Carlos E Cugnasca

Stingless bees have an increasing commercial importance for pollination inside greenhouses. Besides the ecologic interest, studies on their behavior and on the influence of abiotic factors such as air temperature and humidity on flight activity can help select the species more suitable for a specific condition. An Internet-based monitoring system to help these studies is presented. The instrumentation level uses a personal computer and a data acquisition board plus sensors for those two variables and for bees count. A database is build with these data and can be accessed locally or remotely via Internet using a Web Browser. The technology permits acquisition of more and better data than before and also allows sharing the results among researchers from different parts of the world in real time.

In this paper, the traceability of heparin medicine will be studied. Currently, the registration of traceability data is conducted in a decentralized manner. With blockchain implementation, the traceability systems that use this data could become semi-automated, increasing the quality, security, and confidence of the information generated in the supply chain. This paper presents the essential requirements and activities wherein information must be collected within the heparin drug supply chain, focusing on the animal raw materials production link and its requirements. Blockchain technology is proposed to increase traceability and reliability in relation to the current situation. It also fulfills all the requirements identified if used as part of a traceability system. These requirements are: the existence of a consensus mechanism; anonymity; protocol, efficiency, and consumption; immutability; ownership and management; and approval time. We conclude the paper by presenting the mappi...

Greenhouses are becoming more important every day due to the requirements of modern agriculture. The market is becoming increasingly competitive, demanding better quality products at reasonable costs. Optimization of production processes inputs and environmental preservation are also important aspects that must be considered. In order to attend to these necessities it is important to improve the greenhouse control systems. Lately, there has been an increase in the use of distributed control systems that provide more flexible, scalable and cost effective solutions. This paper highlights the features of typical greenhouse automation systems and proposes a solution for greenhouse automation using the LonWorks® distributed control technology.

ABSTRACT The industrial organization of productive processes have presented a tendency for dispersion and distribution of manufacturing plants based on an increase of resources and functionality of information and mobility technology. In this sense, Local Operating ...

This paper presents the researches conducted using Adaptive Automata (AA) theory in robotics equipments, process and systems. The generalization and behavior adaptation features of AA allow their application for process modeling, identification, classification and decision making in the same way as traditional computational logic such as Fuzzy Logic and Artificial Neural Networks. As sample of AA applications, the paper presents

A crescente disponibilização de serviços na internet tem viabilizado o surgimento de laboratórios a distância, os Weblabs. Nesse contexto, a transmissão de vídeo é primordial para uma efetiva visualização e interação remota. Entretanto, as restrições de banda dos diversos segmentos que integram a internet não permitem que vídeos de alta qualidade e em tempo real possam ser transmitidos, requisitos essenciais para que exista efetiva monitoração e atuação a distância. Considerando-se um Weblab, chamado de Webbee, por meio do qual se pretende monitorar o comportamento das abelhas, esses requisitos se tornam ainda mais importantes. Codificadores comerciais (MPEG4 e WMV) aplicados em vídeo de abelhas apresentam grande redução no tamanho do arquivo, mas também de qualidade, o que inviabiliza suas aplicações para o Webbee. Este trabalho apresenta a proposta de um novo algoritmo para codificação de vídeo de abelhas e redução da taxa de dados, mantendo a qualidade da informação. São utilizad...

Abstract. Ad hoc Wireless Sensor Networks (AWSN) are arrays of miniaturized electronic devices that embed sensors and have communication capabilities that allow them to interconnect using a radio network. They are available with different technologies, configurations, and ...

Network segregation is the solution adopted in the IMT-2020 standardization of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), better known as 5G networks (Fifth Generation Mobile Networks), under development to meet the requirements of performance, reliability, energy, and economic efficiency required by applications in the various verticals of current and near-future economic activities. The philosophy adopted for the IMT-2020 standardization relies on the use of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and Software-Defined Radio (SDR), i.e., the softwarization of the network. Softwarization allows network segregation through its slicing, which is discussed herein this work. Network slicing is performed by a novel Orchestrator, as provided in IMT-2020, which maintains the end-to-end network slices independent of each other and performs horizontal handover when the possibility of a loss of Quality of Service (QoS) is predictively detected by monit...

This research aimed to monitor and evaluate air-conditioned trucks transporting day-old chicks, in various shifts of travel, through general packet radio service (GPRS) technology to provide real-time thermal control for poultry industry managers. The Control-Broilers equipment used were GS-105 and the Monitorar Platform. GS-105 is composed of sensors, a microprocessor, GPRS, and batteries. The Monitorar Platform provided nine applications that acted in coordination with web technology RESTful services. Twenty-eight chick transports were evaluated and monitored using the Control-Broilers. Truck routes were supervised by two researchers to ensure real-time data transmission through laptops and smartphones. Three air-conditioned trucks were used during two of days shifts. The vehicles had the same dimensions, but the routes, travel times, and load densities varied. Measurements of the air temperature, relative humidity, and specific enthalpy inside the trucks were recorded every minut...

Precision agriculture provides support for decision making and enables management of field activities, inputs reduction, profitability increase, and environmental impacts reduction. Information systems are recommended to achieve these goals. The evaluation of a crop only at the end of its cycle may be too late, since any corrections can only be applied in the next production cycle. Integration of Wireless Sensor Networks – WSN to information systems for precision agriculture allows the use of online information for crop monitoring in real time, via the Internet. This paper presents a reference architecture for building an information system capable of meeting this requirement by applying the standards for web services defined by the W3C and the Open Geospatial Consortium, responsible for setting standards for the Internet and for geospatial data processing, respectively. The WSN eKo line provided by MEMSIC Corporation was chosen to evaluate the rsolution. The results may also contri...

Integration of Wireless Sensor Networks – WSN to information systems for precision agriculture allows the use of online information for crop monitoring in real time, via the Internet. This paper introduces a reference architecture for information systems to meet this requirement by applying the standards for web services and for geospatial data processing, defined by W3C and OGC. The WSN eKo line provided by MEMSIC Corporation was chosen to evaluate the solution. The results may contribute to the development of effective solutions to integrate WSN to information systems for precision agriculture, so as to enable the use of online resources and real time crop monitoring.

Model Driven Engineering (MDE) é uma abordagem para desenvolvimento de software baseada na transformação de modelos de alto nível, tais como diagramas UML, até a geração automática do código-fonte em uma linguagem alvo. Set Based Meta Modeling (SBMM) é um formalismo que permite descrever metamodelos, os quais consistem em um tipo específico de modelos para descrever linguagens de modelagem de software tais como a UML. Este trabalho apresenta um metamodelo para programas adaptativos, definido em SBMM, que estende um metamodelo anterior encontrado na literatura pela adição de restrições. Esta especificação formal de metamodelo é introduzida no software SBMMTool juntamente com uma função de mapeamento para geração de código, que passa então a funcionar como uma ferramenta CASE para edição de modelos de programas adaptativos e abre caminho em direção à aplicação da MDE nesta área.

A tecnologia de identificação por radiofrequência, também conhecida pela sigla RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço e aplicações nas diversas áreas produtivas, tanto no Brasil como no mundo. Este cenário tem se intensificado, principalmente, depois dos anos 2000, período em que os custos de produção das etiquetas (tags) e implantação foram reduzidos a ponto de tornar esta tecnologia mais atraente para os setores industriais e de serviços. Investimentos em Pesquisa, Desenvolvimento e Inovação (PD&I) realizados por institutos de pesquisa e universidades também têm contribuído para que a RFID se torne uma tecnologia mais acessível ao usuário final com aplicações em diversas áreas, notadamente em logística e segurança. Na esfera da pesquisa de RFID nas universidades, este retrato se confirma, principalmente quando se analisa o número crescente de artigos científicos e patentes publicadas nos últimos anos.

The no-tillage system (NTS) represents an important technological advance in agriculture generating economic and environmental benefits. However, there is a new orientation of academic interest in issues related to the environment and sustainable development in several areas regarding the NTS. Our aim was thus to perform an overview analysis of academic publications about this system and their focuses. The method adopted was a bibliometric survey at the Web of Science database. The 500 most cited articles on the Web of Science database published between 2006 and 2011 were chosen and lexical and multiple correspondence analyses with the most frequent words in title, abstract and keyword fields were made. The results suggest that there is a strong emphasis on no-tillage publications on environmental issues, such as carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions.

The LonWorks® technology is an open specification for distributed control networks. This technology allows the interconnection of intelligent sensors and actuators in a way that they are able to exchange data. In this work, we have developed a set of software tools aiming to connect a LonWorks network to the Internet, making it remotely accessible. As an application example, we used a LonWorks based commercial sensor, which can measure humidity, temperature, and some other variables. This kind of monitoring is, obviously, very important to general agricultural applications. The monitoring of these variables through the Internet brings more possibilities of application.

ABSTRACT This paper presents a general overview on the EPCglobal® Network proposed by GS1, a global and non-profit organization. Recent advances in RFID technology allowed its crescent use, as well as its close relation with a novel paradigm, the Internet of Things, which proposes the integration of objects of the quotidian use to the Internet. A research started in the late 1990s at the AutoID Lab at the MIT, resulted in the creation of several enumeration schemes, which enable an individual identification of products and elements along a supply chain. These enumeration schemes follows the Global Standards proposed by GS1. The Electronic Product Code, a number coded following one of these standards, recorded on a RFID tag attached to a product, enables data information exchange among companies and their business partners. In order to foster this technology even more, a framework architecture known as the EPCglobal® Network was proposed. In that framework, only roles, interfaces and a common vocabulary are specified, leaving implementation details for end users. Information Systems constituted by data repositories and discovery services, fed by trace information automatically recorded during the movement of items along the supply chains may fulfill the requisites of traceability and logistic demands.

Precision Agriculture is an agricultural practice that uses technology based on the principle of variability. The geographically referenced data implement the process of agricultural automation so as to dose fertilizers and pesticides. The efficient application of low cost pesticides without contamination the environment is an agricultural production challenge. The main effect to be avoided during application is pesticide drift. To minimize it is important to know the environmental conditions, such as wind, temperature, and humidity at the moment of application. This article discusses and proposes the use of Wireless Sensor Networks in a support and control system for pesticide application. A Wireless Sensor Network is a special kind of ad hoc network, consisting of several sensors that collect and process information from the environment which it is distributed. These sensors are use to record different data types, such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. Three uses of the application of sensor networks in precision agriculture are investigated. In the first case, the sensor network evaluates environmental data at the time of application to determine suitable environmental conditions for application. The system monitors throughout the application and in addition emits an alert when the environment is unfavorable for the application. The second use evaluates the wind speed and direction to suggest corrections in the path of a tractor or aircraft. It is expected that this alteration in the path results in applying the defensive solely in the appropriate area. The last use of the sensor network that will be discussed here analyzing crop dusting quality by evaluating the deposition of pesticide over the crop. The use of sensor networks in precision agriculture has become an important management tool. Wireless Sensor Networks can be used in crop dusting, in order to minimize and control pesticide drift, and the contamination of soil and waterways, improving effective application.

Agriculture, roads, animal farms and other land uses may modify the water quality from rivers, dams and other surface freshwaters. In the control of the ecological process and for environmental management, it is necessary to quickly and accurately identify surface water contamination (in areas such as rivers and dams) with contaminated runoff waters coming, for example, from cultivation and urban areas. This paper presents a comparative analysis of different classification algorithms applied to the data collected from a sample of soil-contaminated water aiming to identify if the water quality classification proposed in this research agrees with reality. The sample was part of a laboratory experiment, which began with a sample of treated water added with increasing fractions of soil. The results show that the proposed classification for water quality in this scenario is coherent, because different algorithms indicated a strong statistic relationship between the classes and their inst...