Now showing 1 - 10 of 28
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Vortex Optimization of a Low-Head Gravity Hydroelectric Power Plant

2022 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Rojas-Asuero H. , Riba-Sanmartí G. , Ramón-Campoverde J.

Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is a Small-Scale Hydropower System which converts energy in a moving fluid to rotational energy. The main advantage of this technology is the low head hydraulic requirements. The aim of this work is to optimize the hydraulic geometry of the vortex, to achieve this, two prototypes (A and B) were designed and built to validate the proposed design process. The prototype A has a flat-bottom chamber and prototype B has a conical chamber outlet; both induce spiraling fluid streamlines. Prototypes were studied numerically and experimentally. The numerical study was developed in ANSYS CFX R19.0 software and the experimental phase was carried out in the fluid’s laboratory of the Technical University of Loja in Ecuador. The results show that the conical chamber improves strong free-surface vortex formation and increases water velocity in the center of the vortex flow. Finally, the proposed design method was validated and allows to reproduce the hydraulic structures of the gravity water vortex power plant. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Automation of an Electro-Hydraulic Test Bench Using a Weitek CMT3092 HMI- PLC

2022 , Altamirano-Haro D. , Sánchez-Díaz P.E. , Buele, Jorge , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio

The industrial environment demands mean that future professionals must acquire more and more technical skills. However, this represents a high investment that many higher education institutions cannot afford. Therefore, the laboratory equipment is updated, and this study begins with the automation of an electro-hydraulic test bench that was manual. For this, a PLC - Weintek was selected, whose programming was carried out in ladder language using CODESYS as a development platform, using an open Modbus programming code through the SFD block language. A human-machine interface (HMI) on a touch screen in the system allows user input (with various hierarchies) and operations control. The operator can also store data for later analysis. Finally, the validation of this proposal is carried out with the respective experimental tests, obtaining a significant reduction in the execution time of the three proposed tasks and improvement of learning conditions. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Inverse kinematics of a redundant manipulator robot using constrained optimization

2020 , Varela Aldas, José , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Andaluz, V.H. , Santamaría, M.

Redundant manipulative robots are characterized by greater manipulability improving performance but complicating inverse kinematics, on the other hand, optimization techniques allow solving complex problems in robotics applications with greater efficiency. This paper presents the inverse kinematics of a redundant manipulative robot with four degrees of freedom to track a desired trajectory, and considering constraint in manipulability. The optimization problem is proposed using the quadratic position errors of the operative end and the constraint is established by a manipulability index, for this the kinematic model of the robot is determined. The results show the points of singularity of the robot and the performance of the proposal implemented, observing the positional errors and the manipulability for each point of the trajectory. In addition, the optimization is evaluated for two desired manipulability values. Finally, it is concluded that the implemented method optimizes the inverse kinematics to track the desired path while constraining the manipulability. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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IoT Monitoring to Control a Bicycle Parking Lot

2022 , Ruales, María Belén , Lara-Alvarez P. , Riba C. , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio

In recent years, the development of new technologies has improved the management of resources and services at the urban level. In this sense, several cities worldwide have developed intelligent infrastructures such as Smart Cities in which, through data collection and management, they aim to achieve social, environmental and economic improvements. Innovative bike racks are a promising solution to traffic-related problems in major cities around the world; however, there is a lack of low-cost solutions for controlling and monitoring bike racks and thus boosting the mobility of cyclists. This paper presents a system to monitor and control a bicycle parking lot. In order to achieve this goal, software and hardware specifications were defined and characterised by the control system. The conceptual design and detail of the prototype and the materialisation proceeded, where technology with ESP8266 microcontrollers and Raspberry Pi+Ethernet/WiFi microprocessors was used in the MQTT communication protocol to implement its architecture. The system implements in the bicycle parking lot of the Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica. The series of data collected allowed for determining the frequency of use. With this, a database creates where the information on the frequency of use of bicycles is stored. Finally, through a mobile application, the availability of parking spaces can be consulted, and bikes in the parking lot can monitor. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Data Analysis for Performance Improvement of University Students Using IoT

2024 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Lara-Álvarez P. , Castro R.

Using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and data analysis techniques can potentially transform how universities approach improving student achievement. In this sense, the project is based on implementing a remotely operated pneumatic bank applying IoT for university education. With this technology, it is possible to obtain information about the factors that impact student achievement and design targeted interventions to help students improve their performance. The control system with low-cost technology was developed with Raspberry Pi, AnyDesk, and Canvas LMS for the remote connection. The experiment was carried out with two groups of 7 people, and it was identified that there are correlations of 0.87 and 0.62 between the performance of the students and the time they dedicate to studying and the hours they spend on the platform; this suggests a positive correlation between these variables. Therefore, as students spend more time studying and spending more hours on the platform, they are more likely to achieve better academic results. On the other hand, the study time of the group of students who used the bank remotely increased by 32% compared to those who used the bank in person; therefore, we can infer that with the implementation of the IoT, the use of the system is encouraged. Finally, based on the insights gained from the analysis, targeted interventions can be designed to help students improve their academic performance. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Enhancing Sustainability through Accessible Health Platforms: A Scoping Review

2023 , Ramírez-Saltos D. , Acosta-Vargas P. , Acosta-Vargas G. , Santórum M. , Carrion-Toro M. , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Ortiz-Prado E. , Maldonado-Garcés V. , González-Rodríguez M.

The digital transformation of healthcare platforms has ushered in a new era of accessibility, making health information and services widely available. This comprehensive scoping review delves into the accessibility landscape of health platforms by analyzing 29 carefully selected research articles. These studies employ automated tools and manual evaluations to evaluate platform accessibility comprehensively. This study revealed that (52%) of these articles are based on automated methods, while 34% combine automated and manual approaches. Most studies show compliance with the latest versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), with a significant focus (70%) on compliance with level A. This study reveals recurring issues within the perceivable operable, understandable, and robust categories, underscoring the pressing need for strict the accessibility testing of health platforms. This study demonstrates substantial agreement between raters, reinforced by a Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.613, indicating their reliability in classifying the articles. Future efforts should persist in refining accessibility standards, advocating for compliance with the WCAG, exploring innovative methods to assess the accessibility of healthcare platforms, and conducting user-centered research. This review highlights the paramount importance of ensuring equitable access to health information and services for people, regardless of their abilities or conditions, which resonates significantly with the issue of sustainability in healthcare and its socioeconomic and environmental implications. © 2023 by the authors.

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System for Monitoring and Controlling Industrial Lighting with Amazon Alexa

2021 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Saá F. , Villarroel-Córdova F. , de la Fuente-Morato A.

Intelligent devices, used along with sensors, are becoming more commonplace in industrial contexts. One such device, Amazon Echo (which runs Amazon Alexa), can be used to interact with other industrial systems via voice commands. Taking advantage of this, a skill to control the illumination system of a company has been developed, while also being able to measure power consumption in real time. Besides Echo, the system employs easily obtainable electronic components such as NodeMCU4 and Sonoff Pow, while running open-source software like IDE Arduino and Amazon Developer. Besides the voice commands, the system can be controlled via a cell phone touch app and a manual system. Tests show the skill successfully controls the illumination system and provides accurate power consumption data in real time. This skill can also be replicated in other industrial contexts. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Lifecycle assessment of electricity generation transition in ecuador

2021 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Samaniego-Ojeda C. , Riba G. , Maldonado-Correa J.

Ecuador’s energy mix has greatly reduced its dependency on fossil fuels the last 15 years, down to a marginal role (5%) in electricity generation in 2017. The development plan for the Ecuadorian power network aims to keep adding hydropower to meet the increasing demand. A prospective lifecycle assessment (LCA) of the future power network (2012–2050) can determine the feasibility of the development plan and its environmental sustainability in the long run. For a quantitative analysis of the energy transition over the entire lifecycle, the simulation software® Global Emission Model of Integrated System (GEMIS) is used. The results show that the current development path of the Ecuadorian energy system reduces the emissions of CO2 per kWh generated by 65% due to the large share of renewable energies, mainly hydropower, which costs 1% of Gross Domestic Product. The obtained LCA footprints are similar to the literature benchmarks. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

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Control System Test Platform for a DC Motor

2022 , Saá-Tapia F. , Mayorga-Miranda L. , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Domènech-Mestres C.

Currently, control systems are used to improve the behavior of actuators that are part of an equipment or process. However, to enhance their performance, it is necessary to perform tests to evaluate the responses of its operation depending on the type of controller. In this sense, a test platform was developed to compare and optimize the speed control of a DC motor with three types of controllers: Predictive Model Control (MPC), Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) and Fuzzy Logic. Data acquisition was performed using the Arduino MEGA board and LabVIEW software. The mathematical model of the three controllers was developed, taking into account the electrical and physical properties of the DC motor. Through MATLAB IDENT, the state space (SS) and transfer function F(S) equations were generated for the MPC and PID controller, respectively; on the other hand, input/output ranges for the Fuzzy Logic controller were input/output ranges defined by assigning belonging functions and linguistic variables. Experimental tests were carried out with these models under no-load and load. Tests performed in vacuum show that performance index with the motor at 100 rpm results in a PID of 0.2245, a Fuzzy Logic of 0.3212 and an MPC of 0.3576. On the other hand, with load at 100 rpm, a PID of 0.2343, a Fuzzy Logic of 0.3871 and an MPC of 0.3104 were obtained. It was determined that the Fuzzy Logic controller presents a higher over impulse; the PID and MPC have a faster stabilization time and with negligible over impulses. Finally, the MPC controller presents a better performance index analysis according to the Integral Square Error criterion (ISE). © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Anthropization and growth of the electricity grid as variables for the analysis of urban infrastructure

2020 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Huaraca D. , Varela Aldas, José , Ordóñez A. , Riba G.

City growth goes together with the development of infrastructure, and the power network is one of the most relevant towards economic development. The study of urban infrastructure through the analysis of anthropization coupled with power network growth can produce a tool that supports sustainable infrastructure planning, both economic and environmental. The case study focuses on Ambato, Ecuador, in the period from 1950 to 2019, and assesses quantitatively the changes in the city layout and the evolution of its power network. The data are adjusted to a sigmoid-type objective function through a non-linear least squares problem, that is solved using the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) method. Anthropization data show how the urban area grew during the study period: 37% (1950-1960), 53% (1960-1970), 80% (1970-1980), 35% (1980-1990), 39% (1990-2000), 38% (2000-2010), and 11% (2010-2019), mostly at the expense of agricultural land. The forecast for new power network users by 2050 yields a result of 203,630 total users with a population density of 4850 people/km2. The conclusion is that this type of analysis can help city planners and decision makers further understand city and infrastructure growth dynamics and produce policies that bolster sustainable city growth. © 2020 by the authors.