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This paper addresses the problem of programming, control and availability of distributed robots teams. Systems based on robots working together collaboratively has been the subject of much research in recent years. Because the rapid spread of technologies in mobile devices and Internet, as well as the benefits that robotics adds to the various everyday applications, the trend is that more and more it is present in various activities of human beings. For distributed robots systems there is a latent need for research to enable the use of such systems by end users with no or almost no experience with programming or robotics. Thus, this paper proposes a system architecture that allows the creation and programming of robots teams, allowing and users to manage them as a single system and simple way using collective knowledge acquired both programmers as of the and users. The tests are performed by an application that was developed under the concepts of this architecture. It provides a set of special operations by which and users can connect, create and control robots teams at high level. The experiments use LEGO Mindstorms® robots as members of two robot teams. The process of creation, programming and control of the teams is presented in well defined steps. The results are satisfactory and show that the operating strategy of the proposed system meets fundamental aspects at the system level such as modularity, flexibility and ease of access for end users.

A investigação cientifica sempre se fez e se faz de modo colaborativo. Hoje temos disponível a internet que facilita este processo através de ferramentas de comunicação, a partilha de dados, gestão de tarefas, entre outras. No entanto, a investigação qualitativa tem dado passos tímidos no trabalho verdadeiramente colaborativo. Este artigo apresenta o modelo 4C do trabalho colaborativo, bem como as funcionalidades de colaboração disponíveis na versão atual (2.0) do software de apoio à análise qualitativa webQDA. O estudo foi realizado tendo como base um questionário destinado a compreender a opinião de uma amostra aleatória de utilizadores do Brasil, Espanha e Portugal sobre estas funcionalidades. Os resultados demonstram que as funcionalidades de comunicação, cooperação e coordenação ainda não são devidamente exploradas pelos investigadores. Esperamos que o desenvolvimento da versão 3.0 do webQDA, possa ser beneficiada pela identificação das funcionalidades mais exploradas pelos investigadores e aponte novas potencialidades a serem disponibilizadas. Scientific research has always been done and is done in a collaborative manner. Today we have available the internet that facilitates this process through communication tools, data sharing, management tasks, among others. However, qualitative research has taken timid steps towards a truly collaborative work. This paper presents the 4C collaborative work model as well as the collaboration features available in the current version (2.0) of the qualitative analysis software webQDA. The paper is based on a questionnaire sought to understand the views of a random sample of users in Brazil, Spain and Portugal about these features. The results achieved demonstrate that the communications capabilities, cooperation and coordination are not yet fully explored by researchers. We hope that the development of version 3.0 of webQDA, can be benefited by the identification of the features most exploited by researchers and point to desired new features to be made available.

A tecnologia aplicada à comunicação eliminou barreiras, e permite que mais facilmente empresas e entidades possam interagir com os seus públicos. De facto, a cadeia de valor na comunicação tornou-se mais reduzida sendo cada vez mais habitual um contacto direto com diversos públicos (entre eles os turistas) via redes sociais e outros meios de comunicação próprios. Neste artigo, através da recolha de dados secundários disponíveis online, é feita uma análise da utilização da comunicação digital por parte de dois territórios de baixa densidade (Macedo de Cavaleiros e Vila Nova de Foz Côa) ambos com património mundial classificado pela UNESCO. A principal conclusão obtida é que ambos os municípios se encontram longe do potencial das possibilidades de interação abertas pelos canais digitais, sugerindo-se algumas formas de atuação com vista à sua melhoria. Technology applied to communication has eliminated barriers and allows companies and entities to interact more easily with their audiences. In fact, the value chain in communication has become shorter and a direct contact with different publics (including tourists) via social networks and other means of communication is becoming more and more usual. In this paper, through the collection of secondary data available online, it is made an analysis of the use of digital communication by two low density territories (Macedo de Cavaleiros and Vila Nova de Foz Côa) both with world heritage classified by UNESCO. The main conclusion obtained is that both municipalities are far from the potential of the interaction possibilities opened by digital channels, suggesting some forms of action with a view to its improvement. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Soccer was the original motivation for Robocup. Besides being a very popular sport worldwide, soccer brings up a set of challenges for researchers while attracting people to the event, promoting robotics among students, researchers and general public. RoboCup chose to use soccer game as a central topic of research, aiming at innovations to be applied for socially significant problems and industries. This paper describes the implementation of a system similar to the used by the teams participating in the Robocup small size league (SLL). The system, developed in Object Pascal, allows real time localization and control of an omnidirectional mobile robot. The objective of this paper is to be an introductory tutorial for Robocup soccer games, focusing in the base topics real time localization and control.

The data plans offered by mobile network operators to users are limited, with costs increasing proportionally to post-limit usage. Thus, users of mobile devices need to manage data plan consumption on a regular basis. In this paper, a comparative study of web and applicational platforms on mobile devices is performed in order to assess which one leads to low data consumption. The methodology used is based on the collection of traffic from each platform for comparison purposes. For this, an architecture was developed, and appropriate metrics were established. Considering Youtube as case study, the results show that the web platform uses less data for the average case, but that the recommendation based on the user profile, whether active or passive, will result in a consistently lower data usage., Os planos de dados disponibilizados pelas operadoras de redes móveis aos utilizadores são limitados, com custos elevados proporcionais ao uso pós-limite. Por isto, os utilizadores de dispositivos móveis necessitam de gerir o uso destes dados regularmente. Neste artigo é efetuado um estudo comparativo das plataformas web e aplicacional em dispositivos móveis, de modo a perceber qual delas utiliza uma menor quantidade de dados. A metodologia utilizada baseia-se na recolha de tráfego representativo de cada plataforma e comparação do mesmo. Para isso, foi desenvolvida uma arquitetura própria e estabelecidas métricas de comparação apropriadas. Considerando o Youtube como caso de estudo, os resultados obtidos mostram que a plataforma web utiliza menos dados para o caso geral, mas que a recomendação baseada no tipo de utilização, ativa ou passiva, resultará numa utilização de dados consistentemente menor., FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – no âmbito do Projecto I&D: UIDB/00319/2020

In the context of smart cities, the control of environmental quality plays an increasingly important role attending to the growth in the population and consumption indices. As river waters are a fundamental resource for the population (consumption and leisure), this paper aims to explore a system for analyzing and monitoring river water quality in real-time. To this end, the use of an adaptive Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is explored, taking river beaches along the Cavado River in Portugal as a case study.The approach adopted to implement this network involves having, in zones identified as being at risk, sensors that will measure a variety of physical-chemical, microbiological parameters and other substances considered by the Ministry of Environment as indicators of pollution. In addition, on the surrounding river beaches, Sinks (or Base Stations) will send requests to the sensors for obtaining their readings. The adaptive capacity of the adopted control algorithms allows that whenever an anomaly in the read values is detected, the frequency of the sensor readings increases in order to monitor more closely the location where the anomaly was detected. The platform used for the implementation, reconfiguration and monitoring of the communication algorithms adopted was CupCarbon, which integrates the OSM (OpenStreetMaps) API and Google Maps, which allows the development of a prototype based on real locations., FCT – Fundação para a Ciência Tecnologia – no âmbito do Projecto I&D: UIDB/00319/2020

Numa sociedade cada vez mais envelhecida e, ao mesmo tempo, mais tecnológica, é imprescindível a realização de estudos, projetos e iniciativas que promovam a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos mais velhos. O Projeto SEDUCE 2.0 é um desses exemplos que, para além de desenvolver a comunidade social online miOne, visa estudar o impacto da sua utilização nas variáveis psicossociais - qualidade de vida, stress percebido e redes de suporte social, dos seniores. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar que tipo de estudos já foram realizados, bem como a sua metodologia, a amostra que utilizaram, os principais resultados e ainda as limitações e as lacunas encontradas, de forma a fornecer orientações importantes para o Projeto. Optou-se por uma revisão sistemática da literatura, estruturada a partir de publicações originais, datadas de 2008 a 2019 e assente nos conceitos: qualidade de vida, Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação, seniores, idosos, envelhecimento e envelhecimento ativo. Apesar de existirem poucos estudos, naqueles que foram analisados os resultados identificam a necessidade de dar especial atenção à seleção e distribuição dos participantes por grupos e ao tamanho da amostra. Além disso, reforçam a relação positiva entre a utilização das tecnologias e a manutenção ou melhoria da qualidade de vida, diminuição do sentimento de solidão, e promoção de um envelhecimento ativo. In an increasingly aging and at the same time more technological society, it is essential to carry out studies, projects and initiatives that promote the quality of life of older citizens. The SEDUCE 2.0 Project is one of those examples that, in addition to developing the online social community miOne, aims to study the impact of its use on older adults' psychosocial variables - quality of life, perceived stress and social support networks. Thus, this paper aims to analyze what kind of studies have already been carried out, what methodology and what sample are used, results and what limitations and gaps are found, in order to provide guidelines for the Project. A systematic literature review has been done, structured from original publications, dated from 2008 to 2019 and based on the concepts: quality of life, information and communication technologies, older adults, aging and active aging. Although there were few studies, the results identify that is important to pay particular attention to the selection and distribution of the participants by groups and to the size of the sample. In addition, they reinforce the positive relationship between the use of technologies and the maintenance or improvement of quality of life, reduction of the feeling of loneliness, and promotion of active aging. Este trabalho é apoiado pela FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) e FSE no âmbito do Quadro Comunitário de Apoio III - o Projeto SEDUCE 2.0 nr. POCI-01-0145-FEDER031696. published