Joaquim Leitão

Demonstration of programming in Python using a remote lab with Raspberry Pi

The development of programming skills in computer science students, namely algorithm thinking and logical reasoning, is an important challenge to overcome their difficulties in CS1 and CS2 courses. With the advent of Internet of Things, the actual approaches based on project-oriented learning processes can be extended to use experimental setups with low cost microcomputers. In this paper, we provide a demonstration of online experiences with Raspberry Pi, connected to a wireless sensor network, in order to give CS2 students the ability to interact to physical world through practical examples in the context of online experimentation.

Demonstration of an application for remote outlier detection and accommodation

This work describes a tool for data analysis and time series cleaning, with a specific focus on outlier detection and accommodation. Data can be previously collected or obtained in real-time from a remote laboratory experiment using a wireless sensor network (WSN). The tool, presented as a local Matlab Graphical User Interface or as a remote application, allows the user to fill in missing data, resample and select a wide range of state-of-the-art and classical outlier detection and accommodation methods such as Kernel PCA, Modified Z-Score and Grubbs Test. After the accommodation, the different methods can be compared one with another, as well as with the original series, providing several scalar metrics, such as Euclidian Distance or Complex-Invariant Time Distance, and graphical comparison metrics. Thus, this tool will provide quick access to time series cleaning techniques, applicable, in particular, to data from industrial or clinical scenarios.

Demonstration: Using IPython to Demonstrate the Usage of Remote Labs in Engineering Courses – A Case Study Using a Remote Rain Gauge

The use of collaborative tools that can contribute to share and demonstrate the usage of remote experiments, to support teaching and to enhance the learning process, is of great importance in several educational contexts and particularly in engineering courses. Jupyter/IPython notebooks are one of these tools that provide a programming environment to develop and share scientific contents and that can promote the access to remote and virtual labs. Teaching and learning activities in different high education courses, especially in engineering subjects, can benefit of using this type of resources. This paper presents an IPython-based approach to show how to interact with a remote rain gauge to obtain data about the rainfall in a given location, which may be useful in different learning contexts, namely in programming or environmental science subjects.

Flood management in urban drainage: Contributions for the control of water drainage systems using underground barriers

In this work an alternative and innovative usage for urban drainage systems was explored, in which barriers were installed and controlled in upstream underground conduits. This approach intends to use such components to retain water in upstream sections of a given drainage system, reducing water flows that reach its downstream sections and, consequently, their overload degree. The developed rule-based control system monitors the drainage system by acquiring data from different locations and performs the necessary control actions on a set of installed barriers. This control system was applied in drainage systems with a given set of properties, subjected to rainfall events with specific characteristics. With the developed control system, it is possible to prevent flood events within certain limits. When this task becomes impossible water withdrawals to external retention basins can be promoted, avoiding the need to perform any intervention. These results suggest the feasibility of the proposed approach for remote monitoring of drainage systems, accommodating the effects of climate changes.

Demonstration of modeling and simulation of physiological processes using a remote lab

Remote and virtual labs represent a very important support in engineering teaching and can be used to improve the students learning process, for example of Biomedical Engineering courses, on topics such as the identification of models and control systems. This paper describes the demonstration of an online experiment, supported by a three-tank lab system, to model, simulate and monitoring a physiological process as the system of ingestion and excretion of a drug. A Web platform is used to interact with the remote and virtual lab, where students can visualize and obtain data in real time from the remote system.