Rafael Tavares

Instrumented glove for rehabilitation exercises

This work describes an instrumented glove suitable for the rehabilitation of patients that show movement limitations after suffering a stroke. This instrumented glove uses angular position sensors to measure rotation of each joint of each finger and pressure sensors to monitor the pressure applied on each fingertip. Each finger also has a vibration motor and an indicator LED to provide a stimulus during rehabilitation exercises. The glove communicates via Serial Peripheral Interface protocol (SPI) with an HMI module where a graphical application was developed in order to monitor each finger and to implement rehabilitation game-like exercises. Nonetheless, this device has the capability to monitor and record the sensor data during the implemented exercises for further data analysis.

Wireless control and network management of door locks

This demo exemplifies the use of different wireless protocols, such as BLE and NFC, to manage and control multiple door locks. Each lock is able to transfer data to a router through a wireless protocol, MiWi™. The latter is connected trough an Ethernet network to a computer that manages the permissions for each lock, logging all the events.

Demonstration: Online Detection of Abnormalities in Blood Pressure Waveform: Bisfiriens and Alternans Pulse

Some cardiovascular diseases (CVD) can be characterized by abnormalities in the blood pressure (BP) waveform. This work explores the use of ML techniques in a screening system currently under development for detection of BP waveform abnormalities - Bisferiens and Alternans pulses. The system uses a tonometric probe for signal acquisition, signal processing involving period segmentation and image processing, and classification. The classification method used was the support vector machine (SVM) and it achieved an accuracy of 99.84%. Signal acquisition is done locally and sent to a remote server where the signal and image processing and classification is performed and the result prediction is sent back to the user.

Fiber Bragg grating sensor based on cantilever structure embedded in polymer 3D printed material

A cantilever structure in 3D printed based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor embedded in polymer material is proposed. The FBG sensor was embedded in 3D printed coating and was tested under three physical parameters: displacement, temperature and vibration. The sensor was tested in displacement in two different regions of the cantilever, namely, on its midpoint and end point. The maximum displacement sensitivity achieved was (3 ± 0.1) pm/mm for end point displacement, and a temperature sensitivity of (30 ± 1) pm/°C was also attained. In the case of vibration measurements it was possible to obtain a 10.23Hz-low frequency oscillation.

An online collaborative environment for rehabilitation using instrumented devices

This work reports the integration of different instrumented devices in the development of CORe, a Collaborative Online Rehabilitation Environment. This collaborative environment aims to support intelligent monitoring devices to be used in online rehabilitation and occupational therapy, further allowing the deployment of wide monitoring solutions for society supporting the health, ageing and rehabilitation fields. Several monitoring devices, such as instrumented gloves, a system for hand rehabilitation among other devices showcase some of the main features of this environment.

Device for hand rehabilitation in online collaborative environment

This work presents a system for hand rehabilitation, that makes use of an instrumented device and a virtual environment to provide augmented force and movement feedback to a patient, and data to a therapist. This system is aimed for use in occupational therapy, enabling remote and collaborative rehabilitation, as the environment allows recording of device data and remote streaming of the exercises.

VENTI: Experimental controller for inline duct fan

This demo exemplifies the use of a special built controller for an inline duct fan. This controller uses the temperature and humidity data, from the interior and exterior environment to implement programmable control strategies based on differential vapor pressure. The controller is able to operate the fan with variable velocity. The data from the sensors and the implemented control action are stored in a database so that it can be remotely accessed through the internet. This controller is an experimental platform to support current studies on demand-controlled ventilation and on control strategies with impact on indoor air quality and comfort.

A Self-Reflection on the Importance of Project Activities in Engineering Education

In this paper, the author elaborates about several examples of the multidisciplinary projects on which he was involved throughout his five years as Integrated Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto. This self-reflection aims to explain how these projects contributed to enrich, not only his technological and scientific knowledge, but also on how they have influenced his methodology as a student and how it lead to the research environment. The author would like to highlight that the multidisciplinarity of the course fed his motivation to learn and allowed him to established multiple connections between different topics such as mechanics, informatics and electronics.