Francisco J. Rodríguez

Synthesis and Electrochemical Characterization of Platinum and Ruthenium Nanoparticles Encapsulated in PAMAM-G4OH Dendrimer for Oxygen Reduction in the Presence of Methanol.

I. L. Escalante-Garcia, J. Ledesma-Garcia, Francisco J. Rodriguez, Thomas W. Chapman and Luis A. Godinez. Electrochemistry Department, Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico en Electroquimica S.C., Parque Tecnologico Queretaro-Sanfadila, Pedro Escobedo, Queretaro, Mexico. C. P. 76703 In this work, we describe the preparation of composites of Pt, Ru and bimetallic Pt-Ru nanoparticles encapsulated in generation-four hydroxyl-terminated dendrimers (PAMAM-G4OH). The absorption of the metal ions and their chemical reduction were followed by UV-vis spectroscopy. Subsequently, the dendrimers encapsulating the Pt, Ru or Pt-Ru particles were immobilized on the oxidized surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements were used to determine the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics on this surface in aqueous sulfuric acid media and in sulfuric acid solution containing methanol. Preliminary results show that the nanoelectrocatalyst exhibits good stability in these media and good electrocatalytic activity for the ORR in the presence of methanol.

AN INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM BASED ON A DOMAIN ONTOLOGY FOR THE DESIGN OF LEAD-LAG CONTROLLERS

Abstract The modeling of domains is today a technique with growing acceptance into the software community. Domain models allow the information to be represented in the computer at higher abstraction levels than in the usual applications, so improving the human to machine and machine to machine interactions. This paper deals with the application of such modeling paradigm to the control engineering education field, showing how the knowledge of this domain can be represented in a conceptual structure called ontology which is used as the base for building an Intelligent Tutoring System, a software tool used in the emerging field of e-learning.

VIGICOP: Autonomous surveillance robots with sodar detection and autonomous navigation

The main goal of the project described in this paper is to create a security system using autonomous surveillance robots that use SODAR-like detection system sensors, working with acoustic signals in air environment and navigation base on Geographic Information System and Markovs models. The surveillance system based on SONAR provides great information from the environment, even lets you see behind objects (rebounds effects) whose manipulation offers a great added value to surveillance The guide system will implement in one hand a local navigation module directed to avoid obstacles based on classical techniques and using the new SODAR sensor. On the other hand a global navigation module will be implemented using preset trajectories and gradient techniques and an auto-location system. One of the greatest challenges obtained is the definition of the VIGICOPVar variable that defines, depending on the environment and safety parameters, the probability of intrusion. Surveillance experts of GRUPO NORTE (multinational company with security expertise of more than 38 years) have worked In the definition and validation of the model. The monitoring robots will be controlled in a centralized way from an alarm center from where you can manage all information relating to intrusion detected. VIGICOP is the low cost surveillance robot which provides new/full information interactive surveillance information.

An ontology-based expert system and interactive tool for computer-aided control engineering education

This paper shows the experience in the development of an ontology-based expert system for the field of control engineering education. The particular characteristics of the knowledge in this domain and some of the conceptualization strategies used are shown. Also the prototype expert system built is described, showing how the ontology-based nature of the software supposes a benefit for people learning design techniques in the field of control engineering.

Preparation Of Carbon-Fiber Electrodes Modified With Platinum Nanoparticles Encapsulated In PAMAM Dendrimers

J. Ledesma-Garcia, I. L. Escalante Garcia, Thomas W. Chapman, Francisco J. Rodriguez, Luis A. Godinez. Department of Electrochemistry, Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico en Electroquimica, Parque Tecnologico Queretaro, Sanfandila, Pedro Escobedo, C. P. 76700, Queretaro, Mexico. This work examines the effect of the degree of surface oxidation of carbon fibers on the anchoring of hydroxyl-terminated dendrimers that encapsulate platinum nanoparticles. Several methods of electrochemical pretreatment were investigated for the preparation of the carbon-fiber surfaces to obtain electrodes with functional groups of varying characteristics. The resulting carbon-fiber surfaces were modified with platinum-encapsulating dendrimers by means of ether linkages. The coverage of active groups on the oxidized carbon surfaces as well as the active area of the dendrimer-encapsulated platinum (G4OHPt) were evaluated with respect to the pretreatment method. The results showed that cyclic voltammetry as the pretreatment method immobilizes a significant amount of dendrimer-encapsulated platinum on the carbon-fiber surface. Accordingly, kinetic parameters obtained for the oxygen-reduction reaction on this surface indicate acceptable catalytic activity.

Localization issues in the design of a humanoid goalkeeper for the RoboCup SPL using BICA

This article exposes the localization issues faced during the implementation of a humanoid goalkeeper to take part in the RoboCup SPL standardized soccer robot competition. For this task, we have used BICA, a state-driven, component-based architecture created by our counterparts in the URJC, to allow a much easier behavior design process. The use of BICA let us choose different self-localization methods in configuration time, and the possibility of using none in running time if some type of error appears.

A web-based multi-agent system approach to document engineering

Document engineering is the automatic or semiautomatic process that assists a documental department of a company in the gathering, storing, retrieving and generation of articles and documents, and also in the distribution of these documents. A web-based multi-agent system was chosen as the best approach to build such a system, providing a flexible and scalable solution that not only automates but also improves the initial manual work. Several artificial intelligence techniques were studied and developed. This paper describes the solution designed, the text document classifier, the query subsystem, the automatic document generation subsystem and the web interfaces.

Knowledge Representation for Control Engineering

Abstract The use of computers in the control engineering domain is not as fruitful as it could be. Computers should be much more than machines performing fast numerical calculations, aiming to represent the expertise and the knowledge of the human that are experts in the domain. Knowledge engineering and knowledge representation are the scientific areas that describe ways in which human knowledge may be represented in computer systems (the so called knowledge-based systems). This paper justifies the need for building these kind of systems for control engineering, describing how can the process of building such systems be done.

Applying knowledge engineering techniques in control engineering education

Abstract The future of control engineering education will require the detailed and careful analysis of both the curricula and the methods involved in the learning process. This paper deals with the two key elements that are going to mean a revolution in the educational field: the computer and the Internet. Considering the education as a knowledge transfer process, the natural choice for formally studying the applications of computers to this process is the so-called knowledge engineering. If education is going to take advantage of the Internet, the necessity for constructing new, knowledge-intensive systems for collaborative work will also be shown.

AN APPROACH TO DOCUMENT ENGINEERING AT FUNDACIÓN HULLERA VASCO-LEONESA

Abstract Fundacion Hullera Vasco-Leonesa is a company with a documental department responsible for managing the bibliographic information the company uses. That department manually elaborates and distributes periodic documents (press bulletins, environmental dossiers, etc). This paper describes an intelligent multiagent system as a way to solve the work handled by this department. The objective was to design and implement a digital library with all the tasks needed, like query management, automatic design and generation of electronic documents, selective information distribution, etc.