Abstract
This paper reports the design, modelling, fabrication and assembly of a silicon bulk-micromachined soil moisture microsensor using the Dual-Probe Heat-Pulse (DPHP) method. Soil humidity measurement is essential to study soil preservation and control the development of plants, namely in closed ecosystem. The DPHP method uses a heater (Peltier effect) and a temperature probe (Seebeck effect) to determine the volumetric heat capacity of the soil and hence water content (theta (v)). This is the first time that the DPHP method is implemented in a microdevice and the first integrated sensor for soil moisture. This microdevice is more suited to measure at different soil depths in a non-destructive and automated manner.

Abstract
This paper presents an on-chip silicon bulk-micromachined Soil Moisture Sensor (SMS) for irrigation control in greenhouses. The system-on-a-chip includes the SMS, readout electronics, self-test, calibration facilities and a digital bus interface for external data transmission. Moreover, this low-cost device can be applied in several locations (e. g. per each plant root), and networked together with the 1-wire bus. The heat-pulse technique is used (for measuring the maximum temperature on a distant point) to determine the volumetric heat capacity and hence the water content of a porous media, such as soil. In order to validate this method, experimental results were achieved with a macrosensor based on the heat-pulse and capacitance methods. The capacitance method relates the volumetric water content with the capacitance change (dielectric properties) of a probe, inserted in the soil. Several tests were performed for different type of soils and water contents. These results are compared with the measurements achieved using the conventional thermogravimetric method.

Abstract
Soil water content has a direct influence on the cooling and growth mechanisms of the plants. Crop evapotranspiration is majoring influenced by solar radiation and the air temperature, humidity and movement. An efficient irrigation system must supply and maintain, at soil root zone of the plants, the adequate amount of water that best regulate the physiological mechanisms of the plant. For this purpose, an intelligent real-time greenhouse irrigation system was implemented which uses accurate sensors for measuring soil moisture, as well to determinate the crop evapotranspiration. To avoid loss of control, it was provided fault-detection capabilities to the soil moisture sensor and used a knowledge-based approach to estimate replacement values for the faulty sensors. A model-based controller was implemented to regulate the water content at the root zone of the plants. These tasks are very complex and difficult to meet, unless microcontroller and microprocessor systems are employed, such as in the integrated management irrigation system. The system comprises four modules: Sensor/Actuation, Acquisition and Data Validation, Data Correction, Model Based Controller, and Control Signals Generation. All the modules are linked and supervised by a higher-level supervision module to achieve an intelligent irrigation.

Abstract
Despite the benefits of precision agriculture and precision viticulture production systems, its rate of adoption in the Portuguese Douro Demarcated Region remains low. We believe that one way to raise it is to address challenging real-world problems whose solution offers a clear benefit to the viticulturist. For example, one of the most demanding tasks in wine making is harvesting. Even for humans, the environment makes grape detection difficult, especially when the grapes and leaves have a similar color, which is generally the case for white grapes. In this paper, we propose a system for the detection and location, in the natural environment, of bunches of grapes in color images. This system is able to distinguish between white and red grapes, and at the same time, it calculates the location of the bunch stem. The system achieved 97% and 91% correct classifications for red and white grapes, respectively.

Abstract
The academic performance and social competence of a child in school is positively associated with the involvement of their parents. However, the researches about educational learning models often ignore the parents' part. Internet opens a new paradigm: education and communication approach is more complex than ever. Here, we would like to present an Internet based system to support students' homework. We believe that one of the major advantages of our system is time saving, particularly from the teacher's point of view. Also, this system gathers statistical data concerning different groups of students selected by the teacher. From these data on, the teacher can easily see where the students are having problems and decide what to do next. From the student (or parent) point of view, the prompt feedback about the exercises correctness, added to the training with different exercises sets about the same subject, besides the utilization of video, color, sound, etc., that positively reinforce child's senses, are elected as the main advantages. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract
Technology has profoundly changed the way we learn and live. Indeed, such relationship appears to be quite complex, within IT contexts, and especially in socially and technologically rich learning environments, where related skills and learning are progressively required and fostered. Thus, if a satisfactory level of intellectual performance and social competence of a primary school pupil is indeed highly dependent on the type of participation that parents offer their children, IT, in general, and Internet, in particular, may well provide a new paradigm, setting forth that education and communication approach is truly more complex than ever before. It is on the basis of such paradigm that we therefore present a case study where a set of multimedia exercises were used in order to possibly improve the mathematical skills of pupils, one with mental retardation and another with cerebral palsy. Being part of a Web-based system to support students' learning, the referred set of multimedia exercises proved to be the children's favorite, rather than exercises in paper form, which also led the children to show a fair more positive attitude towards learning. Also, we observed that through the mentioned multimedia exercises, the children became far more autonomous, interested, persistent, happy, and able to easily absorb the material as well as more willingly to continue on working.