Cookies Policy
The website need some cookies and similar means to function. If you permit us, we will use those means to collect data on your visits for aggregated statistics to improve our service. Find out More
Accept Reject
  • Menu
Publications

2024

ROBOSTEAMSEN Project - Training SEN teachers to use robotics for fostering STEAM and develop computational thinking

Authors
Conde, MA; Rodríguez Sedano, FJ; Garcia Peñalvo, FJ; Gonçalves, J; Jormanainen, I; Anzanello, A; Alves, JFR; Hernández, RF; Ailincai, AA;

Publication
XXVI INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION, SIIE 2024

Abstract
Our contemporary society necessitates professionals equipped with 21st-century skills. Disciplines within Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (known as STEAM) have been particularly effective in fostering these skills. However, when considering students with disabilities, especially those with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), this assertion often falls short. In this context, the RoboSTEAMSEN project emerges as an initiative designed to enhance educational processes by providing teachers of IDD students with the necessary resources to promote STEAM engagement. The project proposes the use of active learning methodologies and robotics to achieve this goal. The primary objective of the project is realized through several strategies: understanding the needs of students with disabilities and adapting the use of robotics and active learning methodologies accordingly; training teachers in the use of these resources; and creating a platform to exchange experiences, resources, lessons learned, tools, case scenarios, etc., while reaching other potential stakeholders such as caregivers and policymakers. The main outcomes of the project are teacher training programs and the development of associated competencies, tools to identify and classify resources for the students, and technological platforms to ensure the sustainability of the project once it concludes.

2024

A matheuristic for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

Authors
Vanhoucke, M; Coelho, J;

Publication
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH

Abstract
This paper presents a matheuristic solution algorithm to solve the well-known resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP). The problem makes use of a restricted neighbourhood method using an activity selection and a search space restriction module and implements them as two alternative search algorithms. The first algorithm makes use of the best-performing components of the branch-and-bound procedures from the literature, and embeds them into a greedy neighbourhood search. The second matheuristic implements the exact branch-and-bound procedures into a known and well-performing meta-heuristic search algorithm. Computational experiments have been carried out on seven different datasets consisting of 10,000+ project instances. Experiments reveal that the choice of exact algorithm is key in finding high-quality solutions, and illustrate that the trade-off between selecting an activity set size and search space restriction depends on the specific implementation. The computational tests demonstrate that the matheuristic discovered 24 new best known solutions that could not be found by either a meta-heuristic or an exact method individually. Moreover, a new benchmark dataset has been proposed that can be used to develop new matheuristic search procedures to solve the problem consisting of 461 instances from the literature.

2024

An International Overview of Teaching Control Systems During COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors
Guzmán J.L.; Zakova K.; Craig I.; Hägglund T.; Rivera D.E.; Normey-Rico J.; Moura-Oliveira P.; Wang L.; Serbezov A.; Sato T.; Visioli A.;

Publication
International Journal of Engineering Education

Abstract
This paper aims to provide an overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on control engineering education worldwide. The authors, who are educators in the control education field from various countries across all continents, first summarize their experiences to present a global perspective on the different solutions adopted in control education during the pandemic. Afterwards, collected information from the international community through a questionnaire enabled insightful comparisons between pre-pandemic and during-pandemic educational resources and methods, which are shared in this paper. The feedback from the authors’ experiences, along with the questionnaire responses, serves as a valuable resource for learning and improving teaching activities. The questionnaire was distributed among the international control engineering community in collaboration with the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) to explore the diverse alternatives employed globally for conducting online educational activities during the pandemic. These activities include methodologies, tools, theoretical exercises, laboratory experiments, exam types, simulators, and software for online lecturing.

2024

The impact of V2G charging stations (active power electronics) to the higher frequency grid impedance

Authors
Grasel, B; Baptista, J; Tragner, M;

Publication
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GRIDS & NETWORKS

Abstract
Renewable energy generation technologies, heat pumps or electric vehicle (EV) charging stations use active power electronics such as IGBT or MOSFET for AC to DC conversion with the consequence of emissions in the higher frequency range above 2 kHz (non-intentional supraharmonic emissions) and with an impact to the higher frequency grid impedance. In this study the impact of active power electronics on the higher frequency grid impedance in the range up to 150 kHz is analyzed. As existing grid modelling solutions do not consider these technologies sufficiently, this study analyzes the impact of a vehicle to grid (V2G) chargers to a representative distribution grid considering different grid topologies and different types of V2G chargers. The study shows that the additional capacitance and inductance (LCL filter, DC link capacitor) introduced in the electrical grid causes parallel and series resonances in a wide frequency range starting from 500 Hz up to 50 kHz. The grid topology and the number of V2G chargers connected determines the frequency range and characteristics of resonances. Finally, the major contribution of this study is outlining the importance of considering the higher frequency grid impedance for characterization of supraharmonic emissions (primary vs. secondary emissions) and their propagation.

2024

Virtual Batteries Business Models for Energy Suppliers

Authors
Gomes, I; Sousa, JVJ; Sousa, J; Lucas, A;

Publication
2024 20TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EUROPEAN ENERGY MARKET, EEM 2024

Abstract
Self-consumption regulations are leading to the emergence of new business models proposed by new players and causing traditional players to make new proposals to take advantage of the new business opportunities. In this context, traditional retailers are assessing self-consumption business models, offering management services for self-consumption structures, or the installation of distributed resources, such as solar panels or batteries. Some of the new business models being proposed by electricity suppliers are related to virtual battery services. Indeed, suppliers can, in the free retail market, create innovative tariffs, and design them to make their customers believe they own and manage a battery, even if it does not correspond to a physical battery in the grid. This paper analyses the business model of a supplier offering a virtual battery service, comparing it to the installation of a physical battery, showing that it has no significant benefits compared to more simple approaches.

2024

More (Enough) Is Better: Towards Few-Shot Illegal Landfill Waste Segmentation

Authors
Molina, M; Veloso, B; Ferreira, CA; Ribeiro, RP; Gama, J;

Publication
ECAI 2024 - 27th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 19-24 October 2024, Santiago de Compostela, Spain - Including 13th Conference on Prestigious Applications of Intelligent Systems (PAIS 2024)

Abstract
Image segmentation for detecting illegal landfill waste in aerial images is essential for environmental crime monitoring. Despite advancements in segmentation models, the primary challenge in this domain is the lack of annotated data due to the unknown locations of illegal waste disposals. This work mainly focuses on evaluating segmentation models for identifying individual illegal landfill waste segments using limited annotations. This research seeks to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive model evaluation to contribute to environmental crime monitoring and sustainability efforts by proposing to harness the combination of agnostic segmentation and supervised classification approaches. We mainly explore different metrics and combinations to better understand how to measure the quality of this applied segmentation problem. © 2024 The Authors.

  • 82
  • 4039