Em geral, um problema importante em um sistema de soldagem robotizado, ou com manipuladores automáticos, é a necessidade de uma trajetória ser reprogramada quando a forma ou a posição das peças mudam. Como solução a esse problema é proposto um método que utiliza técnicas de visão computacional, para assim detectar a trajetória de soldagem em juntas de topo. O método deve ser dinâmico permitindo a identificação de juntas de topo com cantos não próximos, linhas não retas e tamanhos diferentes entre as peças, assim como apresentar robustez contra variáveis desfavoráveis do ambiente industrial como riscos nas peças ou no fundo e mudanças de luminosidade. A trajetória é detectada baseando-se na linha de bordas da imagem global e adicionalmente trabalha-se sobre duas características da linha de solda: distância quase constante entre linhas paralelas e pixels de linha de solda com menor intensidade de luminosidade que as bordas. Uma etapa é proposta para robustez do método sobre linha de bordas descontinuas e possíveis erros em ponto inicial e final de solda. O trabalho proposto é validado com distintas configurações de junta de topo, como com cantos de peças não coincidentes, linha de solda não reta e diferentes orientações de peças. Os pontos da trajetória de solda obtidos são comparados com uma linha de solda considerada ideal, resultando em uma média e desvio padrão geral inferiores à um valor de 0,5 mm. Uma validação experimental é realizada com uma solda executada por um robô industrial seguindo os pontos de solda detectados, com os resultados demostrando que o método efetivamente pode definir uma trajetória de solda para aplicações industriais robotizadas. / In general, one of the most important problems in a robotic welding system, or in automatic manipulations, is the requirement of a path trajectory to be reprogramed when the shape or the position of the welding pieces are changed. In order to detect the welding seam in butt joints, a method that makes use of computational vision techniques is proposed. The method needs to be dynamic against variation in the configuration of the pieces, so as curved or not straight seam lines, not coincident corners; beside of that, it must to present robustness against unfavorable variables of the industrial environment, so as scratches in the pieces or illumination changes. Two features of the welding line are taken into account to develop the method: almost constant distance between parallel seam lines and darker pixels in the center of the seam than in the borders. Moreover a robustness step is proposed over two weaknesses of the method: discontinuities in the edges of the welding line and possible errors in the location of the start and end welding points. The validation step of the method involves different configuration of butt joints, as pieces without corner being coincident, not straight welding line and different orientations. The points of the welding seam detected by the method, are compared against a set of welding points considered as an ideal set of points, getting as results a mean and standard deviation lower than ± 0.5 mm. An experimental test is carried out by an industrial robot that welds two pieces following the welding line points, with the results showing that the method can effectively define a welding trajectory for industrial robotics applications.

This paper summarizes a panel discussion at the 15th International Conference on Business Process Management. The panel discussed to what extent the emergence of recent technologies including machine learning, robotic process automation, and blockchain will reduce the human factor in business process management. The panel discussion took place on 14 September, 2017, at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Jan Mendling served as a chair; Gero Decker, Richard Hull, Hajo Reijers, and Ingo Weber participated as panelists. The discussions emphasized the impact of emerging technologies at the task level and the coordination level. The major challenges that the panel identified relate to employment, technology acceptance, ethics, customer experience, job design, social integration, and regulation.

The aim of the thesis was to assess objectively the exploitation of the functional capacity of milking machines in the system of free moving animals. There were data coming from seven agricultural companies analysed in the thesis. The data collection took place from January to November 2009. We were provided with the preliminary data by the individual farms taking part in a programme called T4C. The information on problematic dairy cows comes directly from their breeders. The average production of the dairy cows was the first assessed criterion. The highest production (28.79kg) was achieved by little private agricultural companies. The lowest production (25.22kg) was ascertained in middle-sized companies. As far as the breed of dairy cows is concerned, the Holstein dairy cows gave the highest possible amount of milk (40.43; 30.16 a 27.01 kg). The CRV Fleckvieh cattle dairy cows gave the lowest possible amount of milk (24.83; 21.04 a 22.74 kg). The assessment of the number of milking by means of the robotic milking system represents the next criterion. Little private agricultural companies showed the highest frequency of milking (140.88). Whereas the big agricultural companies showed the lowest frequency of milking (119.28). Mostly the Holstein dairy cows were milked by the robotic milking machines (130.34). On the other hand, the CRV Fleckvieh cattle dairy cows were milked least by the robotic milking machines by contrast (107.94). The middle-sized agricultural companies achieved the highest number of milking per dairy cow, per day (2.47). The little private agricultural companies proved the lowest number of milking per dairy cow (2.34). The mixed herds of the Holsteins and CRV Fleckviehs proved the rate of 2.47. The Holstein dairy cows showed the milking frequency 2.45 per day while the CRV Fleckvieh dairy cows 2.32. The dairy cows from the big agricultural companies went to be milked by the robotic milking machine most frequently from the point of view of willingness, what follows is that these dairy cows showed the highest number of refusals per one milking (2.19). The lowest values of this criterion were shown in little private agricultural companies (1.10). With reference to the breed, the values of this indicator proved the lowest number of refusals (1.85) whereas the CRV Fleckviehs showed the highest number of refusals (2.25). The exploitation of the time capacity has been proven as the most effective one - 78.61% in little private agricultural companies. Whereas the lowest time exploitation has been proven in big agricultural companies - 68.11%. As far as the cow breed is concerned, it was ascertained that the Holstein dairy cows were milked longest -73.21%. On the other hand the CRV Fleckviehs were milked shortest - 63.17%. The highest amount of the dairy cows that needed to by accompanied to the robotic milking machine was recorded in big agricultural companies - 20.1%. Remarkably lower number of problematic cows was ascertained in middle-sized agricultural companies - 9.7%. The number of problematic cows in little private agricultural companies proved to be similar to the number in middle-sized agricultural companies 9.3%. It was ascertained that the most problematic dairy cows came from the mixed herds - 18.7%. The CRV Fleckviehs were the least problematic - 8.8%.

The aim of thesis was to analyze quality indicators of raw bulk milk close to change of milking technology. Data were derived from pool samples. The quality indicators are: fat content, protein content, total bacterial count (TBC), somatic cell count (SCC), freezing point, solids-not-fat content, urea and casein content.

Este trabalho consiste na elaboração de uma estratégia para a geração de trajetórias otimizadas para um robô cilíndrico de cinco graus de liberdade acionado pneumaticamente. Como resultado da aplicação do método desenvolvido obtêm-se as trajetórias no espaço das juntas que resultam no movimento adequado do efetuador do robô, de acordo com algum critério de otimização. Para a obtenção das trajetórias das juntas do robô a partir de uma dada trajetória desejada para o efetuador, resolveu-se o problema de cinemática inversa por meio de uma abordagem algébrica. Para a geração de trajetórias entre os pontos no espaço de trabalho do robô propõe-se a utilização de um algoritmo de aproximação de pontos através de splines compostas por polinômios de sétimo grau. Essa escolha garante a continuidade da função de posição, bem como de suas três primeiras derivadas, sendo essa uma condição necessária para a implantação de importantes leis e estratégias de controle (como, por exemplo, a estratégia em cascata, utilizada com sucesso no controle de sistemas servopneumáticos). O método proposto para a geração de splines possibilita, através do ajuste de parâmetros em função da exigência de cada aplicação, a obtenção de curvas no espaço das juntas com valores otimizados de jerk, aceleração ou velocidade. Para aplicação na geração de trajetórias para o robô, a interpolação dos pontos é realizada no espaço dos atuadores a fim de fornecer ao controlador as curvas de referência para posição, velocidade, aceleração e jerk. Para a demonstração da aplicação do método no seguimento de trajetórias, são utilizadas como referência curvas tridimensionais cujos valores numéricos são comparados com os resultados fornecidos a partir da metodologia proposta. Assim, uma vez calculadas as trajetórias em cada uma das juntas através da cinemática inversa, utiliza-se as transformações homogêneas da cinemática direta do robô, obtidas a partir do método de Denavit-Hartenberg, para obter a trajetória do efetuador e verificar a funcionalidade do modelo resultante. / This work consists of developing a strategy to generate optimized trajectories for a cylindrical robot with five degrees of freedom which is actuated pneumatically. As a result of the application of the developed method, trajectories in joint space are obtained and result in the proper motion of the robot’s end-effector according to a given optimizing criteria. In order to obtain the trajectories of the robot’s joints from a given desired trajectory for the end-effector, the problem of inverse kinematics was solved by an algebraic approach. To generate trajectories between points in the robot’s workspace it was proposed the use of an algorithm for approximation of points through splines composed by seventh degrees polynomials. This choice ensures the continuity of the position function as well as its first three derivatives. It is a necessary condition for the implementation of important laws and control strategies (for example, the cascade strategy which is successfully used in servo-pneumatic control systems). The proposed method to generate splines allows, through the adjustment of parameters taking into account the requirements of each application, the obtainment of curves in the joint space with optimized values of jerk, acceleration and speed. In order to apply the method in the generation of trajectories for the robot, the interpolation of the points is performed in the space of the actuators with the purpose of providing the controller reference curves for position, speed, acceleration and jerk. To demonstrate the application of the method in trajectory tracking, three-dimensional curves are used and their numerical values are compared with the results provided by the proposed methodology. Therefore, once the calculated trajectory in each joint through inverse kinematics is obtained, homogeneous transformations of the direct kinematics of the robot, obtained by Denavit-Hartenberg’s method, are employed to find out the trajectory of the end-effector and verify the functionality of the resulting model.

Base Teórica: A histerectomia ainda é um procedimento cirúrgico frequente. Nos últimos 25 anos, muitos esforços foram feitos para reduzir o número de histerectomias abdominais, como o avanço tecnológico, que permitiu cirurgias menos invasivas. Visando ampliar o uso da cirurgia minimamente invasiva, foi desenvolvida a cirurgia robótica, com a vantagem de facilitar o uso da laparoscopia proporcionando movimentos mais ergonômicos e precisos. Apesar de ser tecnologia recente e do alto custo, vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço na prática clínica. Dados sobre tempo cirúrgico e tempo de internação pós-operatória tem sido alvo de várias publicações, uma vez que afetam os custos do procedimento. Objetivo: O presente projeto visa à documentação da experiência inicial do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre na realização da histerectomia robótica, e comparação dos seus dados com outras vias de histerectomia já realizados no nosso meio. Métodos: Foi realizado estudo caso-controle para comparação de dados pré-operatórios, operatórios (como tempo cirúrgico total e sangramento) e pós-operatórios (tempo de recuperação pós-operatória, complicações, dor nas primeiras 24 horas após a cirurgia), em 80 pacientes, submetidas à histerectomia para tratamento de patologias uterinas benignas. Nós incluímos quatro grupos de pacientes: robótico, vaginal, abdominal e laparoscópico. O grupo robótico foi composto pelas primeiras 20 cirurgias realizadas em nosso hospital, e os grupos controle foram selecionados retrospectivamente a partir da data da última cirurgia robótica, constituindo uma amostragem não probabilística. Também foi realizado estudo transversal utilizando apenas as pacientes submetidas à cirurgia robótica em nosso serviço, para fins de documentação de nossa experiência inicial. Resultados: O grupo robótico foi responsável pelo maior tempo cirúrgico total (180,7 minutos), e pelo menor tempo de recuperação pós-operatória (23,7 horas), entre os quatro grupos. Não houve diferença entre os grupos na análise do sangramento transoperatório e das complicações pós-operatórias. Dados analisados sobre a dor pós-operatória não diferiram entre os grupos. No estudo transversal, foi demonstrada curva de aprendizado em tempo de docking e undocking, e houve correlação forte entre tempo cirúrgico total e índice de massa corporal da paciente. Conclusão: Análise do tempo cirúrgico total e do tempo de recuperação pós-operatória são relevantes, pois podem ser ferramentas necessárias para redução dos custos da cirurgia robótica. Nossa experiência inicial demonstra curva de aprendizado em alguns aspectos. / Background: Hysterectomy is a frequent surgical procedure. In the last 25 years, many efforts have been made to reduce the number of abdominal hysterectomies, such as the technological advances, which allowed less invasive procedures. Aiming to increase the use of minimally invasive surgery, the robotic surgery was developed, which advantage of more precise and ergonomic movements than laparoscopy. Although it is a recent and expensive technology, robotic surgery is gaining more space in clinical practice. Data from Total Surgical Time and Time of Postoperative Recovery has been target of publications, once they can affect the costs. Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the surgical outcomes of patients undergoing robotic hysterectomy for benign cases to patients undergoing another types of hysterectomy performed in our institution. Methods: It was performed a case-control study to compare pre-operative, operative (as Total Surgical Time and bleeding) and postoperative (Time of Postoperative Recovery, complications, and pain at the first 24 hours after the surgery) in 80 patients undergoing hysterectomy for treatment of various benign uterine conditions. We have included four groups of patients: robotic, vaginal, abdominal and laparoscopic. The robotic group was composed by the first twenty patients undergoing robotic hysterectomy at our hospital, and the control groups were retrospectively selected from the date of the last robotic surgery, constituting a non-probabilistic sample. We also performed a crosssectional study with the 20 patients of robotic group, to document our initial experience. Results: The robotic group was responsible for the longer Total Surgical Time (180.7 minutes), and for the shortest Time of Postoperative Recovery (23.7 hours) among the four groups. There were no difference between the groups in analysis of estimated blood loss and postoperative complications. Data related to postoperative pain showed no difference between the groups. At cross-sectional study, it was demonstrated learning curve of docking and undocking times, and was found a strong correlation between Total Surgical Time and body mass index. Conclusion: Analysis of Total Surgical Time and Time of Postoperative Recovery are relevant, because they can be necessary tools to reduce the costs of robotic surgery. Our initial experience demonstrated learning curve in some ways.

Aqueous Phase Partitioning has a long history of applications to the analytical characterisation of biomolecules. However process applications have attracted the most interest in biotechnology where it has become widely recognized as a cost-effective technique. The main aim of this work was to explore the proposition that partition in Aqueous Two Phase Systems (ATPS) can be used as an analytical tool to detect protein isoforms and to assess the applicability of the method in clinical assays and for quality control in bioprocessing through examination of several analytical problems. The work also examined the development of automated methods of system preparation and sampling techniques to determine the partition coefficient in ATPS. The study demonstrated that the geometrical form of the phase diagram co-existence curve was of crucial importance since this directly affected the accuracy with which systems of defined Tie Line Length and Mass Ratio could be constructed. The TLL %Bias (accuracy) of a theoretical system range in the PEG1000-(NH4)2SO4 system at shorter TLL (12.2) was in the range +80.6% to -100% while at a longer TLL (53.1) the %Bias (accuracy) was reduced to +0.1% to -1.9%. At the same time the MR %Bias (accuracy) at shorter TLL (12.2) was in the range +59.5% to -21.3% while at the longer TLL (53.1) this was reduced to +2.7% to -2.6%. By contrast in the PEG8000-Dextran500 system the TLL %Bias (accuracy) at shorter TLL (13.1) was in the range +3.7% to -4.12%, while at a longer TLL (31.1) the range was +0.74% to -0.67%. The MR %Bias (accuracy) at the shorter TLL (13.1) was in the range +3.6% to -3% while at the longer TLL (31.1) the range was +1.1% to -1.4%. This illustrated that it is more difficult to work with a high degree of accuracy (e.g. %Bias <5%) close to the critical point in PEG-salt systems than in PEG-dextran systems. Two different approaches were taken to examine analytical phase partitioning. In the first approach the structure of the isoforms of a model protein (ovalbumin) were altered enzymatically. Analytical methods involving Strong Anion-Exchange chromatography were developed and applied to the separation of the ovalbumin isoforms. Removal of the phosphorylated groups (dephosphorylation of ovalbumin) was undertaken using alkaline phosphatase and de-glycosylation was attempted using neuraminidase and Endo-glycosidase F. However, both enzymatic approaches to deglycosylation were unsuccessful. Dephosphorylated isoforms were successfully produced and characterised. After partitioning in ATPS a clear difference was demonstrated between the behaviour of the native and dephosphorylated forms of ovalbumin. The mean % recovery in a PEG-salt ATPS was 99.8% (± 3.59) for the naive protein and 75.6% (± 4.03) for the dephosphorylated form. On the other hand, in a PEG3350-Dextran500 system, where solubility was maintained, a significant difference in the partition coefficient (K) of native and dephosphorylated ovalbumin was found. K for native ovalbumin was 0.85 while the partition coefficient of the dephosphorylated ovalbumin was 0.61. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that the regression coefficients of the respective partition isotherms were significantly different (p value < 0.05). In a second approach to examine analytical phase partitioning, chemical modification of a specific target surface amino acid of another model protein (serum albumin) was used to determine the degree of conjugation of the protein and also to determine its oxidative state. The method examined the reactivity of a free surface thiol to a wide range of labels ( (a) 2-methylsulfonyl-5-phenyl -1,3,4 oxidiazole reagent, (b) N-Ethylmaleimide (NEM) reagent, (c) 5, 5’-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoate)(DTNB) (Ellman’s reagent), (d) N-pyrenylmaleimide (NPM) reagent, (e) Fluorescein-5-maleimide (F-5-M) Reagent). Only DTNB was found to modify the surface free thiol of serum albumin in a highly specific and quantitative manner. In the course of the development of a partitioning assay for surface free thiols of serum albumin significant oxidative properties were found to be associated with poly(ethylene glycol) PEG solutions and several attempts were made to find an oxidatively safe partitioning system by including antioxidants and by removal of contaminants by freeze drying. PEG3350-Dextran500 was found to provide an oxidatively safe environment for the development of a partitioning assay for the determination of albumin free thiols. A phase partitioning assay system capable of quantitatively resolving protein associated free thiols and low molecular weight thiols from a mixture of the two was developed. Correlation coefficients (R2) for the regression of experimentally determined protein free thiols in the presence of different levels of added LMW free thiol on the known addition of protein ranged from 0.77 to 0.83. The results demonstrated that the assay could quantify and distinguish both types of thiol in a simple two-step procedure.

abstract: Human fingertips contain thousands of specialized mechanoreceptors that enable effortless physical interactions with the environment. Haptic perception capabilities enable grasp and manipulation in the absence of visual feedback, as when reaching into one's pocket or wrapping a belt around oneself. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art artificial tactile sensors and processing algorithms are no match for their biological counterparts. Tactile sensors must not only meet stringent practical specifications for everyday use, but their signals must be processed and interpreted within hundreds of milliseconds. Control of artificial manipulators, ranging from prosthetic hands to bomb defusal robots, requires a constant reliance on visual feedback that is not entirely practical. To address this, we conducted three studies aimed at advancing artificial haptic intelligence. First, we developed a novel, robust, microfluidic tactile sensor skin capable of measuring normal forces on flat or curved surfaces, such as a fingertip. The sensor consists of microchannels in an elastomer filled with a liquid metal alloy. The fluid serves as both electrical interconnects and tunable capacitive sensing units, and enables functionality despite substantial deformation. The second study investigated the use of a commercially-available, multimodal tactile sensor (BioTac sensor, SynTouch) to characterize edge orientation with respect to a body fixed reference frame, such as a fingertip. Trained on data from a robot testbed, a support vector regression model was developed to relate haptic exploration actions to perception of edge orientation. The model performed comparably to humans for estimating edge orientation. Finally, the robot testbed was used to perceive small, finger-sized geometric features. The efficiency and accuracy of different haptic exploratory procedures and supervised learning models were assessed for estimating feature properties such as type (bump, pit), order of curvature (flat, conical, spherical), and size. This study highlights the importance of tactile sensing in situations where other modalities fail, such as when the finger itself blocks line of sight. Insights from this work could be used to advance tactile sensor technology and haptic intelligence for artificial manipulators that improve quality of life, such as prosthetic hands and wheelchair-mounted robotic hands. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering 2013

abstract: Advances in implantable MEMS technology has made possible adaptive micro-robotic implants that can track and record from single neurons in the brain. Development of autonomous neural interfaces opens up exciting possibilities of micro-robots performing standard electrophysiological techniques that would previously take researchers several hundred hours to train and achieve the desired skill level. It would result in more reliable and adaptive neural interfaces that could record optimal neural activity 24/7 with high fidelity signals, high yield and increased throughput. The main contribution here is validating adaptive strategies to overcome challenges in autonomous navigation of microelectrodes inside the brain. The following issues pose significant challenges as brain tissue is both functionally and structurally dynamic: a) time varying mechanical properties of the brain tissue-microelectrode interface due to the hyperelastic, viscoelastic nature of brain tissue b) non-stationarities in the neural signal caused by mechanical and physiological events in the interface and c) the lack of visual feedback of microelectrode position in brain tissue. A closed loop control algorithm is proposed here for autonomous navigation of microelectrodes in brain tissue while optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio of multi-unit neural recordings. The algorithm incorporates a quantitative understanding of constitutive mechanical properties of soft viscoelastic tissue like the brain and is guided by models that predict stresses developed in brain tissue during movement of the microelectrode. An optimal movement strategy is developed that achieves precise positioning of microelectrodes in the brain by minimizing the stresses developed in the surrounding tissue during navigation and maximizing the speed of movement. Results of testing the closed-loop control paradigm in short-term rodent experiments validated that it was possible to achieve a consistently high quality SNR throughout the duration of the experiment. At the systems level, new generation of MEMS actuators for movable microelectrode array are characterized and the MEMS device operation parameters are optimized for improved performance and reliability. Further, recommendations for packaging to minimize the form factor of the implant; design of device mounting and implantation techniques of MEMS microelectrode array to enhance the longevity of the implant are also included in a top-down approach to achieve a reliable brain interface. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Bioengineering 2013

Bakgrund: Demens är ett samlingsnamn för en grupp olika sjukdomar som drabbar hjärnan och dess funktioner. Terapidjur används för att lugna och förbättra livskvaliteten hos personer med demenssjukdomar. För att undvika problem som allergier, kostnader för skötsel och skador som kan uppstå vid användandet av levande djur har därför robotdjur utvecklats. Syfte: Att sammanställa aktuell forskning som beskrivit effekter och erfarenheter av robotdjur inom demensvården. Metod: En litteraturöversikt grundad på 15 vetenskapliga artiklar, publicerade mellan åren 2013 och 2018. Resultat: De flesta studierna visade på positiva effekter på social interaktion och att intervention med robotdjur kunde främja psykiskt välbefinnande och reducera ensamhet hos äldre med demenssjukdom. Resultatet från de olika studierna visade att med hjälp av ett robotdjur kunde isolering och avskärmning brytas. Inverkan på aggression och utåtagerande beteende varierade vid interaktion med robotdjur. Slutsats: Resultatet av denna studie visade att användande av robotdjur kan ha positiv effekt på social interaktion och livskvalitet. Vidare kan användande av robotdjur ha en lugnande inverkan och dämpa agitation samt reducera nedstämdhet hos äldre personer med demenssjukdom. / Background: Dementia is an umbrella term which involves a number of diseases that effects the brain and its functions. Animal assisted therapy is being used to calm and enhance the overall quality of life for people who suffers from dementia. To avoid problems like allergies and costs that involves care for the animals and for the damages that they might cause, the development of the robotic animal has begun. Aim: To compile current research, which highlights the effects and experiences of using robotic animal in the care of people who suffers from dementia. Method: Literature review based upon 15 scientific studies, published between the years 2013 and 2018. Results: Most studies pointed towards a positive effect upon social interaction and that intervention with a robotic animal could promote mentaly well-being as well as reducing loneliness in elderly people suffering from dementia. The result from the studies showed that using a robotic animal could help break isolation among the participants. The effects on aggression and extroverted behaviour when using an robotic animal showed a varying result. Conclusion: The results of this study shows that the use of robotic animals could have positive effects on social interaction and quality of life. A robotic animal could also have a calming impact on agitation and reduce depression in people who suffers from dementia.