Approach to Adapt a Legacy Manufacturing System Into the IoT Paradigm
Enterprises are adopting the Internet of Things paradigm as a strategy to improve competitiveness. But enterprises also need to rely on their legacy systems, which are of vital importance to them and normally difficult to reconfigure or modify, their mere replacement being usually not affordable. These systems constitute, therefore, barriers to agility and competitiveness, raising the need to develop cost-effective ways for IoT adaptation. An approach for adapting legacy manufacturing systems into the IoT realm is proposed in this research. The methodology is twofold: an adaptation board is firstly designed to provide IoT connectivity, allowing to remotely invoke the “legacy” functionality as services. Then, the board itself can leverage the legacy system by developing additional functionalities inside it, as the update process is usually triggered by the need of new functionality from these systems. An experiment, which consists of adapting to IoT a small distribution line that is controlled by an aged Programmable Logic Controller, is developed to illustrate how straightforward, affordable and cost effective the adaptation approach is, allowing to holistically achieve a new system with more sophisticated functionality.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 91-104
International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE), Vienna, Austria
Copyright (c) 2017 João Rosas, Vasco Brito, Luis Brito Palma, Jose Barata
Industry 4.0 Concept: Background and Overview
Industry 4.0 is a strategic initiative recently introduced by the German government. The goal of the initiative is transformation of industrial manufacturing through digitalization and exploitation of potentials of new technologies. An Industry 4.0 production system is thus flexible and enables individualized and customized products. The aim of this paper is to present and facilitate an understanding of Industry 4.0 concepts, its drivers, enablers, goals and limitations. Building blocks are described and smart factory concept is presented. A Reference Architecture Model RAMI4.0 and role of standardization in future implementation of Industry 4.0 concept are addressed. The current status of Industry 4.0 readiness of the German companies is presented and commented. Finally it is discussed if Industry 4.0 is really a disruptive concept or simply a natural incremental development of industrial production systems.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 77-90
Development of a Tool to Perform Vehicle Road Tests
The development of a tool to analyse data collected in car road tests is presented, allowing a better understanding of the Physics of car motion. Using the measured data of fuel consumption and the main variables related to the vehicle displacement, it is possible to make corrections to the influence of the main disturbing factors and clearly improve the quality of road tests based evaluations. Thus, the fuel consumption rate is continuously recorded during the motion of the vehicle, whereas the power required to ensure displacement can be calculated using a simulation model with the data recorded during a path. Integrating over time the average power values at each interval, the energy necessary to ensure the vehicle displacement is calculated, while integrating the fuel rate over the duration of the path, the fuel consumption is computed. The ratio between the theoretically required energy and the one actually spent provides the conversion efficiency of the vehicle propulsion system. The developed tool is very useful in the framework of the courses about car dynamics included in Mechanical or Automotive Engineering Programmes. The developed tool couples data collected during road tests with a simulation model that computes all the force components acting on the car body during the motion. It has been written in LabView and an attractive graphical interface is used to keep the attention of the students when the data is displayed in real-time or analysed based upon previously recorded files.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 67-76
Copyright (c) 2017 Manuel Gameiro Silva, Ahmet Gültekin, Eren Ãœnlütürk
Technology and Innovation in Agriculture: The Azores Case Study
A growing population world might exceed its food supply in the future. Food availability needs an increasing agricultural productivity and production through technology and innovation. European concerns about innovation policies reflected on the Lisbon Agenda include the European program PROPRURAL+ for the Portuguese Azores Islands. The agricultural innovation in the Azores started with the Green Revolution, which increased agricultural production, using seeds, fertilizers, chemical products and agricultural equipment. But much more innovation is needed for the Azores to became a well-sustained and competitive European region in this economic sector. For example, concerning milk, the region is responsible for more than 30% of the national production. But, since the liberalization in EU imposed by the global markets, a crisis in the sector is installed. Dairy producers are now facing many difficulties in trying to enhance the profitability of their farms, by reducing costs and improving efficiency. A characterization of the Azorean agriculture, emphasizing the milk production sector is presented. The specificities and the potential of the region are discussed and some agricultural innovations with IoT technologies are pointed out.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 56-66
Copyright (c) 2017 E. L.D.G.S. Silva, C. M.M. Oliveira, A. B. Mendes, H. M.G.F.O. Guerra
Enhancing a 3D Printer with Online Access
This paper looks at different ways of providing a RepRap 3D printer with online access and remote control to be operated from multiple devices including mobile devices. Different technological solutions that can be used with distinct printers are identified and tested. The selected and implemented remote access solution is described and examples of printed parts are presented. Reference is made to MSc theses that have been supported by this lab facility.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 44-55
Copyright (c) 2017 T. F. Andrade, P. Abreu, M. T. Restivo, M. F. Chouzal, B. F. Santos, J. Rodrigues
Sharing Online Experiments – An Excellent Opportunity for Networking of Higher Education Institutions
networking of higher education institutions
The opportunity for networking of higher education institutions (HEIs) by networking of their remote laboratories (RLs) is considered in this paper. Several important issues regarding successful HEIs networking by networking of their RLs are highlighted and resulted from a round table discussion during Experiment@ International Workshop 2016 “The Emerging Technologies on the Internet of Everything “ -ETIoE’16.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 37-43
NSensor – Wireless Sensor Network for Environmental Monitoring
This paper reports the development and integration of a wireless sensor network for environmental monitoring. The main goals of this system include modularity, low power consumption and ease of expansion. The system includes three main elements: sensor nodes, gateways and a server. Each sensor node can only connect to a gateway, resulting in a star network layout. Data collected from the different sensor nodes is stored in a database within the server. A web-based user interface for this system was developed and made available online.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 25-36
Copyright (c) 2017 P. J. Sousa, R. Tavares, M. Teresa Restivo
A Virtual PLC Environment for Assisting Automation Teaching and Learning
In this paper, a virtual PLC environment aiming at assisting automation teaching, learning and e-learning is proposed and discussed. The main contributions are a virtual PLC environment propped on a local and remote applications, along with the comparison of two teaching and learning methodologies, one local, while the other offers a remote interaction with the system. The proposed framework fits in the emerging technologies on the Internet of Everything, having the potential of promoting the integration and communication of virtual and real systems.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 12-24
Copyright (c) 2017 Luis Brito Palma, V. Brito, João Rosas, Paulo Gil
Sustainability, Social Impact, Learning and Training Innovation in Online Experimentation
Experimentation is an essential ingredient in any learning strategy about Sciences and Technologies (SciTech in the following). That is why the research on online experimentation is paramount to help confront the skill shortage in SciTech disciplines, by stimulating the development of more effective online learning and training approaches. Nonetheless, in this sector "functional" aspects are often overrated by researchers and no specific attention is paid to the sustainability of their proposals or to the possibility to analyze and improve the achieved social impact. A better integration among these aspects is then essential to move online experimentation research out of its infancy, to improve its perceived value and to increase its diffusion.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 11 No. 5 (2017); pp. 6-11
Copyright (c) 2017 Mario A. Bochicchio, Lucia Vaira
Sensor Enhanced Health Information Systems: Issues and Challenges
Owing to the fact that the world population is aging and considering the high cost of healthcare services, researchers are exploiting the use of sensors to support mobile monitoring of healthcare systems remotely. However, this area is faced with numerous challenges. In this research, the challenges facing the integration of sensors in Health Information Systems (HIS) were reviewed. One of the major challenges faced by such systems is interoperability. In this article, a survey of existing mobile monitoring system is presented and the challenges facing this area are categorized. A significant contribution by some research has indicated the need for further study to thoroughly investigate Interoperability as a Property (IaaP) paradigm for HIS. Recommendation by some researchers requires that a prototype be developed in order to evaluate the performance of IaaP paradigm.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 13 No. 01 (2019); pp. 99-114