Varela Aldas, José
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Varela Aldas, José
Main Affiliation
Ambato
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josevarela@uti.edu.ec
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Scopus Author ID
57192546163

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Virtual Environment for the Mashing and Boiling Process in Craft Beer Production

2023 , Pogo S.I. , Granizo J. , Andaluz V.H. , Varela Aldas, José

Process automation allows to increase production and improve the quality of craft products. This paper presents the implementation of closed-loop control algorithms for a mashing and brewing plant of craft beer. The proposed control scheme is implemented through the HIL technique, for which a virtual environment that simulates the behavior of the industrial process and a control card where the control algorithms are implemented are considered. To represent the behavior of the plant level and temperature processes, the mathematical model of each process is obtained, this model is used for the design of the control algo-rhythms, and the plant is modeled in 3D and incorporated into the graphics engine also has effects of realism together with been 3D in order to increase the level of realism to the process. For user interaction with the environment, an HMI type mantle center is incorporated to visualize and control the process manually, semi-automatically, and automatically, in order to test the control algorithms safely and avoid the risk of instrumentation damage or loss of real materials. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Virtual Reality applications based on activities of daily living (ADL) for cognitive diagnosis and rehabilitation

2022 , Buele, Jorge , Varela Aldas, José , Palacios-Navarro G.

Traditionally, screening tools are available to help diagnose a person's cognitive problem. Therefore, rehabilitation techniques are lab exercises that lack adequate ecological validity. In this paper, we propose to establish the projection of a methodology for the development of serious games based on activities of daily living (ADL). Both for real and immersive environments, to assess what provides better results when applied in healthy patients at first, but with a focus on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is expected that when this research is completed, precedents will be established for the development of new proposals based on virtual environments. © 2022 IEEE.

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IoT-Based Alternating Current Electrical Parameters Monitoring System

2022 , Varela Aldas, José , Silva, S , Palacios-Navarro, G.

Energy monitors are indispensable for achieving efficient electrical grids and even more so in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT), where electrical system data are monitored from anywhere in the world. This paper presents the development of a two-channel electrical parameter-monitoring system based on the M5 Stack Core2 kit. The acquisition of variables is done through PZEM 004T V3.0 sensors, and the data are sent to the ThingSpeak cloud database. Local readings are done through the LCD, and data re stored on a micro SD card. Remote monitoring is done through two applications, namely a web application and a mobile application, each designed for different purposes. To validate this proposal, a commercial device with IoT features (Gen 2 Vue Energy Monitor) is used, comparing the active power and active energy readings recorded continuously for 7 days. The results indicate an accuracy of up to 1.95% in power and 0.81% in energy, obtaining a low-cost compact product with multiple features. © 2022 by the authors.

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Prototype System for Control the ScorBot ER-4U Robotic Arm Using Free Tools

2021 , Chávez-Chica E. , Buele J. , Salazar F.W. , Varela Aldas, José

The acquisition of controllers offered by manufacturers represents a high cost for the user and presents limitations for development. Therefore, in this work we propose the development of an electronic controller for the ScorBot ER_4U robotic arm operation. The programs are elaborated in C language, in the ESP-IDF development environment, which allows the manipulation and control of the arm. The development of this research directly benefits the research field. In this way, an open license software is delivered for the modification of codes and circuits that support the evolution of robotics knowledge. The tests carried out validate this proposal, both in operation and in the response times obtained. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Control of an Arm-Hand Prosthesis by Mental Commands and Blinking

2020 , Varela Aldas, José , Castillo Salazar, David Ricardo , Borja Galeas, Carlos , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Fierro-Saltos, W. , Rivera, R. , Hidalgo-Guijarro, J. , Yandún-Velasteguí, M.

Patients who lack upper and lower extremities have difficulties in carrying out their daily activities. The new technological advances have allowed the development of robotic applications to support people with disabilities, also, portable electroencephalographic (EEG) sensors are increasingly accessible and allow the development of new proposals which involve the mental control of electronic systems. This work presents the control by mental orders of an arm-hand prosthesis using low-cost devices, the objective is to command the arm using the user’s attention and blinking, where the components are a brain signal sensor, a prosthesis, an Arduino board, six servomotors, and a computer. The developed program in Matlab allows controlling the arm by means of an attention level y blinking. The results show the functioning of the system through experimental tests and a usability test is applied, finally, the conclusions establish adequate coordination in the movements of the prosthesis and the patient indicate satisfaction with the proposal. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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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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An analysis of IoT technology education based on UIFLOW

2023 , Varela Aldas, José , Junta-Andagana C. , Bran C.

The importance of education in new technologies today drives us to continue exploring available options to introduce students to STEAM competencies. This article presents an analysis of satisfaction in the practical education of IoT technology using a block-based programming language. In this case, the UIFlow development environment, compatible with M5Stack kits, is utilized. A graphical interface for the M5Stack Core2 AWS module's screen is designed to enable data transmission to the Thingspeak platform via the MQTT protocol with a 1-second delay. This analysis was conducted during a practical session with a group of 11 industrial engineering students. The collected data includes session runtimes and a satisfaction assessment using the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire, specifically adapted for this case. The results indicate an overall satisfaction level of 84.7% within the group. The lowest-scoring aspect pertains to the information provided by UIFlow for problem-solving. © 2023 IEEE.

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System Identification and Nonlinear Model Predictive Control with Collision Avoidance Applied in Hexacopters UAVs

2022 , Recalde, Luis , Guevara, B.S. , Carvajal, C.P. , Andaluz, V.H. , Varela Aldas, José , Gandolfo, D.C.

Accurate trajectory tracking is a critical property of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) due to system nonlinearities, under-actuated properties and constraints. Specifically, the use of unmanned rotorcrafts with accuracy trajectory tracking controllers in dynamic environments has the potential to improve the fields of environment monitoring, safety, search and rescue, border surveillance, geology and mining, agriculture industry, and traffic control. Monitoring operations in dynamic environments produce significant complications with respect to accuracy and obstacles in the surrounding environment and, in many cases, it is difficult to perform even with state-of-the-art controllers. This work presents a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) with collision avoidance for hexacopters’ trajectory tracking in dynamic environments, as well as shows a comparative study between the accuracies of the Euler–Lagrange formulation and the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) models in order to find the precise representation of the system dynamics. The proposed controller includes limits on the maneuverability velocities, system dynamics, obstacles and the tracking error in the optimization control problem (OCP). In order to show the good performance of this control proposal, computational simulations and real experiments were carried out using a six rotary-wind unmanned aerial vehicle (hexacopter—DJI MATRICE 600). The experimental results prove the good performance of the predictive scheme and its ability to regenerate the optimal control policy. Simulation results expand the proposed controller in simulating highly dynamic environments that showing the scalability of the controller. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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Control of a Security Door Through the Internet of Things

2022 , Toapanta J. , Miranda M. , Andaluz V.H. , Palacios-Navarro G. , Varela Aldas, José

Home security has increased in recent years with the help of technology. Even more, the appearance of the internet of things (IoT) allows it to control and monitor devices from anywhere in the world. This work develops a proposal that alerts the user about the status of a door through a mobile application using low-cost devices. For the electronic design, a magnetic contact sensor has been used that detects if the door is open. An electric lock is also used to control the door with the mobile application from anywhere in the user. The electronic system is based on an ESP32 board that has WiFi communication, this board sends the door status data to the mobile application. The electric lock can be activated in three ways: manually from the door, automatically according to a programmed routine, and remotely using the mobile app. The platform used for the IoT is Firebase, which allows the exchange of information between the local site and the remote site. The tests carried out around the prototype have responded correctly, the installed sensor continuously reports on the status of the door, and the control is executed according to the orders sent through the cloud. In addition, an acceptance test is used that guarantees the correct operation of the proposal. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Plant layout of a blackberry pulp production process

2023 , Teneda E. , Caceres L. , Varela Aldas, José

An adequate plant layout expedites the production process, optimizing time and resources to improve the industrial system's performance. This work presents the plant layout of a blackberry pulp production process using the systematic layout planning (SLP) methodology, which allows for analysis and evaluation and renders all the elements involved in the productive process. This qualitative method allows for locating the internal components of the plant-based on different factors. Tools used include material flow analysis through the from/to chart; the Guerchet methodology makes it possible to determine the total area needed; the space relationship diagram allows fixing the proximity between the elements; finally, three alternatives are established and evaluated for the distribution. According to the scores obtained, the alternative improvement is selected, and the plant layout is virtualized using three different 3D design software that allows rendering of the plant layout. ©2023 IEEE.

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