper describes the design and development of a Smart Companion Pillow, named bGuard, designed by a multinational and multidisciplinary team enrolled in the European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) in the spring of 2019. Nowadays, parents spend most of the day at work and become naturally worried about the well-being of their young children, specially babies. The aim of bGuard is to provide a 24-hour remotely accessible baby monitoring service, contributing to reduce parenting stress. The team, based on the survey of related products, as well as on marketing, sustainability, ethics and deontology analyses, developed a remotely interactive Smart Companion Pillow to monitor the baby's health and room air quality. The collected data, once it is saved on an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, becomes remotely accessible. The bGuard pillow, thanks to its shape, reduces the risk of the baby rolling from back to tummy, lowering the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
2019
Authors
Ferreira, P; Malheiro, B; Silva, M; Justo, J; Guedes, P; Duarte, A; Ribeiro, C;
Publication
EDULEARN19: 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES
Abstract
The European Project Semester (EPS) project-based learning framework is a multicultural and multidisciplinary one semester engineering capstone programme provided by a network of European Higher Education institutions. Its aim is to prepare 3rd-year undergraduate students to their future professional life, enhancing hard and soft skills and following ethical and sustainable design and development practices. At the School of Engineering of Porto Polytechnic (ISEP) the focus of the EPS programme (EPS@ISEP) is on solving multidisciplinary problems through teamwork, involving engineering, design and business students [1]. The students work in teams of 5 to 6 students, assembled according to the identified Belbin team roles, and also maximizing student cultural and scientific diversity. On the first week each team chooses to solve one of the open-ended multidisciplinary problems on offer. Those projects involve typically some type of automation and control[2]. One of the obstacles these eclectic teams face is the lack of hardware/software skills required to design, assemble and test a microcontroller based systems. To help overcome this situation, the programme syllabus includes an 8-hour intensive "Arduino & Electronics Crash Course" at the beginning of the semester due to its market penetration, low-cost, availability of documentation and support, and soft learning curve. This course has effectively contributed to provide students with the necessary knowledge to design and implement simple control systems, leading to the adoption in multiple EPS@ISEP past projects of the Arduino platform/ecosystem. However, the crescent sophistication of the projects, namely the integration with Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, requires the definition of a new strategy, considering the available hardware/software alternatives. This paper analyses the experience of the EPS@ISEP students regarding the use of microcontroller based platforms in the development of engineering capstone projects, and proposes possible future hardware/software alternatives, both from the technical and pedagogical perspectives.
The access to the final selection minute is only available to applicants.
Please check the confirmation e-mail of your application to obtain the access code.