Agroclimatic Evolution web application as a powerful solution for managing climate data.

Applying the AgroClimatic Evolution web application allows inquiries being made, data being collected and variables being calculated with the data acquired from different public agrometeorological stations on a single platform. Today all these stations from Murcia and Andalusia (Spain) are included, and stations elsewhere in Spain are being incorporated. This web application also offers the possibility of including each user's own stations, which increases the number and availability of data close to each farmer's plots. The data collected from stations is employed to collect daily data about weather and times, which are used to calculate the reference evapotranspiration (ETo). All the data are saved in a cloud database to later consult them and study their evolution. The data provided by all the stations are validated by applying the filters indicated in Standard UNE 500540:2004 "Automatic weather stations networks" by eliminating mistaken data that could alter correct ETo calculations. With the filtered data, and having calculated ETo, the user is provided with a comparison made with the raw data supplied by public stations. The main objective of this tool is to optimize the use of water resources available from data acquisition. Managing these data will contribute to make agriculture more sustainable and compatible with the natural environment.

Development of an Algorithm for an Automatic Determination of the Soil Field Capacity Using of a Portable Weighing Lysimeter.

The challenge today is to optimize agriculture water consumption and minimize leaching of pollutants in agro-ecosystems in order to ensure a sustainable agriculture. The use of different technologies and the adoption of different irrigation strategies can facilitate efficient fertigation management. In this respect, the determination of soil field capacity point is of utmost importance. The use of a portable weighing lysimeter allows an accurate quantification of crop water consumption and water leaching, as well as the detection of soil field capacity point. In this work, a novel algorithm is developed to obtain the soil field capacity point, in order to give autonomy and objectivity to efficient irrigation management using a portable weighing lysimeter. The development was tested in field grown horticultural crops and proved to be useful for optimizing irrigation management.

Prototype System for Measuring and Analyzing Movements of the Upper Limb for the Detection of Occupational Hazards.

In the work environment, there are usually different pathologies that are related to Repetitive Efforts and Movements (REM) that tend to predominantly affect the upper limbs. To determine whether a worker is at risk of suffering some type of pathology, observation techniques are usually used by qualified technical personnel. In order to define from quantitative data if there is a risk of suffering a pathology due to movements and repetitive efforts in the upper limb, a prototype of a movement measurement system has been designed and manufactured. This system interferes minimally with the activity studied, maintaining a reduced cost of manufacture and use. The system allows the study of the movements made by the subject in the work environment by determining the origin of the Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) from the movements of the elbow and wrist, collecting data on the position and accelerations of the arm, forearm and hand, and taking into account the risk factors established for suffering from an MSD: high repetition of movements, the use of a high force in a repetitive manner, or the adoption of forced positions. The data obtained with this system can be analyzed by qualified personnel from tables, graphs, and 3D animations at the time of execution, or stored for later analysis.

An agent-based approach for the application of nature's forms to product conceptual design.

Given current high market competitiveness, it is necessary to differentiate between products that perform the same function. For this objective, designer can recur to various sources of inspiration in the searching of the more attractive form during the conceptual design stage. One of these sources can be nature, which offers a large number of geometries and textures that can be used from a shape point of view to help the designer in the creative process. This work presents an agent-based approach for a design-aided tool to provide users with some ideas, beginning with simple parts/concepts, and then increasing the complexity level according to the answers offered by designer. The proposed paradigm was implemented using the JADE agent-based platform. In order to validate the platform, several product categories were offered to fifteen different users and a total of sixty design proposals were obtained with the aid of the platform. After evaluating all the proposals, twelve of the sixty designs were finally selected and modelled by a Computer-Aided Design software. The obtained results demonstrate the feasibility of using an agent-based approach to obtain an adaptive intelligent solution to the product conceptual design problem.