Finalized Projects

Yara-4.0: SensorLess Technology Solutions involving Industry 4.0 - 2018/2021

Description: Different levels of automation are currently being used to make industries more competitive. However, methods based purely on industrial automation do not allow complete integration or total production flexibility. Given this, the concept of Industry 4.0 is established as a strategy for building a highly flexible production model for personalized and digital products and services, with real-time interactions between people, products, and devices during the production process. In the Industry 4.0 concept, tasks are carried out based on information from the physical and virtual world. These production systems have highly scalable networked sensors (smart grids) and can generate large amounts of information from the physical world (big data), requiring various means of data collection and analysis (analytics). Industry 4.0 has been treated as the most important technological leap forward today, capable of leading to paradigm shifts, thus emerging as the fourth industrial revolution. This proposal aims to evaluate and introduce Industry 4.0 technologies into the production process at the Yara Brasil plant in the city of Rio Grande, as well as to investigate the use of computer vision algorithms for particle size analysis in applications in the fertilizer industry. The aim is to develop a prototype of a customized granulometer that can be used in the fertilizer production line.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (2) / Master's degree: (1).

Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Emanuel Diaz Estrada - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Ricardo Nagel Rodrigues - Integrante.

Financial backer(s): Yara Brasil Fertilizantes - Cooperation.

CleanBot - Pipe Cleaning Robot - 2018/2021

Description: Development of a robotic system called Cleanbot, the system will be a prototype for cleaning suction pipes in fertilizer plants. The project will result in a prototype made up of three modules: i. locomotion mechanism, ii. Perception system and iii. Actuation system.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (2) / Master's degree: (1).

Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Emanuel Diaz Estrada - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Ricardo Nagel Rodrigues - Integrante.

Financial support(es): Yara Brasil Fertilizantes - Cooperation.

3DREC - Dense Three-Dimensional Reconstruction based on Computer Vision and its Applications - 2016/2020

Description: The 3DREC project - Dense Three-Dimensional Reconstruction based on Computer Vision and its Applications aims to develop computer vision techniques for the three-dimensional reconstruction of environments and their applications such as image restoration, robotic localization, and augmented reality. Given the low cost of video cameras and the ever-increasing capabilities of low-cost computing power using graphics cards, dense three-dimensional reconstruction techniques are being applied to previously unthinkable domains. The development of techniques that allow this new horizon of possibilities to be explored is increasingly being pursued by the scientific and technological community and is the main focus of this project. Therefore, this research project aims to develop methodologies capable of estimating the three-dimensional structure of scenes and their applications.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (3).

Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Coordinator / Allan Furukawa Gadani - Integrant / Lucas Tubino Bonifácio Costa - Integrant / Gabrielle Rodrigues Almeida da Rosa - Integrant.

(CAPES Marine Sciences 2 n 43/2013)Netuno - Research, Development, and Innovation Network in Underwater Computing, Instrumentation, Automation and Robotics Technologies - 2014/2019

Description: This proposal aims to foster research and technological development in the Network associated with the areas of computing, instrumentation, robotics and automation and their application in underwater oceanography and engineering missions, aiming at the training of human resources at the stricto sensu postgraduate level in Oceanography, Chemical, Physical and Geological Oceanography, Biological Oceanography, Ocean Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computational Modeling, Science Education and Mechanical Engineering and, in a complementary way, at the undergraduate level. The Network will be made up of multidisciplinary teams (engineers, computer scientists, and oceanographers) from different national and international institutions, involving missions, courses, and workshops; the development of research projects in specific areas, the generation of new products and methodologies, the provision of infrastructure for experimentation and scientific dissemination.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Academic Master's: (4) / PhD: (1).

Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Integrante / Leonardo Emmendorfer - Integrante.

Financial support(es): Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - Other.

TATUBOT - Underground Distribution Network Inspection System - 2011/2014

Description: Development of a Visual Inspection System involving different sensors for the inspection and evaluation of underground power cables. Evaluation of different types of sensors, development of acquisition hardware, and robotic system for tele-operated navigation.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (3).

Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Vinícius Menezes de Oliveira - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Cláudio Dornelles Mello Júnior - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante.

Hyperenvironments - Pervasive and Ubiquitous Robotics and Automation in Subaquatic and Subterranean Missions - 2011/2014

Description: Universal Notice from Professor Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho: Due to the level of encapsulation, communication, and autonomy of hardware components, a recent paradigm has arisen in computing associated with the possibility of pervasiveness and ubiquity. Ubiquitous and Pervasive computing brings together new forms of human-computer interaction, where the computer integrates into society's daily life "at any moment" and "anywhere". The aim is to make human-machine interaction invisible, that is, to integrate computing with individuals' natural actions and behaviors. Advances in mobile processing and communication devices, interactive devices, and virtual reality are technological contributions catalyzing this process. In a broader sense, such concepts of ubiquity and pervasiveness can be extended to other technologies. For example, previously restricted to repetitive tasks in industries, robotic systems, with perception, decision-making, and actuation capabilities, are increasingly becoming part of society's everyday life. Currently, it is conceivable to have multi-technological environments composed of networks of identifiers (Radio-frequency Identifiers - RFIDs), sensors, and robotic actuators. Collaborative environments may involve robots and humans (and their avatars), located in different geographical-temporal spaces. Thus, just as in ubiquitous computing, computing is present everywhere, in this new context, here referred to as Ubiquitous and Pervasive Robotics and Automation, different technological perception and actuation resources would be present everywhere, perceiving and acting autonomously "at any moment" and "anywhere". From this perspective, the present proposal seeks to identify and address the challenges associated with the development of multi-technological environments, here referred to as Hyperenvironments, for Ubiquitous Robotics and Automation. These would be composed of real and virtual elements, identifier networks, and sensors.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (12) / Master's: (4) / PhD: (3).

Team members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Member / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Member / Alessandro de Lima Bicho - Member / Danúbia Bueno Espíndola - Member.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Other.

SACI - Advanced Supervision, Inspection, and Diagnosis System for Electrical Systems: Generation, Transmission, and Distribution - 2010/2015

Description: Development of Hardware and Software Architecture for monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis of the useful life for equipment of the power electrical system, more precisely dedicated conductors to generation, and distribution based on mobile sensor networks composed of mobile inspection robots for aerial and underground. FINEP Notice Ct-energ FURG, UFRN, and UFRGS.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (15) / Master's: (6) / PhD: (3).

Team members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Member / Vinícius Menezes de Oliveira - Member / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Member / Eder Mateus Nunes Gonçalves - Member / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Member / Leonardo Emmendorfer - Member / Adelardo A Dantas de Medeiros - Member / Carlos Eduardo Pereira - Member / Diana Francisca Adamatti - Member / Pablo Javier Alsina - Member / Walter Fetter Lages - Member.

Funding: Financier of Studies and Projects - Financial support.

FURGBOL - Multi-robot Architecture for Applications in Dynamic Systems - 2010/2012

Description: Development of an architecture for autonomous multi-robots in dynamic environments. Such architecture should provide for cooperation among agents and could be implemented on different platforms (embedded in robots, centralized, etc.). The proposal will be validated in a team of robots to play soccer.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (12).

Team members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Member / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Emanuel Diaz Estrada - Member / Vagner Santos da Rosa - Member / Liercio André Isoldi - Member.

TECSUB - Development of Subaquatic Inspection Technology - 2005/2008

Description: Proj. 506460/04-5 CT-INF, CNPq. The TECSUB project will encompass the study and development of a modular architecture integrating software/hardware capable of providing intelligent and autonomous behavior to the fleet, taking into account real-time aspects, modularity, and different levels of abstraction. More precisely, the project encompasses the development of 7 main computational modules: AUVControl: hardware embedded in each AUV for control and inspection, responsible for perception, sensory data processing, and motor actuation. MULTILOC: module that implements the functionalities attributed to the underwater CS. PLANSUB: high-level planning module capable of taking into account the distributed nature of the system for performing tasks cooperatively and coordinated among the AUVs. This module also gathers different information from digitized maps, and mosaics generated in real-time, and provides graphical outputs of the environment being explored. This module will be located on an existing server on the surface. RECSUB: Also located on the surface, this module will contain the implementation of different algorithms for recognizing underwater patterns/features. 3DSIMSub: development of different dynamic models of submerged vehicles subject to cable action, with attached manipulator, etc. TELEOP: module capable of providing remote access to the complete system (fleet+simulator).

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (5) / Master's: (2).

Team members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Member / Sebastiao Cicero Pinheiro Gomes - Member / Vinícius Menezes de Oliveira - Member / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Tania Mezzadri Centeno - Member / Adelardo A Dantas de Medeiros - Member / Pablo Javier Alsina - Member.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Other.

(EMBRAPII) AUROS ROBOTICS - Fruit Farming Monitoring through Computer Vision - 2022/2023

Description: This project is justified by its intention to technologically enhance the fruit harvesting process, which foresees the technological orientation to be followed by the contracting company in terms of both hardware and software. The result of this R, D&I project has the potential to reduce losses for the rural producer (fruit grower) when implementing the solution in the future, as field tests have been conducted, and planned to be carried out by the contractor, following the work plan of this project. The project aims to develop the prototype of a new version of the equipment for capturing and processing images for fruit farming and related activities.

Status: Completed; Nature: Development.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (3) / Master's: (2).

Team members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Member / Vagner Santos da Rosa - Member / Alessio Almada da Costa - Coordinator / Luciano Silva da Silva - Member.

Funding: Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation - Cooperation / Federal University of Rio Grande - Other / HORN, MOR AND HORN LTDA

(EMBRAPII) Automated measurement, classification and tracking of wood logs - 2021/2023
Description: This project aims to specify and develop a semi-autonomous computer system for measuring, classifying and tracking wood logs.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Academic Master's: (1) / PhD: (1) .
Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Vagner Santos da Rosa - Integrante / Alessandro de Lima Bicho - Integrante / Eduardo Nunes Borges - Coordenador / Rafael Alceste Berri - Integrante.
Financial backer(s): Serra Morena - Cooperation / Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation - Cooperation.

(EMBRAPII) MEDLIFE INNOVATION V1.0 - 2021/2022
Description: The MEDLIFE INNOVATION V1.0 project - EXCELLENCE IN THE MEDICAL-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP OLÁMED MEDLIFE is a research, development and innovation project that integrates medical sensors and devices, the development of algorithms for interpreting and processing natural language, the development of software for automated doctor-patient interaction systems and the use of artificial intelligence and analytics technologies to improve the communication experience, speed up the recording of consultations by processing the data acquired and collected, and post-consultation interactions.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: undergraduate: (10) / academic master's: (3) .
Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Alessandro de Lima Bicho - Integrante / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Integrante / Karina dos Santos Machado - Integrante / Eduardo Nunes Borges - Integrante / Rafael Alceste Berri - Integrante / Marcelo de Gomensoro Malheiros - Integrante / Marcio Roberto Machado da Silva - Coordenador.
Financial backer(s): MEDLIFE SERVICOS EM TELEMEDICINA, SAUDE E TECNOLOGIA LTDA - Cooperação / Serviço de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas de Porto Alegre - Auxílio financeiro / Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial - Cooperação.

(DT CNPQ) ORUS - Perception for Service Robotics based on Learning - 2020/2023
Description: (Technological Development and Innovative Extension Productivity Grant - DT) Service robots assist humans, usually by performing dirty, tedious, distant, dangerous or repetitive work. A service robot is a robot that operates semi- or fully autonomously to perform services useful to the well-being of humans and equipment, excluding manufacturing operations, as defined by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). This paper deals with the problem of robot perception related to understanding the environment around the robot to enable decision making. The challenges of robot perception are well established; however, most are still open problems, with specific approaches limited in scope. This is especially the case in extreme environments, such as confided environments, underwater, etc. Recently, the use of learning-based approaches is state-of-the-art in many perception tasks that include vision, audio, etc. Among the many learning-based algorithms, deep learning algorithms using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) show excellent results when the data is static, for example optical and acoustic images. However, the use of dynamic learning systems is also necessary, since the robot is usually moving in the environment and its perception is dynamic. Thus, models for dealing with dynamic systems will be proposed. This paper presents the use of deep learning algorithms for robotic perception. Three case studies are presented: the perception of a robotic sprayer based on video cameras and inertial sensors where the plantation is identified to allow proper pesticide application; the perception of a welding robot able to perceive and plan the welding based on a monocular camera; the perception of underwater robots working in shallow water with variable turbidity, where optical and acoustic images are responsible for perceiving the environment. This project aims to deal with the problem of perception as a learning problem and propose a framework capable of dealing with this variety of environments and robots. Within this scope, it aims to understand the particularities of different sensors and learning architectures/models and to propose methodologies capable of optimizing perception capabilities. The expected results are computational systems capable of learning from real field data and providing robots with information about the environment to help with high-level robot tasks such as mapping, localization, loop closure, planning, navigation, etc.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (5) / Master's degree: (3) .
Integrants: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Coordinator / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Integrant.
Financial support: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Scholarship.

(FINEP/CT-AQUAVIÁRIO) 3DCS - Advanced Automation and Control Technologies for the Supervision of Maritime Subsystems - 2014/2018
Description: Project approved in the PUBLIC CALL MCT/FINEP/CT-AQUAVIÁRIO - Cooperation IPCTs-Empresas - NAVIPEÇAS- 01/2013 (Finep) In line with the growth strategy of the Nautec-FURG laboratory and the Altus company in the oil and gas area, the 3DCS project aims to develop a modular distributed control system with high availability and integrated with supervision systems, in order to promote solutions for the monitoring, automation and control of maritime subsystems. More precisely, the development of the 3DCS system will involve the following sub-projects: 1. v-DCS - Advanced Vision Distributed Supervision Module The main objective of the v-DCS sub-project is to use video cameras as a supervision and fault signaling tool, both for measurement and for measurement redundancy and the detection of faults and alarms, and their integration with SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) or DCS (Distributed Control System) industrial production control systems. To achieve this goal, three main components are required: (i) obtaining videos with cameras in the visible or infrared spectrum; (ii) developing algorithms for extracting visual information in real time and (iii) integrating this information into the industrial control network. 2. m-DCS Mobile Visualization Module for DCS The aim is to develop human-computer interfaces (HCI) for accessing and visualizing data/models in the field (plant) from industrial SCADAS and DCS in real time. The visualization of information by field operators through intuitive HCI plays a fundamental role in the management and execution of complex industrial processes. The use of mobile human-computer interfaces with advanced interaction and visualization resources, such as virtual and mixed reality, can bring significant gains in terms of process time and cost. This proposal therefore aims to investigate, develop and apply advanced interaction and visualization interfaces with support for virtual and mixed reality resources in industrial processes. 3. iNEXTO Industrial Internet in the Nexto Series This sub-project refers to the integration of the Industrial Ethernet standard, also known as real-time Ethernet, into the Nexto Series PLCs, in order to add a set of important functionalities to the devices in terms of modern communication protocols, namely: expansion of the external and internal communication possibilities of the NEXTO systems; interoperability with field devices and with administrative and management systems; and improvement in the time guarantees and internal redundancy of the modules that make up the NEXTO system. 4. DNV and UL certification The compliance of products with different types of certification significantly increases their penetration power in different types of markets. In the naval market, products and equipment are required to have DNV certification, and the Nexto Series currently complies with the RoHS directive and already has CE marking for use in the European market. However, for this series to enter the North American market, UL certification is required, both for equipment for use in naval applications and for other applications. Therefore, these certifications play an important role in consolidating the product in naval applications as well as in the main foreign markets, which contributes to reducing Brazil's trade deficit.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (8) / Master's degree: (3) .
Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Vinícius Menezes de Oliveira - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Eder Mateus Nunes Gonçalves - Integrante / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Integrante / Danúbia Bueno Espíndola - Integrante / Ricardo Nagel Rodrigues - Integrante.
Financial backer(s): Financier of Studies and Projects - Financial support.

(SICTRS - REDERIOSUL) Integration of 3D model and DCS for FPSO operation and control - 2012/2017
Description: Project approved in EDITAL Nº 03/2012 REDE RIOGRANDENSE DE PESQUISA, PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO E INOVAÇÃO REDERIOSUL This project aims to develop electro-electronic and computing systems and devices with national technology, fulfilling the requirements of the standards that govern the sector, in order to meet the needs of the Oil, Gas and Energy industry, through a platform that integrates DCS supervisory systems with Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality techniques for application in monitoring and controlling the operation and safety of FPSO Platforms. Specific objectives: - To survey the state-of-the-art in terms of advanced DCS solutions, involving multi-technological paradigms of interactivity such as Augmented, Virtual and Dual Reality; - To verify the current scenario associated with the supervision and control of FPSO oil platforms in order to identify the level of practicality expected and the applicability of the proposal; - To develop a 3D representation module of platform plans capable of providing structural and location information; - To develop a visualization interface that enables integration between 3D visualization technologies and supervisory systems. Based on the identification, via tag, of its different elements, the system should allow supervision and control, enabling the representative 3D visualization of each object in the plant so that, when accessing a given tag, it is possible to identify its 3D model in a virtual scenario, and vice versa; - Provide the system with navigation and interactivity resources capable of contributing to the quality and usability of the system.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Members: Paulo Lilles Jorge Drews Junior - Integrante / Vinícius Menezes de Oliveira - Integrante / Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordenador / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Eder Mateus Nunes Gonçalves - Integrante / Alessandro de Lima Bicho - Integrante / Rodrigo Andrade de Bem - Integrante / Danúbia Bueno Espíndola - Integrante / Ricardo Matsumura Araújo - Integrante / Lisane Brisolara de Brisolara - Integrante / Marilton Sanchotene Aguiar - Integrante / Júlio Carlos Bauzano de Mattos - Integrante.
Sponsor(s): Secretariat for Economic Development, Science, Technology and Innovation - Other.

Khairos - Scientific and Engineering Visualization applied to Computational Modeling of Complex Natural and Artificial Systemsb - 2010/2012
Description: 560121/2010-5 Edital MCT/CNPq nº 09/2010 PDI - Tecnologia da Informação / Edital nº 09/2010 - PDI - This project aims to advance in the provision of material and human resources in conditions of involvement with Computational Modeling and Scientific and Engineering Visualization, within the scope of different areas of knowledge. The development and use of computer systems capable of analyzing, solving and simulating difficult problems would be the tasks to be carried out. In addition to developing physical and mathematical models that involve large amounts of calculation operations, simulating natural and artificial aspects with large uncertainties and structuring large amounts of data for information mining, the project focuses on studying, developing and making available scientific and engineering visualization techniques capable of extracting information from large data sets. Aspects related to the development of Ontologies, Collaborative Visualization, Immersiveness, Error and Uncertainty Representation, Human-Machine Interaction and Visualization Architectures will be addressed.
Status: Completed; Nature: Research.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Master's degree: (3) .
Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Daniel Tavares - Integrant / Bicho, Alessandro de L. - Integrant / Duarte Filho, Nelson L. - Integrant.
Financial support: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 13

TELE-P ROBOTAR - Building Multi-Environment Augmented Reality with Robots, Humans, and AVATARS - 2008/2010

Description: 504145/2008-8 - MCT/CNPq Notice 04/2008 The ROBOTAR project aims to address a series of issues associated mainly with tracking multiple agents involved in the scene to be reproduced, predicting the pose of the agents to be teleoperated, and implementing telepresence either by triggering robotic systems and/or rendering avatars.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (2) / Master's: (1).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Scholarship.

Number of C, T & A productions: 12

TATUBOT - ROBOTIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR UNDERGROUND DISTRIBUTION LINES - 2007/2011

Description: Development of a Robot for Inspection of Electric Power Distribution Ducts. CNPq Process No. 554881/2006-3 approved under MCT/CNPq/CTEnerg Notice No. 28/2006 - Generation, Transmission, Distribution, and Final Use of Electric Energy.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (3) / Master's: (2).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Nelson Duarte - Member / Vinícius Oliveira - Member / Claudio Mello - Member / Eder Gonçalves - Member / Daniel Tavares - Member.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Scholarship / National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Financial Aid.

Number of C, T & A productions: 1

PAVAO - Analysis of Oceanographic Data Variability Patterns - 2002/2004

Description: Universal Notice, CNPq, Study and development of methods for analyzing spatiotemporal variability patterns in ocean satellite images.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Master's: (1).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Member / Mauricio Mata - Coordinator.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Financial Aid / National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Scholarship.

Number of C, T & A productions: 2

LABSUB - Underwater Robotics Laboratory - 2001/2003

Description: The main long-term goal is the development of technologies, methods, and products for underwater autonomous exploration and observation. As this goal involves an extensive multidisciplinary universe, to facilitate its treatment, we divided the problem into two major areas: 1. actuation and control of underwater mobile structures and 2. their instrumentation, embedded computing, and perception strategies. Respecting this subdivision, we propose specific objectives of this project: i. the study of alternatives for control and actuation of underwater mobile structures. This study will encompass a literature review on the subject, which will provide the development of powerful simulation tools that will allow the elaboration of our first physical prototypes of mobile vehicles. ii. the verification, study, and development of prototypes related to instrumentation and embedded computing that allow underwater vehicles to be (semi)autonomous and perform inspection tasks and related ones. These activities will allow the long-term development of submersible robots that have on-board sufficient perception and computing resources to ensure reflexive control and intelligent behaviors to perform underwater tasks autonomously.

Status: Completed; Nature: Research.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (5) / Master's: (2).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Sebastião Gomes - Member.

Funding: Foundation for Support of Research of the State of Rio Grande do Sul - Scholarship / Foundation for Support of Research of the State of Rio Grande do Sul - Financial Aid.

Number of C, T & A productions: 14

TECNAVAL - Technological Development Center for the Naval and Oceanic Industry - 2015/2020

The project was certified by the coordinator Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho on 08/14/2015.

Description: This project aims to provide OCEANTEC - Scientific and Technological Park of the Sea with a Technological Development Center for the Naval Industry, to be made available to companies in the naval and offshore sectors to be installed in OCEANTEC, initially constituted by ECOVIX, the anchor company of the park. This infrastructure will also be available to the Naval Pole APL, now being installed in the City of Rio Grande, which already has several interested companies, with ECOVIX itself being one of them. Initially, the Center will serve two major R&D lines, priorities to confer international competitiveness to the RS Naval Pole: Information Technology and Automation and Welding Engineering. The Center's work in these two lines is directly related to the main technological demands and bottlenecks of the RS Naval Pole and will allow a broad and integrated action in the search for solutions to increase the sector's competitiveness. The first technological support to be offered will focus on the Robotization of Welding Processes and Real-Time Tracking of Equipment, Inputs, and Human Resources using Radio Frequency Identification - RFID.

Status: Completed; Nature: Extension.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (5) / Master's: (2).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Member / Nelson Duarte - Member / Danilo Giroldo - Coordinator.

Funding: Financing Agency for Studies and Projects - Financial Aid.

ESCUNA - School Community University - 2003/2008

Description: Use of Information Technologies associated with Learning Projects methodology - Implementation of ICTs in the Network of Municipal Schools of Rio Grande.

Status: Completed; Nature: Extension.

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Member / Ivete Pinto - Member / Débora Laurino - Coordinator / Paula Costa Ribeiro - Member / Sheyla Costa Rodrigues - Member.

Funding: National Development Bank - Financial Aid / National Development Bank - Scholarship.

Number of C, T & A productions: 7

FURGBOL - 2001/2010

Description: Development of Robot Teams for Participation in Robot Football Championships.

Status: Completed; Nature: Extension.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (12) / Master's: (1).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Emanuel Estrada - Member / Paulo Drews - Member / Vagner Rosa - Member.

Funding: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) - Scholarship / Foundation for Support of Research of the State of Rio Grande do Sul - Scholarship.

Number of C, T & A productions: 9

OCELUS - Enhancement of Equipment and Linear Automatic Welding Process based on Computer Vision - 2015/2019

Description: This proposal aims at studying and developing technologies based on computer vision for the enhancement of Welding Equipment and Processes used in the oil and gas industry. More precisely, the proposal is presented through three main lines, which encompass the five sub-projects constituting the objectives of this work, as described below:

LINE 1: Bevel and Gap Dimensioning + Robot Control + Welding Machine

This line aims to use Computer Vision to estimate the geometry of the bevel and gap to be welded and, based on this, automatically customize the movement of a Portable Linear Welding Robot (PLWR, see Figure 1) and welding parameters. The line will involve the development of THREE sub-projects:

- Sub-project 1: MAP-OCELUS: vision system for offline use (imaging before the welding process); and

- Sub-project 2: RT-OCELUS: online vision system (imaging during welding) both capable of obtaining the geometry of the bevel and gap and their mappings in torch speed/stitch attitude and welding parameters; and

- Sub-project 3: BUG-OCELUS: control system for robot carriage movement and its stitch, as well as welding machine parameters.

LINE 2: Visual Computing for Inspection

This line foresees the study and development of computer vision technologies to assist in the welding inspection task. The proposal includes the development of ONE sub-project:

- Sub-project 4: i-OCELUS: inspection support system, to be used after the completion of welding, providing a report on weld quality from automatically performed visual inspection.

LINE 3: Visual Computing in Dynamic Analysis of Welding Phenomenon

This line envisages the study and analysis of the feasibility of using computer vision in the process of identifying welding patterns, based on high frame rate image capture and visual analysis of the phenomenon, involving artificial intelligence techniques. The proposal includes the development of ONE sub-project:

- Sub-project 5 DATASET: a dataset will be developed from different tests, where events and visual characteristics perceived in the visual analysis of the phenomenon will be annotated, using cameras with a high frame acquisition rate.

Status: Completed; Nature: Development.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (15) / Master's: (7) / PhD: (2).

Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Nelson Duarte - Member / Daniel Tavares - Member / Danúbia Bueno Espindola - Member / Vagner Rosa - Member / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Member.

Funder(s): Petrobras Biocombustível - Headquarters - Financial support.

Number of publications C, T & A: 40 

Sapiens - Sustainability and Efficiency through Consumer-Focused Technologies for Smart Grids - 2013/2018
Description: Project approved in MCTI/CNPq/CT-Aquaviário Call No. 22/2013 - Support for Technological Development in the Areas of Smart Grids (CNPq) The Sapiens Project aims to study and develop methodologies and technologies capable of including consumption as an intelligent element in sustainable and efficient Smart Grids in order to contribute to the scientific and technological development and innovation of the Brazilian Electricity Sector. More specifically, it aims to achieve the following objectives and goals: -Definition of a taxonomy of methods for automating residential energy consumption, taking into account the psychological aspects associated with motivating individuals to become aware of sustainable consumption (behavior change); -Carrying out a Case Study in order to study and evaluate the different profiles of individual consumption in homes, making it possible to obtain a methodology for developing motivational triggers for conscious consumption attitudes; -Development of a Smart Trigger Prototype, to be integrated into Smart Grid homes (30 homes in Brazil), capable of motivating the user to consume electricity consciously, as well as features for monitoring consumption and acting remotely in real time via web apps, SMS and smartphones (iOS and Android); -Carrying out a Case Study in order to study and evaluate the different consumption automation profiles, making it possible to obtain a methodology for obtaining different levels of automation aimed at intelligent and automated consumption; -Development of the Sapiens Prototype, which, based on the Smart Trigger, adds to it the possibility of adopting different levels of consumption automation, allowing autonomous operations and controls to be carried out (without explicit user interference); - Carrying out a Case Study in order to test and validate the methodology and the Sapiens Prototype as the fourth stage of the Energy Supply process in a Smart Grid scope.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (8) / Academic Master's: (5) / PhD: (2) .
Integrants: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / carlos eduardo pereira - Integrante / Daniel Tavares - Integrante / Renato Ventura Bayan Henriques - Integrante / Danúbia Bueno Espindola - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Vagner Rosa - Integrante / Leonardo Ramos Emmenorfer - Integrante / eder mateus nunes gonçalves - Integrante / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Integrante / Marcelo Pias - Integrante.
Financial support: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 15

Nautilus - Automation and Computing Technologies for Increased Competitiveness in Shipyards - 2013/2017
Description: Project approved in MCTI/CNPq/CT-Aquaviário Call No. 23/2013 - Support for Technological Development in the Areas of Waterway Transportation and Shipbuilding (Finep) This proposal aims to contribute to the scientific and technological development and innovation of Shipbuilding and Offshore in Brazil, through the use of advanced Automation and Computing techniques, in different stages of the construction process in a shipyard. The proposal will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team involving FURG's Intelligent Automation and Robotics Group, UFRJ's Ocean Engineering Program and FURG's Institute of Economic, Administrative and Accounting Sciences. The project consists of three main sub-projects: i. Definition of WBS structures and performance indicators: proposing a WBS for offshore shipbuilding, identifying the main technological bottlenecks and productivity metrics associated with the manufacture of offshore structures; ii. Identification and evaluation of the production flow using operation tracking and data mining technologies: the use of sensor networks to track transportation operations is proposed, with a view to improving: project management; and production and supply chain logistics; and iii. Improving welding processes through the automation and robotization of these processes: customization of the current automated/robotized technologies used in Brazilian shipyards, with the aim of improving performance and reducing the time and cost of operations.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (13) / Master's degree: (6) .
Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Daniel Tavares - Integrante / Floriano Pires - Integrante / luiz felipe assis - Integrante / Danúbia Bueno Espindola - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante / Pedro de Botelho Marcos - Integrante / Rosa, Vagner - Integrante / Leonardo Ramos Emmenorfer - Integrante / eder mateus nunes gonçalves - Integrante / Adriano Velasque Werhli - Integrante / Luciano Maciel Ribeiro - Integrante / Patrizia Raggi Abdallah - Integrante / Flávia Regona Czarneski - Integrante / Claudio L. Barauna Vieira - Integrante.
Financial support: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 19

SISCON - Shipbuilding Monitoring and Control System - 2011/2014
Description: FINEP-CT-AQUA Call for Proposals: Development of a control and monitoring system for shipbuilding works, based on advanced computing and automation techniques for field supervision. Implementation of a prototype in a real shipbuilding environment.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Master's degree: (2) .
Integrants: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Integrante / Daniel Tavares - Integrante / Duarte Filho, Nelson L. - Integrante / Floriano Pires - Integrante / Luis Felipe Assis - Coordenador.
Financier(s): Financier of Studies and Projects - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 10

AMADEUS 3 - Electricity Distribution Automation - 2011/2014
Description: The project's objectives include: - To propose the use of the omni-rupter switch and the supervision and control system developed in the AMADEUS I project as a mobile supervision system for medium-voltage step-down circuits, to be connected to the transformer, allowing the energy supplied by the step-down circuit to be measured and compared with the sum of the energy delivered by connection branches connected to this network, with data being acquired and sent in real time; - With the data stored, generate consumption histories of connected units for comparison with billing histories, allowing the identification of technical and/or commercial losses, as well as monitoring the operation of the transformer; - Build equipment to be used in low-voltage energy metering, to be used as a device for monitoring and comparing the energy requested by the consumer and that actually billed, signaling when there are differences that can be assessed as commercial losses (thefts); - Propose a device for connecting to conductors in low-voltage distribution networks, so that any clandestine electricity connections can be detected and signaled; - Propose a device for measuring electrical energy (active and reactive), taking into account the possible presence of harmonic distortions in voltage and current, enabling a comparison with the invoiced values, the identification of possible losses in invoicing and the construction of a database to support the composition of tariffs.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (4) / Master's degree: (2) .
Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Vinicius Oliveira - Integrante / Claudio Mello - Integrante / Daniel Tavares - Integrante / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Integrante.
Financial support(es): National Electric Energy Agency - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 6

SABELANDIA - Cyber-Platform for the development of Cognitive Activities - 2007/2020
Description: project n° 0106124100 - Cyber-Platform for the development of Cognitive Activities, referring to the public call MCT/FINEP/MEC ? Jogos Eletrônicos Educacionais 02/2006 /27 Development of a playful authoring platform for pedagogical support. The platform features Virtual Reality and Robotics resources.
Status: Completed; Nature: Development.
Students involved: Undergraduate: (8) / Specialization: (4) / Academic Master's: (1) / Doctorate: (1)
Members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Nelson Duarte - Integrante / Ivete Pinto - Integrante / Débora Laurino - Integrante / Paula Costa Ribeiro - Integrante / Sheyla costa Rodrigues - Integrante.
Financial support: Financier of Studies and Projects - Grant / Financier of Studies and Projects - Financial support.
Number of C, T & A productions: 21

AMADEUS 2 - 2006/2009

Description: Automation of Electric Power Distribution: development of autonomous remote measurement cells, remote measurement, and teleoperation. P&D CEEE/D - contract no. 9928174.

Status: Completed; Nature: Development.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (3) / Professional Master's: (1).

Team members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Vinicius Oliveira - Member / Sauro Martinnelli - Member / Claudio Mello - Member.

Funders: State Power Company - Financial Support / State Power Company - Scholarship.

Number of Productions C, T & A: 9

AMADEUS 1 - Automation of Electric Power Distribution - 2004/2006

Description: Study and development of a modular architecture aimed at automating electric power distribution. The project involves the study of EMS and SCADA systems aiming at the development of a complete system interconnecting information management with plant operation. A pilot plant will be set up in the city of Rio Grande/RS, validating the proposed architecture.

Status: Completed; Nature: Development.

Students involved: Undergraduate: (6).

Team members: Silvia Silva da Costa Botelho - Coordinator / Claudio Mello - Member / Nelson Lopes Duarte Filho - Member / Vinicius Menezes de Oliveira - Member.

Funders: National Electric Energy Agency - Financial Support.

Number of Productions C, T & A: 8