<div> Recent advancements of health monitoring sensing technologies are enabling plethora of new applications in a variety of biomedical areas. In this work, we present a new sensing technology that enables a fully autonomous monitoring of urinary tract infection (UTI). UTI is the second most common infection in the human body caused by bacterial pathogens, and costs millions of dollars each year to the patients and the health care industry. UTI is easily treatable using antibiotics if identified in early stages. However, when early stage identification is missed, UTI can be a major source of serious complications such as ascending infections, loss of kidney function, bacteremia, and sepsis. Unfortunately, the limitations of existing UTI monitoring technologies such as high cost, time-intensive sample preparation, and relatively high false alarm rate prohibit reliable detection of UTI in early stages. The problem becomes more serious in certain patient groups such as infants and geriatric patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, who have difficulties in realizing the symptoms and communicating the symptoms with their caregivers. In addition to the aforementioned difficulties, the fact that UTI is often asymptomatic makes early stage identifications quite challenging, and the reliable monitoring and detection of UTI in early stages remain as a serious problem.</div><div> To address these issues, we propose a diaper-embedded, self-powered, and fully autonomous UTI monitoring sensor module that enables autonomous monitoring and detection of UTI in early stages with minimal effort. The sensor module consists of a paper-based colorimetric nitrite sensor, urine-activated batteries, a boost dc-dc converter, a low-power sensor interface utilizing pulse width modulation, a Bluetooth low energy module for wireless transmission, and a software performing calibration at run-time. </div><div> To further optimize the sensor module, a new fully integrated DC-DC converter with low-profile and low ripple is developed. The proposed DC-DC converter maintains an extremely low level of output voltage ripples in the face of different battery output voltages, which is crucial for realizing low-noise sensor interfaces. Since the DC-DC converter is a part of a module embedded into a diaper, it is highly desirable for the DC-DC converter to have a small physical form factor in both area and height. To address this issue, the proposed DC-DC converter adopts a new charge recycling technique that enables a fully integrated design without utilizing any off-chip components. In addition, the DC-DC converter utilizes sub-module sharing techniques – multiple modules share a voltage buffer and a recycle capacitor to reduce power consumption and save chip area. The DC-DC converter provides a regulated voltage of 1.2V and achieves a maximum efficiency of 80% with a 300ohm load resistance. The output voltage ripple is in the range of 19.6mV to 26.6mV for an input voltage ranging from 0.66 to 0.86V.<br></div>

Ce travail s’inscrit dans le cadre de la mise en place d’une stratégie de SHM (Structural Health Monitoring) dédiée à la surveillance des structures en génie civil. Il a porté, d’une part, sur l’étude des méthodes de détection et de localisation de l’endommagement du bâti existant et, d’autre part, sur l’élaboration du cahier des charges d’un capteur « intégré » capable de délivrer des informations par transmission compacte des données pour les communiquer à une chaîne SHM. Des études numériques et expérimentales ont été réalisées dans cet objectif. L’état de l’art a clairement mis en évidence plusieurs points faibles des méthodes de détection et de localisation d’endommagements usuelles comme, par exemple, le manque de précision et/ou la complexité de mise en place. On observe aussi que la sensibilité de ces méthodes par rapport à plusieurs paramètres, essentiellement la direction de mesure, le positionnement des capteurs et la sévérité des endommagements, ne permet pas à ce jour de dresser un diagnostic précis de l’état de santé des structures. Pour répondre au cahier des charges d’une chaîne SHM, un Algorithme de Détection et de Localisation (ADL) a été élaboré. Cet algorithme fait appel à des méthodes utilisant les paramètres modaux, essentiellement les fréquences propres et les déformées modales. Leurs mises en œuvre séquentielles et itératives, judicieusement structurées et pilotées,a permis de répondre aux objectifs fixés. Les paramètres modaux requis sont identifiés à l’aide des techniques d’Analyse Modale Opérationnelle (AMO) et à partir de la réponse en accélérations des structures. Deux algorithmes d’AMO ont été utilisés pour leur efficacité et pour leur aptitude à l’automatisation: la méthode stochastique par sous ensemble (SSI), et la méthode de décomposition dans le domaine fréquentiel (FDD). En fusionnant les algorithmes d’AMO avec l’ADL, une chaîne complète de surveillance a été créée. La validation des algorithmes et de la chaîne de surveillance s’est faite à plusieurs niveaux. Tout d’abord, basés sur la théorie des éléments finis, des modèles numériques de la tour de l'Ophite et du pont canadien de la Rivière aux-Mulets ont permis d'évaluer l'ADL. Ces modèles sont endommagés par des signaux sismiques et fournissent les données accélérométriques, données d’entrée du logiciel que nous avons développé. Les résultats obtenus sont tout à fait satisfaisants voire meilleurs que ceux issus des méthodes usuelles. Dans un second temps, nous avons traité des données expérimentales «réelles », issues des mesures accélérométriques sur la tour de l’Ophite. La confrontation entre les résultats d’identification des fréquences propres et des déformées modales issus des algorithmes d’AMO et ceux reportés par la bibliographie, a révélé l’efficacité des algorithmes développés.Enfin, une maquette d’un bâtiment à échelle réduite a également été élaborée et instrumentée.L’application de la chaine de surveillance a permis, d’une part, de détecter et localiser l’endommagement introduit dans la structure et, d’autre part, de mettre en évidence l’intérêt de la surveillance automatique. Finalement, une étude a été menée dans le but de réduire la quantité d’informations enregistrées sur les structures et de faciliter le transfert des données servant comme entrées de la chaîne de surveillance. Les résultats de ces études ont contribué à la spécification d’un nouveau système de surveillance / The work presented in this thesis is part of the development of a Structural Health Monitoring(SHM) system dedicated to civil engineering applications. First, it studies the methods of damagedetection and localization. Furthermore, it helps elaborate the specifications of an integratedsensor capable of delivering information by compact transmission of data to an SHM chain.Numerical and experimental studies have been carried out for this purpose. The study of theliterature clearly highlighted several weak points of the traditional damage detection andlocalization methods, such as the lack of precision and the complexity of implementation. Thesensitivity of these methods with respect to several parameters, essentially the measurementdirection, the positioning of the sensors and the severity of the damage, makes it impossible todraw up an accurate diagnosis of the structures. In order to overcome these limitations, a damageDetection and Localization Algorithm (DLA) was developed. By applying Vibration-Based Damage Detection Methods, following a precise order and taking into account the sensitivity, the simplicityand the SHM level of each method, this algorithm made it possible to meet the objectives set at the beginning of this work. The required modal parameters, namely eigen-frequencies and modeshapes, were identified from the structure’s output-only response using Operational ModalAnalysis techniques (OMA). Two OMA algorithms were used for their efficiency and automationability: the Stochastic Subspace Identification method (SSI) and the Frequency DomainDecomposition method (FDD). By merging the OMA algorithms with the DLA, a complete SHMchain was created. The algorithms validation was made at several levels. First, the DLA wasevaluated using a Finite Element Model (FEM) of the Ophite tower and the Rivière aux Muletsbridge. The results obtained were quite satisfactory. Secondly, experimental data were processed,from accelerometric measurements on the Ophite tower. The confrontation between the results ofeigen-frequencies and mode shapes identification using OMA algorithms and those reported in theliterature revealed the efficiency of the developed algorithms. Finally, a scale model of a buildingwas developed, instrumented and damaged. The use of the surveillance chain allowed thedetection and localization of the damage. Moreover, it showed all the interest of using automatic surveillance. The last step of this work dealt with a study carried out to reduce the amount of datarecorded on structures in order to facilitate their transfer to the SHM chain. As a conclusion, the results of these studies contributed to the specification of a new monitoring system

A crescente demanda por Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (VANT) tem sido objeto de preocupação por parte das organizações internacionais responsáveis pela segurança do espaço aéreo. O uso de VANT em condições restritas tem sido realizado pelos interessados e envolvidos, mas para que o VANT seja economicamente viável, há a necessidade de regulamentação ainda não existente para sua integração segura no Espaço Aéreo Controlado e Não Segregado. Em função dessa demanda não atendida, nesta Tese foi desenvolvido um método (Safety-VANT) que avalia a segurança crítica da condução do VANT, tarefa realizada por um Sistema Autônomo de Pilotagem. O desenvolvimento do Método Safety-VANT tem como missão fornecer aos órgãos reguladores, assim como aos desenvolvedores de VANT, meios de quantificar a avaliação de segurança na navegabilidade aérea dessas aeronaves. Uma hipótese considerada para o método é a de que o hardware e software (aviônicos, fuselagem, sensores e atuadores) do VANT estejam previamente avaliados e certificados pelos mesmos procedimentos e regras aplicáveis para os equipamentos de aeronaves tripuladas. Essa hipótese permitiu que o desenvolvimento do método de avaliação de segurança Safety-VANT fosse direcionado para avaliar a capacidade de comando autônomo de um VANT para voar, navegar e comunicar de acordo com as regras do sistema de gerenciamento e controle do tráfego aéreo. A aplicação do Safety-VANT foi exercitada sob um VANT hipotético definido como sendo capaz de voar, navegar e se comunicar com o Controle de Tráfego Aéreo e que tenha os equipamentos e estrutura da aeronave (fuselagem) que o constitui, devidamente certificados. Adicionalmente são realizadas considerações sobre como implantar a utilização do Safety-VANT no desenvolvimento de VANT Autônomo com a missão de ser integrado no Espaço Aéreo. / The growing demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has been a subject of concern on the part of international organizations responsible for airspace safety. UAV has been used by stakeholders in strict conditions, but for UAV to become economically viable, it is necessary to issue regulations that still do not exist for safe integration in the controlled non-segregated airspace. In the light of this unattended demand, a method (Safety-VANT) was developed in this Thesis to evaluate the critical safety of UAV conduction, a task performed by a Piloting Autonomous System. The development of the Safety-VANT method aims to provide UAV regulators and developers, means of quantifying the safety assessment in the aircraft airworthiness. A hypothesis used in the method considers that the UAV hardware and software (avionics, fairing, sensors and actuators) are previously evaluated and certified by the same procedures and rules applicable to manned aircraft equipment. This hypothesis allowed the Safety-VANT - the developed safety assessment method - to evaluate the ability of an autonomous command embedded in an UAV to fly, to navigate and to communicate, according to the management of air navigation system rules. The Safety-VANT application was exercised under a hypothetical UAV set to being able to fly, to navigate and to communicate with Air Traffic Control and it has the equipment and the certified aircraft structure (fairing). In addition, considerations are performed for deploying the use of Safety-VANT in autonomous UAV development to integrate it into the Airspace.

Grâce au partenariat avec l'entreprise luxembourgeoise Post Luxembourg, nous avons pu tester différentes méthodes pour mesurer le trafic interdomaine à la bordure de leur réseau avec Internet. Le choix s'est porté sur une technologie existante : Netflow. Avec ces données nous avons pu réaliser diverses analyses afin de comprendre l'évolution du trafic en fonction de différents paramètres comme l'heure de la journée, le jour de la semaine... D'après ces analyses, plusieurs solutions ont été envisagées pour modéliser le trafic. Deux méthodes ont été proposées et testées sur des données réelles : une méthode d'analyse de séries temporelles et une méthode de machine learning reposant sur les processus gaussiens. Ces techniques ont été comparées sur différents systèmes autonomes. Les résultats sont satisfaisants pour les deux méthodes avec un avantage pour la méthode des processus gaussiens. Cette thèse propose le développement d'une solution logicielle ANODE mise en production chez Post Luxembourg et permettant l'analyse de bout en bout du trafic de cœur de réseau : mesure de données, modélisation, prédiction et détection d'anomalies / Inter-domain routing statistics are not usually publicly available but with the partnership with Post Luxembourg, we deployed a network wide measurements of Internet traffic. Those statistics show clear daily and weekly pattern and several points of interest. From all the information gathered, two modelling approach were chosen: the first one from the time series domain and the second one from the machine learning approach. Both were tested on several dataset of autonomous systems and the second one, Gaussian Process, was kept for the next steps. The proposal of this study is the development of a software solution called ANODE, which is used at Post Luxembourg, allowing the analysis of backbone traffic: measurments, modelling, forecasting and anomaly detection

A crescente demanda por Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (VANT) tem sido objeto de preocupação por parte das organizações internacionais responsáveis pela segurança do espaço aéreo. O uso de VANT em condições restritas tem sido realizado pelos interessados e envolvidos, mas para que o VANT seja economicamente viável, há a necessidade de regulamentação ainda não existente para sua integração segura no Espaço Aéreo Controlado e Não Segregado. Em função dessa demanda não atendida, nesta Tese foi desenvolvido um método (Safety-VANT) que avalia a segurança crítica da condução do VANT, tarefa realizada por um Sistema Autônomo de Pilotagem. O desenvolvimento do Método Safety-VANT tem como missão fornecer aos órgãos reguladores, assim como aos desenvolvedores de VANT, meios de quantificar a avaliação de segurança na navegabilidade aérea dessas aeronaves. Uma hipótese considerada para o método é a de que o hardware e software (aviônicos, fuselagem, sensores e atuadores) do VANT estejam previamente avaliados e certificados pelos mesmos procedimentos e regras aplicáveis para os equipamentos de aeronaves tripuladas. Essa hipótese permitiu que o desenvolvimento do método de avaliação de segurança Safety-VANT fosse direcionado para avaliar a capacidade de comando autônomo de um VANT para voar, navegar e comunicar de acordo com as regras do sistema de gerenciamento e controle do tráfego aéreo. A aplicação do Safety-VANT foi exercitada sob um VANT hipotético definido como sendo capaz de voar, navegar e se comunicar com o Controle de Tráfego Aéreo e que tenha os equipamentos e estrutura da aeronave (fuselagem) que o constitui, devidamente certificados. Adicionalmente são realizadas considerações sobre como implantar a utilização do Safety-VANT no desenvolvimento de VANT Autônomo com a missão de ser integrado no Espaço Aéreo. / The growing demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has been a subject of concern on the part of international organizations responsible for airspace safety. UAV has been used by stakeholders in strict conditions, but for UAV to become economically viable, it is necessary to issue regulations that still do not exist for safe integration in the controlled non-segregated airspace. In the light of this unattended demand, a method (Safety-VANT) was developed in this Thesis to evaluate the critical safety of UAV conduction, a task performed by a Piloting Autonomous System. The development of the Safety-VANT method aims to provide UAV regulators and developers, means of quantifying the safety assessment in the aircraft airworthiness. A hypothesis used in the method considers that the UAV hardware and software (avionics, fairing, sensors and actuators) are previously evaluated and certified by the same procedures and rules applicable to manned aircraft equipment. This hypothesis allowed the Safety-VANT - the developed safety assessment method - to evaluate the ability of an autonomous command embedded in an UAV to fly, to navigate and to communicate, according to the management of air navigation system rules. The Safety-VANT application was exercised under a hypothetical UAV set to being able to fly, to navigate and to communicate with Air Traffic Control and it has the equipment and the certified aircraft structure (fairing). In addition, considerations are performed for deploying the use of Safety-VANT in autonomous UAV development to integrate it into the Airspace.

O presente documento tem por objetivo apresentar a tese desenvolvida no programa de doutorado em Ciência da Computação e Matemática Computacional do ICMC/USP. Esta tese aborda o desenvolvimento de sistemas autônomos, de baixo custo, para supervisão de missão e segurança de voo em Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (VANTs). A supervisão da missão é assegurada através da implementação de um sistema do tipo Mission Oriented Sensor Array (MOSA), responsável pelo adequado cumprimento da missão. A segurança de voo é garantida pelo sistema In-Flight Awareness (IFA), que visa monitorar o funcionamento da aeronave. Os assuntos missão e segurança são complexos e os sistemas MOSA e IFA foram idealizados e desenvolvidos de forma independente, fundamentando-se na ideia de separação de interesses. O desenvolvimento desses sistemas foi baseado em dois modelos de referência: MOSA e IFA, propostos pela literatura. Em trabalhos anteriores da literatura, alguns sistemas do tipo MOSA e IFA foram propostos para situações específicas de missão. Numa outra abordagem, esta tese propõe um único sistema MOSA e IFA capaz de se adequar a um conjunto distinto de missões. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvida toda arquitetura de comunicação que integra os sistemas MOSA e IFA. No entanto, apenas esses dois sistemas não são suficientes para fazer a execução da missão com segurança, necessitando-se de um sistema capaz de se comunicar com o Piloto Automático (AP) do VANT. Logo, um sistema capaz de enviar requisições e comandos ao AP foi também implementado. Através desses três sistemas, missões autônomas com desvio de obstáculos puderam ser realizadas sem intervenção humana, mesmo diante de situações críticas ao voo. Assegurar os aspectos de segurança e missão pode se tornar conflitante durante o voo, pois em situações emergenciais deve-se abortar a missão. Diferentes estratégias para planejamento e replanejamento de rotas, baseadas em computação evolutiva e heurísticas, foram desenvolvidas e integradas nos sistemas MOSA e IFA. Os sistemas, aqui propostos, foram validados em quatro etapas: (i) experimentos com o simulador de voo FlightGear; (ii) simulações com a técnica Software-In-The-Loop (SITL); (iii) simulações com a técnica Hardware-In- The-Loop (HITL); (iv) voos reais. Na última etapa, os sistemas foram embarcados em dois modelos de VANTs, desenvolvidos pelo grupo de pesquisa. Durante a experimentação, alguns modelos de pilotos automáticos (APM e Pixhawk), computadores de bordo (Raspberry Pi 3, Intel Edison e BeagleBone Black), planejadores de missão e replanejadores de rotas emergenciais foram avaliados. Ao todo, três planejadores de rotas e oito replanejadores são suportados pela plataforma autônoma. O sistema autônomo desenvolvido permite alterar missões com diferentes características de hardware e de software de forma fácil e transparente, sendo, desse modo, uma arquitetura com características plug and play. / This document aims to present the thesis developed in the doctoral program in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics at ICMC/USP. This thesis addresses the development of low- cost autonomous systems for mission supervision and flight safety in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The mission supervision is ensured through the implementation of a Mission Oriented Sensor Array (MOSA) system, which is responsible for the proper fulfillment of the mission. The flight safety is guaranteed by the In-Flight Awareness (IFA) system, which aims to monitor the aircraft operation. The mission and safety issues are complex, and the MOSA and IFA systems were idealized and developed independently, based on the idea of separation of concerns. The development of these systems was based on two reference models: MOSA and IFA, proposed in the literature. In previous works of the literature, some MOSA and IFA systems have been proposed for specific mission situations. In another approach, this thesis proposes a single MOSA and IFA system capable of adapting to a distinct set of missions. All the communication architecture that integrates the MOSA and IFA systems were developed in this work. However, only these two systems are not sufficient to carry out the mission safely; a system that can communicate with the AutoPilot (AP) of the UAV its also needed. In this way, a system that is capable of sending commands and requests to the AP was implemented in this work. Through these three systems, autonomous missions with a diversion of obstacles could be carried out without human intervention, even in critical situations to the flight. Ensuring the safety and mission aspects can become conflicting during the flight because in hazards situations the mission must be aborted. Different strategies for path planning and path replanning, based on evolutionary computation and heuristics, were developed and integrated into the MOSA and IFA systems. The systems proposed here were validated in four stages: (i) experiments with FlightGear flight simulator; (ii) simulations using Software-In-The-Loop (SITL); (iii) simulations using Hardware- In-The-Loop (HITL); (iv) real flights. In the last stage, the systems were embedded in two models of UAVs, developed by the research group. During the experiment were evaluated some models of autopilots (APM and Pixhawk), companion computers (Raspberry Pi 3, Intel Edison and BeagleBone Black), mission planners and emergency route planners. In all, three route planners and eight replanners are supported by the autonomous platform. The developed autonomous system allows changing missions with different hardware and software characteristics in an easy and transparent way, being, therefore, an architecture with Plug and play characteristics.

This study aims to show that the adoption of the cybernetic perspective is appropriate in dealing with relationship problems of interacting and communicating individuals since it authenticates the inclusion of the therapist in the therapeutic system, and thus the creation of a reality by all involved, and not just the therapist alone. The constructivist view of the world and the systemic theoretical assumptions are recognized as the required framework for the adopted cybernetic approach. The consideration of the stability/change nature of change is acknowledged as forming the most essential aspects of the change that system require. Thus addressing both stability of what clients need to maintain of themselves, as well as what they want to change is important. The action research methodology used in this research ensured a focus on the actions of the therapist/social worker while facilitating a therapeutic process with a family. Therefore attention could be given to areas requiring change through the planning, acting and reflecting steps throughout the process. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

Les systèmes autonomes, notamment ceux opérant à proximité d'êtres humains, soulèvent des problèmes de sécurité-innocuité puisqu'ils peuvent causer des blessures. La complexité de la commande de ces systèmes, ainsi que leurs interactions avec un environnement peu structuré, rendent difficile l'élimination complète des fautes. Nous adoptons donc une démarche de tolérance aux fautes en considérant un moniteur de sécurité séparé de la commande principale et qui dispose de ses propres moyens d'observation et d'intervention. Le comportement de ce moniteur est régi par des règles qui doivent assurer la sécurité du système tout en lui permettant de remplir ses fonctions. Nous proposons une méthode systématique pour obtenir ces règles de sécurité. Les dangers, déterminés par une analyse de risque, sont modélisés formellement puis un algorithme synthétise des règles sûres et permissives, s'il en existe. Nous avons outillé cette méthode pour les étapes de modélisation et de synthèse en nous appuyant sur l'outil de vérification de modèle NuSMV. L'étude d'un cas industriel illustre l'application de la méthode et des outils sur un robot manufacturier dans un environnement humain. / Autonomous systems operating in the vicinity of humans are critical in that they potentially harm humans. In these systems, fault removal is not sufficient given the command complexity and their interactions with an unstructured environment. By a fault tolerance approach, we consider a safety monitor separated from the main command and able to observe and intervene on the system. The monitor behavior is specified by safety rules that must both ensure safety and permit the system to carry out its tasks in absence of hazard. We propose a systematic method to obtain these safety rules. The hazards, determined by a risk analysis, are formally modeled, then an algorithm synthesizes safe and permissive rules, if any exists. The method is tooled both for modeling and synthesis by use of the model-checker NuSMV. Method and tools are applied to the industrial use case of a robotic co-worker.

The project considers realization system, which allows us to test six different operation modes on lifetime of accumulators. The system will be connected to computer, that will perform measurement of current and voltage and switch betwen charge and discharge modes. The measured values will be recorded in certain time intervals to computer memory. After some time these measured data will be analised and the most optimal operational mode will be set.

No description available.