Zapata, Mireya
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Zapata, Mireya
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Quito
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mireyazapata@uti.edu.ec
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Scopus Author ID
56818703100

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Social Robots for Service Environments in Academia

2024 , Zapata, Mireya , Jorge Álvarez-Tello

The increase of social robots in services has generated academic interest in their design and development to enhance human-robot interaction across various contexts, from home assistance to educational and medical environments. Design criteria increasingly explore the software development aspect, but interdisciplinary focus on sustainability also pursues hardware improvement for human-robot interaction in contexts ranging from home assistance to medical environments. With this background, the research question arises: What key features should be considered for the development of a social robot in academia? A systematic metadata review according to PRISMA of 698 studies from the SCOPUS database was conducted, selecting 10 relevant ones to explore functions and applications that allow characterizing hardware and software in the design of social robots for development in academia. Preliminary results indicate a focus on creating smarter, safer, and more adaptable robots, utilizing advances in hardware and software such as flexible electronics and artificial intelligence. It is concluded that the balance between hardware and software proposes the prototyping of a robotic platform with LiDAR/ROS technology, flexible electronics, and ultralightweight material structure, for sustainable, low-power consumption, and low-cost developments. Collaboration among researchers, educators, and developers is crucial to create educational social robots that are both useful and accepted.

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Optimizing Agriculture with LoRaWAN and HCI: A Smart Approach to Sustainable Farming

2025 , Valencia-Aragón, Kevin , Zapata, Mireya , Cristopher Toapanta , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio

Modern agriculture faces challenges including water scarcity, excessive fertilizer use, and limited connectivity in rural areas, all exacerbated by climate change. This paper presents a smart agriculture system leveraging LoRaWAN technology and human-computer interfaces (HCI) to address these issues. The proposed system integrates low-cost sensors, a LoRaWAN-based network, and a user-friendly dashboard for real-time monitoring of critical variables such as soil moisture, ambient humidity and temperature. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates the system’s effectiveness in optimizing water and fertilizer use while maintaining scalability for large agricultural operations. The system operates reliably within rural environments without relying on traditional internet infrastructure, offering an affordable and sustainable solution. Field tests validate the system’s performance, highlighting its potential to enhance decision-making and resource efficiency in floriculture and beyond. Future work aims to expand the system’s capabilities with additional sensors, artificial intelligence for predictive analytics, and automated control mechanisms, further supporting sustainable farming practices

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Mechanical Design of a Spatial Mechanism for the Robot Head Configuration in Social Robotics

2020 , Alvarez-Tello, Jorge , Zapata, Mireya , Paillacho D.

The manuscript presents the mechanical design of the head configuration in the Human Robot Interaction (HRI) used for the message transmission of emotions through nonverbal communications styles. The evolution of this structure results on a natural movement reproduction for the implementation of non-verbal communication strategies in a normal behavior, achieve the main patterns to evaluate the social interaction with the robotic platform. The mechanical design result from a biomechanical evaluation of the Pitch, Roll, and Yaw trajectories of the human head and neck. The spatial mechanisms, according to the Grübber formula for Spatial Robots, allows 4 degrees of freedom. The spatial chain has universal, prismatic, spiral and revolute joins of the mechanical model-ling. This CAD model permit the 3D print of cardan elements to performance the structure of the mechanisms. The appearance is friendly and the interface reach similar capabilities than a human would have for communication. Finally, human interaction through the head movement gives the opportunity in the future for the evaluation of more parameters of the social robotic interaction between robots-humans and robots-robots. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Design of a Human Machine Interface for Programming and Testing Adjustable Frequency Drives for Constant Pressure Pumping Applications

2021 , Remache-Vinueza B. , Castro-Ramírez J. , Zapata, Mireya

In this project, a human machine interface (HMI) was developed for programming adjustable frequency drives (AFDs). Frequency drives have a wide range of industrial applications such as pumping systems, conveyor belts, ventilation and air conditioning systems, and, in general, applications that require motors with high torque. Constant pressure pumping systems with AFDs, for instance, allow working with a proportional integral derivative (PID) control, providing the system with precise response between the desired value and the process feedback. In this project, an HMI has been designed to effectively configure, test and calibrate AFDs for constant pressure pumping applications. Various alternatives of HMI screens were analyzed using the prioritization matrix method to determine the most suitable screen. The HMI interface was developed in the DOPsoft 4 software of DELTA Electronics, following the guidelines set forth by ANSI/ISA-101.01-2015, to generate a clear and easy to understand HMI. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Design and evaluation of a heuristic optimization tool based on evolutionary grammars using PSoCs

2020 , Vallejo Mancero B. , Zapata, Mireya , Topón-Visarrea L. , Malagón P.

Currently, the evolutionary computing techniques are increasingly used in different fields, such as optimization, machine learning, and others. The starting point of the investigation is a set of optimization tools based on these techniques and one of them is called evolutionary grammar [1]. It is a evolutionary technique derived from genetic algorithms and used to generate programs automatically in any type of language. The present work is focused on the design and evaluation of hardware acceleration technique through PSoC, for the execution of evolutionary grammar. For this, a ZYNQ development platform is used, in which the logical part is used to implement factory modules and independents hardware blocks made up of a soft-processor, memory BRAM, and a CORDIC module developed to perform arithmetic operations. The processing part is used for the execution of the algorithm. Throughout the development, the procedures and techniques used for hardware and software design are specified, and the viability of the implementation is analyzed considering the comparison of the algorithm execution times in Java versus the execution times in Hardware. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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MobileTestPro: Testing Framework for Mobile Application

2025 , Jorge Romero-Collaguazo , Danilo Martinez , Zapata, Mireya , Xavier Ferre

In the last decade, both the mobile market and app development have seen exponential growth, with millions of apps in online stores and billions of downloads recorded. Several development processes are used for app development, with agile approaches being the best fit for the market model. However, there is a weakness in testing activities and tasks. To provide a tool to improve software quality, we present a proposal for a framework for software testing in apps. Our proposal combines a series of tools used to evaluate an application in key areas such as consistency, security, compatibility, stress, among others, the development activities that provide a deliverable, and Mobile Ilities. To evaluate the feasibility of using the proposal, a toy app was used. The results reflect situations where the app’s behavior is not desired and its relationship with mobile ilities. The main contribution of the paper is to guide app developers in evaluating apps and contributing to improving app quality.

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Playful Thinking as a Strategy to Assess Mathematical Skills in Primary School

2023 , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Solis M. , Zapata, Mireya

This research aims to find gamified tools that can be used by teachers in their classes and transform traditional evaluation so that it is attractive to the student and their mathematical skills are developed. The objective of the research was to empirically analyze whether the use of gamification has a positive impact on Mathematics Evaluation, through the application of a quasi-experimental program for learning basic operations in fourth-year students of Basic General Education. We worked with an experimental group and a control group, under the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in the results of the evaluation of basic operations in mathematics when using a traditional instrument and another online. The designed instrument consists of 20 multiple-choice questions, extracted from the PISA model evaluates for the fourth year. The experimental group was evaluated with the instrument in Word and the online instrument was used with the control group. The results of the evaluation of the experimental group have an average of 16.15, after the intervention, while the control group has an average of 14.20; showing that there is a difference in the evaluations when using a traditional instrument and another online. It is concluded that these new ways of evaluating and learning through gamified modalities and resources open new spaces to investigate different options on how to value knowledge to future generations, regardless of obstacles of time, space, and resources. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Real-time execution of SNN models with synaptic plasticity for handwritten digit recognition on SIMD hardware

2024 , Bernardo Vallejo-Mancero , Jordi Madrenas , Zapata, Mireya

Recent advancements in neuromorphic computing have led to the development of hardware architectures inspired by Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) to emulate the efficiency and parallel processing capabilities of the human brain. This work focuses on testing the HEENS architecture, specifically designed for high parallel processing and biological realism in SNN emulation, implemented on a ZYNQ family FPGA. The study applies this architecture to the classification of digits using the well-known MNIST database. The image resolutions were adjusted to match HEENS' processing capacity. Results were compared with existing work, demonstrating HEENS' performance comparable to other solutions. This study highlights the importance of balancing accuracy and efficiency in the execution of applications. HEENS offers a flexible solution for SNN emulation, allowing for the implementation of programmable neural and synaptic models. It encourages the exploration of novel algorithms and network architectures, providing an alternative for real-time processing with efficient energy consumption.

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Low-Cost Human–Machine Interface for Computer Control with Facial Landmark Detection and Voice Commands

2022 , Ramos, P. , Zapata, Mireya , Valencia, K. , Vargas, V. , Ramos Galarza, Carlos

Nowadays, daily life involves the extensive use of computers, since human beings are immersed in a technological society. Therefore, it is mandatory to interact with computers, which represents a true disadvantage for people with upper limb disabilities. In this context, this work aims to develop an interface for emulating mouse and keyboard functions (EMKEY) by applying concepts of artificial vision and voice recognition to replace the use of hands. Pointer control is achieved by head movement, whereas voice recognition is used to perform interface functionalities, including speech-to-text transcription. To evaluate the interface’s usability and usefulness, two studies were carried out. The first study was performed with 30 participants without physical disabilities. Throughout this study, there were significant correlations found between the emulator’s usability and aspects such as adaptability, execution time, and the participant’s age. In the second study, the use of the emulator was analyzed by four participants with motor disabilities. It was found that the interface was best used by the participant with cerebral palsy, followed by the participants with upper limb paralysis, spina bifida, and muscular dystrophy. In general, the results show that the proposed interface is easy to use, practical, fairly accurate, and works on a wide range of computers. © 2022 by the authors.

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Real-time hardware emulation of neural cultures: A comparative study of in vitro, in silico and in duris silico models

2024 , Bernardo Vallejo-Mancero , Sergio Faci-Lázaro , Zapata, Mireya , Jordi Soriano , Jordi Madrenas

Biological neural networks are well known for their capacity to process information with extremely low power consumption. Fields such as Artificial Intelligence, with high computational costs, are seeking for alternatives inspired in biological systems. An inspiring alternative is to implement hardware architectures that replicate the behavior of biological neurons but with the flexibility in programming capabilities of an electronic device, all combined with a relatively low operational cost. To advance in this quest, here we analyze the capacity of the HEENS hardware architecture to operate in a similar manner as an in vitro neuronal network grown in the laboratory. For that, we considered data of spontaneous activity in living neuronal cultures of about 400 neurons and compared their collective dynamics and functional behavior with those obtained from direct numerical simulations (in silico) and hardware implementations (in duris silico). The results show that HEENS is capable to mimic both the in vitro and in silico systems with high efficient-cost ratio, and on different network topological designs. Our work shows that compact low-cost hardware implementations are feasible, opening new avenues for future, highly efficient neuromorphic devices and advanced human–machine interfacing.

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