A Framework for Real-Time Gestural Recognition and Augmented Reality for Industrial Applications.

In recent decades, technological advancements have transformed the industry, highlighting the efficiency of automation and safety. The integration of augmented reality (AR) and gesture recognition has emerged as an innovative approach to create interactive environments for industrial equipment. Gesture recognition enhances AR applications by allowing intuitive interactions. This study presents a web-based architecture for the integration of AR and gesture recognition, designed to interact with industrial equipment. Emphasizing hardware-agnostic compatibility, the proposed structure offers an intuitive interaction with equipment control systems through natural gestures. Experimental validation, conducted using Google Glass, demonstrated the practical viability and potential of this approach in industrial operations. The development focused on optimizing the system's software and implementing techniques such as normalization, clamping, conversion, and filtering to achieve accurate and reliable gesture recognition under different usage conditions. The proposed approach promotes safer and more efficient industrial operations, contributing to research in AR and gesture recognition. Future work will include improving the gesture recognition accuracy, exploring alternative gestures, and expanding the platform integration to improve the user experience.

Regularized Maximum Correntropy Criterion Kalman Filter for Uncalibrated Visual Servoing in the Presence of Non-Gaussian Feature Tracking Noise.

Some advantages of using cameras as sensor devices on feedback systems are the flexibility of the data it represents, the possibility to extract real-time information, and the fact that it does not require contact to operate. However, in unstructured scenarios, Image-Based Visual Servoing (IBVS) robot tasks are challenging. Camera calibration and robot kinematics can approximate a jacobian that maps the image features space to the robot actuation space, but they can become error-prone or require online changes. Uncalibrated visual servoing (UVS) aims at executing visual servoing tasks without previous camera calibration or through camera model uncertainties. One way to accomplish that is through jacobian identification using environment information in an estimator, such as the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter is optimal with Gaussian noise, but unstructured environments may present target occlusion, reflection, and other characteristics that confuse feature extraction algorithms, generating outliers. This work proposes RMCKF, a correntropy-induced estimator based on the Kalman Filter and the Maximum Correntropy Criterion that can handle non-Gaussian feature extraction noise. Unlike other approaches, we designed RMCKF for particularities in UVS, to deal with independent features, the IBVS control action, and simulated annealing. We designed Monte Carlo experiments to test RMCKF with non-Gaussian Kalman Filter-based techniques. The results showed that the proposed technique could outperform its relatives, especially in impulsive noise scenarios and various starting configurations.

How Does Neural Network Model Capacity Affect Photovoltaic Power Prediction? A Study Case.

The use of models capable of forecasting the production of photovoltaic (PV) energy is essential to guarantee the best possible integration of this energy source into traditional distribution grids. Long Short-Term Memory networks (LSTMs) are commonly used for this purpose, but their use may not be the better option due to their great computational complexity and slower inference and training time. Thus, in this work, we seek to evaluate the use of neural networks MLPs (Multilayer Perceptron), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and LSTMs, for the forecast of 5 min of photovoltaic energy production. Each iteration of the predictions uses the last 120 min of data collected from the PV system (power, irradiation, and PV cell temperature), measured from 2019 to mid-2022 in Maceió (Brazil). In addition, Bayesian hyperparameters optimization was used to obtain the best of each model and compare them on an equal footing. Results showed that the MLP performs satisfactorily, requiring much less time to train and forecast, indicating that they can be a better option when dealing with a very short-term forecast in specific contexts, for example, in systems with little computational resources.

A Low-Cost IoT System for Real-Time Monitoring of Climatic Variables and Photovoltaic Generation for Smart Grid Application.

Monitoring and data acquisition are essential to recognize the renewable resources available on-site, evaluate electrical conversion efficiency, detect failures, and optimize electrical production. Commercial monitoring systems for the photovoltaic system are generally expensive and closed for modifications. This work proposes a low-cost real-time internet of things system for micro and mini photovoltaic generation systems that can monitor continuous voltage, continuous current, alternating power, and seven meteorological variables. The proposed system measures all relevant meteorological variables and directly acquires photovoltaic generation data from the plant (not from the inverter). The system is implemented using open software, connects to the internet without cables, stores data locally and in the cloud, and uses the network time protocol to synchronize the devices' clocks. To the best of our knowledge, no work reported in the literature presents these features altogether. Furthermore, experiments carried out with the proposed system showed good effectiveness and reliability. This system enables fog and cloud computing in a photovoltaic system, creating a time series measurements data set, enabling the future use of machine learning to create smart photovoltaic systems.