Abstract
Our current society faces challenges in integrating individuals with disabilities, making this process difficult and painful. People with disabilities (PwD) are often mistakenly considered incapable due to the difficulties they face in daily tasks due to the lack of adapted means and tools. In this context, assistive technologies play a crucial role in improving the quality of life for these individuals. However, assistive technologies still have various limitations, making research in this area essential to enhance existing solutions and develop new approaches that meet individual needs, aiming to promote inclusion and equal opportunities. This paper presents a research project that focuses on the study of electromyography (EMG) signal processing generated by individuals who have undergone amputations. These signals are essential in assistive technologies, such as myoelectric prostheses. The study focuses on the impact of different filters and machine learning training methods on this processing. The results of this study have the potential to provide relevant findings for the development of more efficient assistive technologies. By understanding the processing of EMG signals and applying machine learning techniques, it is possible to improve the accuracy and response speed of prosthetics, increasing the functionality and naturalness of movements performed by users, as well as paving the way for the emergence of new technologies.

Abstract
This paper introduces a novel approach to autonomous vehicle control using an end-to-end learning framework. While existing solutions in the field often rely on computationally expensive architectures, our proposed lightweight model achieves comparable efficiency. We leveraged the Car Learning to Act (CARLA) simulator to generate training data by recording sensor inputs and corresponding control actions during simulated driving. The Mean Squared Error (MSE) loss function served as a performance metric during model training. Our end-to-end learning architecture demonstrates promising results in predicting steering angle and throttle, offering a practical and accessible solution for autonomous driving. Results of the experiment showed that our proposed network is approximate to 5.4 times lighter than Nvidia's PilotNet and had a slightly lower testing loss. We showed that our network is offering a balance between performance and computational efficiency. By eliminating the need for handcrafted feature engineering, our approach simplifies the control process and reduces computational demands. Experimental evaluation on a testing map showcases the model's effectiveness in real-world scenarios whilst being competitive with other existing models.

Abstract
Robotics competitions have been increasing in the last years since they bring several impacts on students education, such as technical skill development, teamwork, resilience and decision making withing the STEM skills. The article highlights the significance of robotics competitions as platforms for fostering innovation and driving advancements in the field of robotics. This article primarily focuses on the development of a robot in the Dragster category for the 2023 Portuguese Robotics Open. It outlines the strategies devised to tackle the competition's challenges and discusses the obstacles encountered along with the corresponding solutions employed. The article delves into the specific details of the challenges faced and the iterative processes undertaken to enhance the robot's performance and functionalities. By sharing the insights gained from the project, future proposals for iterations of the robot will be presented, aiming to further augment its features and overall performance while sharing knowledge with other teams and community.

Abstract
Identifying the maturation stage is an added value for olive oil producers and consumers, whether this is done to predict the best harvest time, give us more information about the olive oil, or even adapt techniques and extraction parameters in the olive oil mill. In this way, the proposed work presents a new method to identify and count the number of olives that enter the mill as well as their stage of maturation. It is based on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning algorithms, using the two most recent versions of YOLO, YOLOv7 and YOLOv8. The obtained results demonstrate the possibility of using this type of application in a real environment, managing to obtain a mAP of approximately 79% with YOLOv8 in the five maturation stages, with a processing rate of approximately 16 FPS increasing this with YOLOv7 to 36.5 FPS reaching a 66% mAP.

Abstract
The article provides a comparison of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) applied to the field of autonomous driving within the CARLA (CAr Learning to Act) simulator for training and evaluation. The analysis of results revealed CNNs better overall performance, as it demonstrated a more refined driving experience, shorter training durations, and a more straightforward learning curve and optimization process. However, it required data labelling. In contrast, RL relayed on an exhaustive (unsupervised) exploration of different models, ultimately selecting the model at timestep 600,000, which had the highest mean reward. Nevertheless, RL’s approach revealed its susceptibility to excessive oscillations and inconsistencies, necessitating additional optimization and tuning of hyperparameters and reward functions. This conclusion is further substantiated by a range of used performance metrics (objective and subjective), designed to assess the performance of each approach. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Abstract
This study focuses on the analysis of emulsion pictures to understand important parameters. While droplet size is a key parameter in emulsion science, manual procedures have been the traditional approach for its determination. Here we introduced the application of YOLOv7, a recently launched deep-learning model, for classifying emulsion droplets. A comparison was made between the two methods for calculating droplet size distribution. One of the methods, combined with YOLOv7, achieved 97.26% accuracy. These results highlight the potential of sophisticated image-processing techniques, particularly deep learning, in chemistry-related topics. The study anticipates further exploration of deep learning tools in other chemistry-related fields, emphasizing their potential for achieving satisfactory performance.