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Prototype of a Low Cost Turbine for the Generation of Clean Energy in the Ecuadorian Amazon

2020 , Guáitara B. , Buele, Jorge , Salazar F.W. , Varela Aldas, José

Access to electricity supply in remote areas is limited, despite having wealth of other natural resources such as water. This document presents the design and construction of a scale electric generation system, taking advantage of the hydraulic energy produced by a constant flow of water flow. For this, the turbine design is described, which is based on the principles of Francis and Kaplan. In addition, the structural design made in CAD/CAM software and the actual implementation of the system are shown. To determine the generated electric potential, the electromagnetic analysis is performed based on the Maxwell-Faraday equation and the respective calculations. The validation of this proposal is determined by conducting experimental tests with balanced, unbalanced, series and parallel coils and with their implementation in a home. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Temperature Controller Using the Takagi-Sugeno-Kang Fuzzy Inference System for an Industrial Heat Treatment Furnace

2020 , Buele, Jorge , Ríos-Cando P. , Brito G. , Moreno-P R. , Salazar F.W.

The industrial welding industry has a high energy consumption due to the heating processes carried out. The heat treatment furnaces used for reheating equipment made of steel require a good regulator to control the temperature at each stage of the process, thereby optimizing resources. Considering dynamic and variable temperature behavior inside the oven, this paper proposes the design of a temperature controller based on a Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK) fuzzy inference system of zero order. Considering the reaction curve of the temperature process, the plant model has been identified with the Miller method and a subsequent optimization based on the descending gradient algorithm. Using the conventional plant model, a TSK fuzzy model optimized by the recursive least square’s algorithm is obtained. The TSK fuzzy controller is initialized from the conventional controller and is optimized by descending gradient and a cost function. Applying this controller to a real heat treatment system achieves an approximate minimization of 15 min with respect to the time spent with a conventional controller. Improving the process and integrated systems of quality management of the service provided. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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System for Monitoring and Warning of the Ultraviolet Radiation Index: A Study Case in Ecuador Elementary Schools

2020 , Buele, Jorge , Chango F.I. , Chango M.L.Á. , Santamaría M. , Varela Aldas, José

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation has increased in recent years due to ozone layer depletion and in Ecuador in particular, due to its geographical position and the height of its cities. Prolonged sun exposures in childhood increase the risk of causing malignant effects on the skin and eyes, such as squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and cataracts. For this reason, this document describes the design of a device based on UV optical sensors that allows determining the existing radiation index. As a processing unit there is the Raspberry Pi 3B+ embedded board and to display the data physically there are LED panels. The storage of information is done through a database managed by MySQL and also implemented on the board. The levels of the ultraviolet radiation index (UVI) are presented through a graphical user interface (GUI) in real time, which also allows generating a report in a.csv file. Functional tests were carried out in the central courtyard of two educational units, to raise awareness among parents and authorities on the adoption of preventive measures that avoid possible damage to the skin of children when carrying out outdoor activities. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Facial recognition system for people with and without face mask in times of the covid-19 pandemic

2021 , Talahua J.S. , Buele, Jorge , Calvopina P. , Varela Aldas, José

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the use of a face mask as a mandatory biosafety measure. This has caused problems in current facial recognition systems, motivating the development of this research. This manuscript describes the development of a system for recognizing people, even when they are using a face mask, from photographs. A classification model based on the MobileNetV2 architecture and the OpenCv's face detector is used. Thus, using these stages, it can be identified where the face is and it can be determined whether or not it is wearing a face mask. The FaceNet model is used as a feature extractor and a feedforward multilayer perceptron to perform facial recognition. For training the facial recognition models, a set of observations made up of 13,359 images is generated; 52.9% images with a face mask and 47.1% images without a face mask. The experimental results show that there is an accuracy of 99.65% in determining whether a person is wearing a mask or not. An accuracy of 99.52% is achieved in the facial recognition of 10 people with masks, while for facial recognition without masks, an accuracy of 99.96% is obtained. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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Prototype System of Geolocation Educational Public Transport Through Google Maps API

2020 , Salazar F.W. , Naranjo-Ávalos H. , Buele, Jorge , Pintag M.J. , Buenaño É.R. , Reinoso C. , Urrutia-Urrutia P. , Varela Aldas, José

Urban traffic complications in most underdeveloped countries and congestion in all metropolitan areas has become a daily problem with a difficult solution. Disorganized mobility of drivers and pedestrians along with the increase in travel time, non-compliance with schedules, air pollution and intolerable sound levels, have harmful effects on human health. Therefore, this research describes a geolocation system of urban transport through a mobile application developed on the Xamarin platform. Drivers send the latitude and longitude points when starting a route, this data will be sent to the SQL SERVER online database server, using the SmarterASP.NET platform. By developing the geolocation system in ASP.NET, the coordinates are available to users in an interval of 5 s. The developed interface shows a location map, where the route in real time is presented. It also shows the administration of users, drivers, buses, assignment of routes, assignment of buses and registration of static routes. Being a prototype system, the university transport system has been taken as an object of study to corroborate its correct operation with the respective experimental tests. Satisfaction surveys have also been carried out on a group of 300 people, among students and university teachers and their validation is carried out through the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM). To interpret the results, Kendall Tau-b correlation analysis was used, obtaining positive correlation values with a high significance value. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Strategic Planning to Improve the Production Systems of an MSME: Case Study of a Toy Store

2024 , Buele, Jorge , Lozada-Cepeda J.A. , Ruales, María Belén

Competitiveness in the sales and services sector is becoming more and more intense. Therefore, the implementation of methodologies and strategies is necessary for the achievement of objectives, business growth, and the improvement of production systems. This article presents the performance of a strategic plan (SP) to identify the shortcomings of a company belonging to the MSME group. A toy store developing in Ecuadorian business is presented as a case study. The initial analysis uses tools such as the external PESTEL analysis, the Servqual model, and an analysis of current competitiveness. A new business model (Business Model Canvas) is defined to implement the plan, and strategic initiatives and projects are established. Since this study is projected for five years, experimental results are obtained for the first year, which shows a reduction in the gaps between customer expectations and the service offered. There is also evidence of minor quality mismatches in the Servqual model and a better competitive position than others. These objectives are related to increasing the company’s performance and combining quality, cost, and logistics on time. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Virtual goniometer using 3 space mocap sensors for lower limbs evaluation

2020 , Buele, Jorge , Pilatásig, M. , Angueta, H. , Ruales, María Belén , Varela Aldas, José

The deterioration of motor skills in lower limbs represents a reduction in people’s quality of life. This paper presents a virtual goniometer developed by the 3 Space Mocap sensors and Unity 3D software. The system shows lower limbs angles in real-time. This system helps physiatrists determine the movements of hip and knee and was compared with a goniometer to corroborate the system performance. To validate this prototype, comparative tests are carried out present a standard deviation of 1.86° and 2.12° in the left hip and knee respectively. Therefore, it confirms to be a reliable proposal for physical evaluations of lower limbs. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Maintenance Plan Based on TPM for Turbine Recovery Machinery

2021 , Lozada-Cepeda J.A. , Lara-Calle R. , Buele, Jorge

The maintenance and repair of the components of hydroelectric turbines require the use of specialized equipment. To keep these teams operational, it is proposed to design a master plan in order to develop a TPM philosophy for a vertical turning lathe. This project develops five of the twelve steps established by JIPM for the TPM implementation. This paper also provides the necessary documentation for 5S and autonomous maintenance applications. Also, some safety, health and environmental suggestions are provided. PM activities are chosen based on RCM techniques like CA and FMEA. And predictive maintenance activities are established following ISO 3655, 2006. All these activities including automotive maintenance ones are organized and scheduled. Finally, OEE rate is applied to the lathe to identify the principal losses on the machine. After applying this proposal there is an increase of 27.84% and 39.71% in availability and performance respectively. The OEE calculation has increased by 29.97%, thereby motivating readers to implement this methodology in other industries. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

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Perceptions and Dispositions of Parents and Teachers Toward Technological Learning Communities

2023 , Núñez-Hernández C. , Buele, Jorge

The search for strategies to improve students’ academic performance is increasingly common in education. Parents’ participation and teachers’ attention are key factors in forming a learning community. This article presents the results of a survey in which relevant statistical data was obtained. A significant association (p = 0.571) was found between the frequency with which parents help their children understand school content and their willingness to be part of a learning community, representing 40.65% of the population. In addition, it was found that 66.67% of parents frequently meet with their children’s teachers because they often solve the children’s doubts. Regarding the attention of teachers, it was evidenced that 64.71% of parents who meet very frequently with teachers do so with those who very frequently resolve children’s doubts effectively, which shows a correlation significant (p = 0.467). Finally, the relationship between the degree of mastery of teachers in learning management platforms and their participation in forming learning communities was analyzed. A significant correlation (phi = 0.321) was found between the degree of mastery of teachers in these platforms and their participation in the formation of learning communities, with 28.24% of teachers having sufficient mastery and 20.61% of those with a moderate domain. These findings highlight the importance of parent-teacher collaboration in fostering a culture of learning in school and improving student academic achievement. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

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Body Composition Evaluation using Bioelectrical Impedance and its Impact on Academic Performance of Nursing Students

2023 , Romero Riaño, Paola , Camaño Carball, Lilian , Yánez-Rueda H. , Buele, Jorge

In the past, nutritional assessment relied on manual measurements that did not allow for the differentiation of body composition components. With technological advancements, the introduction of bioelectrical impedance has provided a more specific approach to obtaining results. This study aims to utilize this innovative method to assess the connection between body composition and academic performance in nursing students. The research focused on a representative sample of 89 participants, utilizing bioelectrical impedance to measure the primary bioelements of the human body. Strong and significant correlations were observed between height and weight, height and muscle mass, and muscle mass and weight. A moderate correlation was found between weight and fat, as well as significant weak correlations between age and fat, and between fat and body mass index. Additionally, a significant weak negative correlation was observed between height and fat. Of the participants, 42.2% of women and 48% of men were classified as overweight. However, the statistical analysis did not reveal significant correlations between academic performance and variables such as weight, muscle mass, fat, and body mass index. Based on this information, it was concluded that most students had a body mass index within the normal range, and no direct relationship between body composition and academic performance was identified. Continuous monitoring of overweight students using this technology is recommended to promote healthy nutritional practices. © 2023 IEEE.