Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Intelligent remote advisory systems'

Non-controlled airports are literally that - uncontrolled. Safe separation is achieved by pilot vigilance. The consensus of reports on incidences at noncontrolled airports generally conclude that pilots cannot rely entirely on vision to avoid collision and attempts should be made to obtain all available traffic information to enable a directed traffic search. Ideally, a system is required which has the ability to provide advice to all parties to ensure separation minima is maintained. Provision of a such a system would remove a measure of pressure from the pilot to allow that person to devote their attention to their prime responsibility of flying the aircraft. To this end, research on use of intelligent remote advisory systems for non-controlled airports was undertaken with emphasis on those systems which could minimize human resources and associated recurring costs, to provide a measure of repeatability and to provide an acceptable level of safety. A rule based system was developed and evaluated. The evaluation showed that use of a rule based system as the basis of an intelligent remote air traffic control system for non-controlled airports is a viable proposition. In test scenarios, collision hazards were identified and evasion tactics generated. For a full operational system, the application of the rules and definition of the aircraft circuit area may need refining; however, the results are certainly encouraging.

Non-controlled airports are literally that - uncontrolled. Safe separation is achieved by pilot vigilance. The consensus of reports on incidences at noncontrolled airports generally conclude that pilots cannot rely entirely on vision to avoid collision and attempts should be made to obtain all available traffic information to enable a directed traffic search. Ideally, a system is required which has the ability to provide advice to all parties to ensure separation minima is maintained. Provision of a such a system would remove a measure of pressure from the pilot to allow that person to devote their attention to their prime responsibility of flying the aircraft To this end, research on use of intelligent remote advisory systems for non-controlled airports was undertaken with emphasis on those systems which could minimize human resources and associated recurring costs, to provide a measure of repeatability and to provide an acceptable level of safety. A rule based system was developed and evaluated. The evaluation showed that use of a rule based system as the basis of an intelligent remote air traffic control system for non-controlled airports is a viable proposition. In test scenarios, collision hazards were identified and evasion tactics generated. For a full operational system, the application of the rules and definition of the aircraft circuit area may need refining; however, the results are certainly encouraging.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Engineering
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Full Text

Our society needs to continuously perform transports of people and goods toensure that business is kept going. Every disturbance in the transportation ofpeople or goods affects the commerce and may result in economical losses forcompanies and society. Severe traffic accidents cause personal tragedies forpeople involved as well as huge costs for the society. Therefore the roadauthorities continuously try to improve the traffic safety. Traffic safety may beimproved by reduced speeds, crash safe cars, tires with better road grip andimproved road maintenance. The environmental effects from roadmaintenance when spreading de-icing chemicals need to be considered, i.e.how much chemicals should be used to maximize traffic safety and minimizethe environmental effects. Knowledge about the current and upcoming roadcondition can improve the road maintenance and hence improve traffic safety.This thesis deals with sensors and models that give information about the roadcondition.The performance and reliability of existing surface mounted sensors wereexamined by laboratory experiments. Further research involved field studies tocollect data used to develop surface status models based on road weather dataand camera images. Field studies have also been performed to find best usageof non intrusive IR technology.The research presented here showed that no single sensor give enoughinformation by itself to safely describe the road condition. However, the resultsindicated that among the traditional road surface mounted sensors only theactive freezing point sensor gave reliable freezing point results. Furtherresearch aimed to find a model that could classify the road condition indifferent road classes from existing road weather sensor data and road images.The result was a model that accurately could distinguish between the roadconditions dry, wet, snowy and icy. These road conditions are clearly dissimilarand are therefore used as the definition of the road classes used in this thesis.Finally, results from research regarding remote sensing IR technology showedthat it significantly improves knowledge of the road temperature and statuscompared to data from surface mounted sensors.
Vårt samhälle bygger på att det finns effektiva transporter av människor ochvaror för att säkerställa att samhällets funktioner fungerar och att företagenkan genomföra sina affärer. Störningar i transporterna av människor och varorpåverkar handeln och kan leda till ekonomiska förluster för både företag ochvårt samhälle. Allvarliga trafikolyckor orsakar personliga tragedier för deinblandade samt stora kostnader för samhället. Det är med denna bakgrundsom vägmyndigheterna kontinuerligt arbetar med att förbättratrafiksäkerheten. Trafiksäkerheten kan förbättras genom att minskahastigheterna, se till att bilarna blir krocksäkra, krav på däck med bättreväggrepp och ett bättre vägunderhåll. Miljöeffekterna från vinterväghållningdär avisningsmedel sprids på vägarna måste beaktas, d.v.s. hur mycketkemikalier bör användas för att maximera trafiksäkerheten och minimeramiljöpåverkan. Denna avhandling handlar om sensorer och modeller som gerinformation om väglaget. En kunskap om aktuellt och kommande väglag kanförbättra väghållningen och därmed öka trafiksäkerheten.I avhandlingen har prestanda och tillförlitlighet hos befintliga vägmonteradesensorer granskats i laboratorieexperiment. Data från fältstudier har använtsför att utveckla modeller som kan ge information om vägytans status baseratpå meteorologiska mätdata och kamerabilder. Det har också genomförtsfältstudier för att utforska den fördelaktigaste användningen av beröringsfriinfraröd sensorteknik.Den forskning som presenteras här visar att ingen enskild givare ger tillräckliginformation för att säkert beskriva väglaget. Från de traditionella ytmonteradesensorerna drogs slutsatsen att den aktiva fryspunktsgivaren gav de mesttillförlitliga fryspunktsresultaten. Det vidare arbetet handlade om att hitta enmodell som skulle kunna klassificera vägförhållanden i olika vägklassergenom att utnyttja information från befintliga sensorer och kamerabilder.Detta arbete resulterade i en modell som tillförlitligt kan särskilja väglagentorr, våt, snöig och isig. Dessa väglag är väsentligt olika och har därför valtssom väglagsklasser i denna avhandling. Under en säsong genomfördes ävenfältförsök med beröringsfri infraröd mätteknik där det visade sig att denberöringsfria teknologin förbättrar kunskapen om vägbanans temperatur och vägbanans status.

Mini Rotorcraft Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MRUAVs) flown at low altitude as a part of a human-robot team are potential sources of tactical information for local search missions. Traditionally, their effectiveness in this role has been limited by an inability to intelligently perceive unknown environments or integrate with human team members. Human-robot collaboration provides the theory for building cooperative relationships in this context. This theory, however, only addresses those human-robot teams that are either robot-centered or human-centered in their decision making processes or relationships. This work establishes a new branch of human-robot collaborative theory, Operator Blending, which creates codependent and cooperative relationships between a single robot and human team member for tactical missions. Joint Intension Theory is the basis of this approach, which allows both the human and robot to contribute what each does well in accomplishing the mission objectives. Information processing methods for shared visual information and object tracking take advantage of the human role in the perception process. In addition, coupling of translational commands and the search process establish navigation as the shared basis of communication between the MRUAV and human, for system integration purposes. Observation models relevant to both human and robotic collaborators are tracked through a boundary based approach deemed AIM-SHIFT. A system is developed to classify the semantic and functional relevance of an observation model to local search called the Code of Observational Genetics (COG). These COGs are used to qualitatively map the environment through Qualitative Unsupervised Intelligent Collaborative Keypoint (QUICK) mapping, created to support these methods.
Ph. D.

This thesis presents a framework for an intelligent interface for the access of robotsupported remote laboratories through the Internet. The framework is composed of the student assessment and coaching system, the experimentation scenario, and the associated graphical user interface. Student assessment and coaching system is the main feature of a successful intelligent interface for use during remote experimentation with a robot-supported laboratory setup. The system has a modular structure employing artificial neural networks and a fuzzy-rule based decision process to model the student behaviour, to evaluate the performance and to coach him or her towards a better achievement of the tasks to be done during the experimentation. With an experimentation scenario designed and a graphical user interface, the system is applied to a robotic system that is connected to the Internet for the evaluation of the proposed framework. Illustrative examples for the operation of the each module in the system in the context of the application are given and sensitivity analysis of the system to the change in parameters is also done. The framework is then applied to a mobile robot control laboratory. The user interface and the experimentation scenario is developed for the application, and necessary modifications are made to the student assessment and coaching system in order to support the experiment.

This thesis is a quantitative study that provides a proof-of-concept for a lane-changing advisory that uses a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication approach. Specifically, the thesis proposes a particle swarm optimisation algorithm to optimise the lane-changing distributions for a freeway weaving segment. The research applies a microscopic simulation, using the Aimsun software, to evaluate the optimised lane-changing distribution. The proposed individual driver advisory, using the optimised lane-changing distributions, effectively distributes lane changes along the freeway weaving segment to improve the traffic performance.

For intelligent systems, the ability to adapt a sensor's sensing capabilities offers promise for reducing numbers, weight, and volume of sensors required. This basic idea is in line with a recent assertion by the well-known roboticist Rodney Brooks, that versatile robots could be used to perform various tasks instead of requiring a large number of specialized robots.In the current work, we consider the concept of a "smart" sensor which could dynamically adapt itself to replace multiple static sensors--within the application area of ingestible smart pills, where small sensors might be required to detect problems such as bleeding or tumours.\\ Simulations were used to evaluate some basic strategies for how to adapt the sensor and their effectiveness was compared; as well, a hardware prototype using LEDs to indicate system switching was prepared.

Virginia's Smart Road, to be completed by early 2000, is a test bed for numerous research activities including snow and ice control, remote sensor testing, snow removal management, safety and human factors, and vehicle dynamics. An all-weather testing system will feature 75 automated snowmaking towers. In order to provide timely and repeatable weather scenarios, equipment operators will need to understand fully the limitations and capabilities of the snowmaking system. The research presented herein addresses the hydraulic and hydrologic variables and design methodology to implement efficient snowmaking at a transportation research facility. Design variables include nozzle configuration, water pressure and flowrate, compressed air pressure and flowrate, tower orientation, snow inducer concentration, water and compressed air temperature, and ambient weather conditions. Testing and data collection was performed at the Snow Economics, Inc. research and development site at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, PA. The results of this work will be used to guide the operators of the Smart Road on the most efficient use of the snowmaking equipment.
Master of Science

Este trabalho apresentará estudos referentes a uma proposta de arquitetura para ambientes computacionais de suporte à colaboração para auxiliar o ensino e o treinamento em áreas multidisciplinares de engenharia de controle e automação. A motivação provém de evoluções de tecnologias da Web, redes sociais, ambientes virtuais, e mundos virtuais 3D que proporcionam sucessivas possibilidades inovadoras de emprego de tecnologia no ensino. Estas tecnologias podem ser usadas no ensino à distância ou de forma complementar (ensino híbrido) ao ensino-aprendizagem tradicional. O emprego de ambientes computacionais virtuais como incubadores para o desenvolvimento e criação de uma infinidade de materiais educacionais e didáticos torna-se crescentemente frequente na comunidade científica ao passo que instituições de ensino percebem o potencial desta iniciativa. A colaboração virtual entre estudantes dispersos geograficamente e a cooperação entre instituições de ensino diversas são indicadores do avanço destas metodologias. À medida que ambientes virtuais evoluem, podem-se empregar cada vez mais funcionalidades e tecnologias a este complemento ou ferramenta de ensino. É sabido que a prática laboratorial é de suma importância para aprendizagem de áreas tecnológicas, como a engenharia elétrica. Maneiras de expandir esta prática aliada a outras técnicas altamente defendidas na comunidade científica serão abordadas neste estudo, que sucede a um trabalho anterior do autor, no qual é proposto a conjunção de componentes de automação simulados com reais de forma a expandir cenários didáticos. A automação destes ambientes voltados ao ensino passa a se tornar real através de técnicas computacionais relacionadas a gerenciamento, monitoração e adaptação de conteúdo. Dentre as tecnologias e características englobadas pela arquitetura proposta estão: ambientes sociais, ambientes imersivos com visualização tridimensional (metaversos), tutoriamento virtual autônomo baseado em coleta de informações de interação, auxílio à colaboração de usuários, experimentos com componentes intercambiáveis de realidade mista e outras funcionalidades afins. De forma a propor uma implementação viável para este nicho de pesquisa foram desenvolvidos vários estudos de caso e um protótipo, chamado de 3D AutoSysLab, um ambiente imersivo virtual otimizado com ligações a experimentos de realidade mista, visualização de materiais educacionais e mídias interativas, auxílio à colaboração, e suporte à tutoriamento autônomo. Tanto testes do protótipo quanto a utilização dos estudos de caso serviram de validação experimental do trabalho. A validação da utilização ainda não se encontra completa embora resultados preliminares apontem a queda do índice de reprovação de estudantes da Engenharia Elétrica na UFRGS em uma determinada unidade curricular. O emprego de técnicas de acesso remoto além de proporcionar que instituições de ensino cooperem compartilhando recursos materiais/equipamentos também abre horizontes para a colaboração de estudantes entre instituições. Isso alavanca uma melhoria na qualidade do conjunto ensino-aprendizagem e também no emprego de recursos tecnológicos, o que pode, inclusive, representar uma alternativa econômica viável para a prática laboratorial.
This work will present studies towards a proposal of architecture for computer supported collaborative environments applied to enhance learning and training of multidisciplinary areas linked to automation and control engineering. Recent evolutions of Web technologies, social networks, virtual environments, and 3D virtual worlds motivate the adoption of new technologies in education, opening successive innovative possibilities. These technologies or tools can be used in distance education scenarios and/or can also enhance traditional learning-teaching (blended or hybrid learning scenario). The use of virtual environments as breeding grounds for creation and display of learning and didactical materials is a trend among educational institutes since they realized the potential of this endeavor. Physically dispersed and geographically distant students can collaborate in virtual learning environments as well as educational institutions, proving the advance of learning methodologies involving technology. New functionalities to this teaching and learning complementary tool can be added as virtual environments continually evolve. It is known and a wide advocated issue that laboratorial practice is essential to technical education, foremost in engineering. Expanding and obtaining the optimal results from this practice allied to other tools can be seen as the natural continuation of previous work from the author, in which is described a strategy to use mixed reality interchangeable components applied in didactic experiments to broaden learning scenarios. The automation of virtual learning environments is beginning to mature through computational techniques related to management, monitoring and content adaptation. In order to develop a feasible implementation to this research area, several case studies and a prototype were elaborated, the last called 3D AutoSysLab, in which a metaverse is used as interface, experiments are linked to virtual objects representations, learning objects are displayed in a simple way with interactive medias and simple collaboration and feedback is given through an autonomous tutoring system. The experimental validation was based on the use and evaluation of the prototype and his separated modules (case studies). Preliminary results showed that the failure rate, in a determined curriculum unit from the Electrical Engineering of UFRGS, has dropped and the student’s acceptance was very high in a blended learning scenario. The remote experimentation brings up the possibility to narrow different learning institutions in cooperation, this way sharing material resources (equipments) and closing up students. From cooperation and collaboration is expected a leveling and optimization of quality of the pair teaching-learning, as well as a better employment of economical resources.

166f.
Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-10T19:35:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Pacheco seg.pdf: 3529890 bytes, checksum: 13857ac04543f1bbc9fd4d7ed9849eba (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-11T15:30:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Pacheco seg.pdf: 3529890 bytes, checksum: 13857ac04543f1bbc9fd4d7ed9849eba (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-11T15:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Pacheco seg.pdf: 3529890 bytes, checksum: 13857ac04543f1bbc9fd4d7ed9849eba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011
Em sistemas industriais automatizados, a inatividade provocada pela escassez não planejada de recursos, ou por falhas de processo, tem grande influência no desempenho dos sistemas por conta das descontinuidades e instabilidades geradas. Sistemas de controle distribuídos e autônomos podem ajudar a lidar com esses tipos de problemas devido à melhoria de desempenho possibilitada. Entretanto, aspectos relativos à segurança e ao tempo de resposta devem ser bem tratados nesses sistemas devido aos riscos envolvidos (humanos, financeiros e ambientais). A proposta de sistemas autônomos e distribuídos visa a que decisões de controle sejam tomadas mais próximas do objeto controlado, reduzindo assim o tempo de atuação no processo e sistematizando algumas decisões, antes tomadas de forma empírica. Consequentemente, se espera aumentar a disponibilidade e a continuidade do processo, bem como garantir os aspectos de confiabilidade. Entretanto, quando tais sistemas se tornam mais autônomos e distribuídos, podem tender ao comportamento global caótico, caso suas interações não estejam bem definidas. Assim, é importante que seja avaliado e dimensionado o acoplamento entre os sistemas autônomos relacionados. O grau de inteligência de um sistema pode variar de uma entidade completamente controlada a entidades completamente autônomas. O primeiro nível de inteligência é verificado quando um sistema é capaz de gerenciar suas próprias informações, obtidas por meio de sensores e demais técnicas e dispositivos, e não somente manipular informações. Em um segundo nível, o sistema pode notificar o seu gestor quando há um problema. Em um terceiro nível, o sistema já é capaz de tomar decisões e se autogerenciar, mesmo sem intervenção externa. Neste caso, o sistema tem controle total sobre suas tarefas e não há nenhum controle externo a ele. A alternativa proposta pelo GCAD visa a que Sistemas Industriais Automatizados atinjam até o terceiro nível de inteligência, sendo que intervenções externas podem ser admitidas nos casos em que uma ação puramente local e autônoma de fato não é recomendável ou não é possível, por exemplo, havendo necessidade de substituição de equipamentos ou dispositivos. O GCAD propõe um módulo de controle inteligente instanciado predominantemente em nível local que visa a permitir que cada Sistema Industrial Automatizado, distribuído em células, tome decisões críticas de uma forma autônoma. Adicionalmente, um módulo remoto deve gerenciar situações mais complexas que estão além da capacidade de decisão ou atuação do sistema de controle local. O modelo proposto visa a permitir ajustes automáticos e autônomos no sistema, a fim de melhorar seu desempenho, e prevenir ou tratar as falhas inesperadas,assegurando a continuidade da operação.
Salvador

This research focuses on the development of intelligent fastening tool tracking systems for the automotive industry to identify the fastened bolts. In order to accomplish such a task, the position of the tool tip must be identified because the tool tip position coincides with the head of the fastened bolt while the tool fastens the bolt. The proposed systems utilize an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and another sensor to track the position and orientation of the tool tip. To minimize the position and orientation calculation error, an IMU needs to be calibrated as accurately as possible. This research presents a novel triaxial accelerometer calibration technique that offers a high accuracy. The simulation and experimental results of the accelerometer calibration are presented. To identify the fastening action, an expert system is developed based on the sensor measurements. When a fastening action is identified, the system identifies the fastened bolt by using an expert system based on the position and orientation of the tool tip and the position and orientation of the bolt. Since each fastening procedure needs different accuracies and requirements, three different systems are proposed. The first system utilizes a triaxial magnetometer and an IMU to identify the fastened bolt. This system calculates the position and orientation by using an IMU. An expert system is used to identify the initial position, stationary state, and the fastened bolt. When the tool fastens a bolt, the proposed expert system detects the fastening action by triaxial accelerometer and triaxial magnetometer measurements. When the fastening action is detected, the system corrects the velocity and position error using zero velocity update (ZUPT). By using the corrected tool tip position and orientation, the system can identify the fastened bolts. Then, with the fastened bolt position, the position of the IMU is corrected. When the tool is stationary, the system corrects linear velocity error and reduces the position error. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can identify fastened bolts if the angles of the bolts are different or the bolts are not closely placed. This low cost system does not require a line of sight, but has limited position accuracy. The second system utilizes an intelligent system that incorporates Kalman filters (KFs) and a fuzzy expert system to track the tip of a fastening tool and to identify the fastened bolt. This system employs one IMU and one encoder-based position sensor to determine the orientation and the centre of mass location of the tool. When the KF is used, the orientation error increases over time due to the integration step. Therefore, a fuzzy expert system is developed to correct the tilt angle error and orientation error. When the tool fastens a bolt, the system identifies the fastened bolt by applying the fuzzy expert system. When the fastened bolt is identified, the 3D orientation error of the tool is corrected by using the location and the orientation of the fastened bolt and the position sensor outputs. This orientation correction method results in improved reliability in determining the tool tip location. The fastening tool tracking system was experimentally tested in a lab environment, and the results indicate that such a system can successfully identify the fastened bolts. This system not only has a low computational cost but also provides good position and orientation accuracy. The system can be used for most applications because it provides a high accuracy. The third system presents a novel position/orientation tracking methodology by hybridizing one position sensor and one factory calibrated IMU with the combination of a particle filter (PF) and a KF. In addition, an expert system is used to correct the angular velocity measurement errors. The experimental results indicate that the orientation errors of this method are significantly reduced compared to the orientation errors obtained from an EKF approach. The improved orientation estimation using the proposed method leads to a better position estimation accuracy. The experimental results of this system show that the orientation of the proposed method converges to the correct orientation even when the initial orientation is completely unknown. This new method was applied to the fastening tool tracking system. This system provides good orientation accuracy even when the gyroscopes (gyros hereafter) include a small error. In addition, since the orientation error of this system does not grow over time, the tool tip position drift is limited. This system can be applied to the applications where the bolts are closely placed. The position error comparison results of the second system and the third system are presented in this thesis. The comparison results indicate that the position accuracy of the third system is better than that of the second system because the orientation error does not increase over time. The advantages and limitations of all three systems are compared in this thesis. In addition, possible future work on fastening tool tracking system is described as well as applications that can be expanded by using the KF/PF combination method.

Many commercial devices now being produced have the ability to be remotely monitored and controlled. This thesis aims to develop a generic platform that can easily be extended to interface with many different kinds of devices for remote monitoring and control via a TCP/IP connection. The deployment will be concentrated on Medical devices but can be extended to all serial device interfaces. The hardware to be used in the development of this platform is an ARM Cortex M3 based Micro-Controller board which has to be designed to meet the requirement set by the Precept Health the founder of this platform. The design was conducted at Massey University in collaboration with senior engineer from the company. The main task in achieving the aim was the development of the necessary software layers to implement remote monitoring and control. The eCosCentric real-time embedded operating system was used to form a generic base for developing applications to monitor and control specific devices. The majority of the work involved in this project was the deployment of the operating system to the Micro-Controller. During the development process, several hardware issues were discovered with the Ethernet interface and were corrected. Using the generic platform, an application was developed to allow the reading of Bi-Directional pass through a communication protocol from 4 isolated serial input channels, to an Ethernet channel using TCP protocol.

A agricultura de precisão tem atualmente uma grande importância, uma vez que junta o conhecimento adquirido através das tradicionais técnicas de cultivo com a precisão e a automação tecnológica. Uma das técnicas inerentes da agricultura de precisão é a hidroponia, sendo as plantas cultivadas com recurso a soluções aquosas e sem a disponibilidade do solo. Para apoio ao projeto foi montada uma pequena estufa com todo o equipamento necessário à hidroponia, na Ponta do Sol. Dentro desta, realizou-se todo o desenvolvimento e, consequentemente, a obtenção dos resultados deste projeto. Uma das grandes desvantagens dos sistemas de automatização em hidroponia é encontrarem-se ainda num patamar de elevado investimento, tornando-se numa realidade pouco possível para uma pequena/média escala ou para regiões de minifúndio, como é o caso da Ilha da Madeira. Foi, por isso, desenvolvido um sistema com recurso a elementos de baixo custo que automatizassem todo o controlo. Foram utilizados microcontroladores com Wi-Fi, que realizam a medição dos diversos valores dos sensores (por exemplo: da temperatura interior e da exterior, da humidade do ar, da altura da água do poço, etc.) e que comunicam até ao centro de processamento, sendo este um Raspberry Pi. Neste dispositivo, os dados são tratados para depois serem enviados e guardados numa base de dados remota. Além disto, foi desenvolvido uma aplicação web para apoio ao utilizador, sendo possível verificar as condições ambientais ao longo do tempo, os gastos e a gestão das suas produções, utilizando para isso, relatórios de produção e gráficos que permitem a correlação de valores. Foi também dada grande importância à monitorização e à recuperação de erros, já que este é um sistema suscetível a falhas. Neste trabalho, além de toda a parte do desenvolvimento arquitetural entre camadas de cliente, camada intermédia e camadas de dados, foi ainda estudada a utilização de sensores de humidade na raiz da planta. Desta forma, foi possível automatizar a recirculação de água, utilizando algoritmos que tornam possível uma elevada poupança no tempo total em que a bomba de água se encontra ligada. A poupança evidenciada rondou os 89%. Um dos equipamentos de elevado custo nestes sistemas é o equipamento de monitorização e de calibração automática da quantidade de nutrientes, sendo também criado um equipamento que realizasse estas funções, recorrendo a bombas de dosagem de baixo custo. Por fim, é de notar que os algoritmos de rega e todos os mecanismos de poupança presentes neste projeto tornam este sistema facilmente transformável num projeto que utilize, maioritariamente, energia fotovoltaica (em vez de ser só nos pontos de aquisição de dados, como é mais recorrente). Isto deve-se ao facto de o sistema ativar-se quando é apenas necessário e é ativado com maior frequência nos picos de produção de energia fotovoltaica.
Nowadays, precision agriculture has a great importance, once it uses both the acquired knowledge of the traditional techniques of precision farming and the technological automation. Hydroponics is one of the inherent techniques of the precision agriculture. The plants are grown using aqueous solutions and without the availability of the soil. To support the project, a small greenhouse with all the equipment necessary for hydroponics was set up in Ponta do Sol. Within this project, all the development was carried out and, consequently, the results of this project were obtained. One of the major disadvantages of hydroponics automation systems is that they require high investment levels, which it makes too difficult to implement in a small/medium scale or for small-scale regions such as Madeira. Therefore, a system was developed using low-cost elements that automated all control. Wi-Fi microcontrollers were utilised, which measure the various values of the sensors (for example: indoor and outdoor temperature, air humidity, well water height, etc.) and which communicate to the processing centre, being this a Raspberry Pi. In this device, the data is processed to be sent afterwards and stored in a remote database. In addition, a web application was developed to support the user, being possible to verify the environmental conditions over time, the expenses and the management of their productions, using for this, production reports and graphs that allow the correlation of values. A great importance has also been given to monitoring and recovering errors, as this is a system susceptible to failures. In this work, besides all the architectural development between client layers, intermediate layer and data layer, the utilisation of moisture sensors in the root of the plant was also studied. In this way, it was possible to automate the recirculation of water, using algorithms that make possible a high saving in the total time in which the water pump is on. Savings were around 89%. One of the expensive equipment in these systems is the equipment for monitoring and the automatic calibration of the quantity of nutrients, being also created an equipment which performs these functions using low-cost dosing pumps. Finally, it should be noted that the irrigation algorithms and all the saving mechanisms present in this project make this system easily transformable in a project that uses, mainly, photovoltaic energy (rather than just at data acquisition points, as it is most recurrent). This happens because the system is activated when it is only necessary, and it is more frequently activated at the peaks of photovoltaic energy production.