INESC TEC- Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science

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Publications

Low-cost SARS-CoV-2 vaccine homogenization system for Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vials

Publication . Lima, José; Rocha, Luísa; Rocha, Cláudia; Costa, Paulo Gomes da

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been affecting all sectors worldwide, and efforts have been targeting the enhancement of people’s health and labour conditions of collaborators belonging to healthcare institutions. The recent vaccines emerging against covid-19 are seen as a solution to address the problem that has already killed up to two million people. The preparation of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine requires a specific manipulation before its administration. A correct homogenization with saline solution is needed and, therefore, a manual process with a predefined protocol should be accomplished. This action can endanger the operators’ ergonomics due to the repetitive movement of the process. This paper proposes a low-cost prototype incorporating an arduino based embedded system actuating a servomotor to perform an autonomous vials’ homogenization allowing to redirect these healthcare workers to other tasks. Moreover, a contactless start order process was implemented to avoid contact with the operator and, consequently, the contamination. The prototype was successfully tested and recognised, and is being applied during the preparation of the covid-19 vaccines at the hospital pharmacy of Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, E.P.E., Portugal. It can be easily replicated since the source files to assemble it are provided by the authors.

2021Conference object

Open access

A simulation tool for optimizing a 3D spray painting system

Publication . Casanova, João; Lima, José; Costa, Paulo Gomes da

The lack of general robotics purposed, accurate open source simulators is a major setback that limits the optimized trajectory generation research and general evolution of the robotics field. Spray painting is a particular case that has multiple advantages in using a simulator for exploring new algorithms, mainly the waste of materials and the dangers associated with a robotic manipulator. This paper demonstrates an implementation of spray painting on a previously existing simulator, SimTwo. Several metrics for optimization that evaluate the painted result are also proposed. In order to validate the implementation, we conducted a real world experiment that serves both as proof that the chosen spray distribution model translates to reality and as a way to calibrate the model parameters.

2021Conference object

Restricted access

A DOBOT manipulator simulation environment for teaching aim with forward and inverse kinematics

Publication . Brito, Thadeu; Lima, José; Braun, João; Piardi, Luis; Costa, Paulo Gomes da

Industrial Manipulators were becoming used more and more at industries since the third industrial revolution. Actually, with the fourth one, the paradigm is changing and the collaborative robots are being accepted for the community. It means that smaller manipulators with more functionalities have been used and installed. New approaches have appeared to teach students according to the new robot’s capabilities. The DOBOT robot is an example of that since it captivates the student’s attention with an uncomplicated programming front-end, tools, grippers and extremely useful for teaching STEM. This paper proposes a dynamic based simulation environment that can be used to teach, test and validate solutions to the DOBOT robot. By this way, the student can try and validate, at their homework without the real robot, the developed solutions and further test them at the laboratory with the real robot. Currently, remote testing and validation without the use of a real robot is an advantage. The comparison of the provided simulation environment and the real robot is presented in the approach.

2021Conference object

Open access

A hybrid approach GABC-LS to solve mTSP

Publication . Pereira, Sílvia de Castro; Pires, Eduardo J. Solteiro; Oliveira, Paulo B. de Moura

The Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem (mTSP) is an interesting combinatorial optimization problem due to its numerous real-life applications. It is a problem where m salesmen visit a set of n cities so that each city is visited once. The primary purpose is to minimize the total distance traveled by all salesmen. This paper presents a hybrid approach called GABC-LS that combines an evolutionary algorithm with the swarm intelligence optimization ideas and a local search method. The proposed approach was tested on two instances and produced some better results than the best-known solutions reported in the literature.

2022Conference object

Restricted access

Robot@factory lite competition: a digital twin approach for the AGV

Publication . Braun, João; Lima, José; Costa, Paulo Gomes da; Moreira, António Paulo G. M.

Robotics competitions are environments that foster teamwork, AI, and technology development by encouraging students, researchers, and academics to test their solutions against each other. These competitions often challenge the competitors’ prototypes with tasks specifically designed to benchmark them with the current optimal solutions. During the prototype stages of a robot, the development costs and time spent are often higher than other stages, as changes in the prototype are frequent. Simulation is often used to reduce these variables as it allows flexibility in all development stages before transitioning to the real scenario. However, a digital twin can be used to increase even further flexibility and effectiveness. Digital twins are virtual representations of real assets, providing replication and prediction of real scenario events, and real-time monitoring of the real object. Thus, this paper presents the development of a digital twin of an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) to the Robot@Factory Lite competition and the tests performed to validate the approach.

2021Conference object

Open access