APRÈN. Portal de la producció docent del professorat de la UPC

The project aims to implement a way for a teleoperator to control an existing self-driving car if the autonomous driving algorithms fail to respond to the encountered situation. The project will rely on the existing code developed by the MechLab Team at the HTW in Dresden, who have converted a BMW i3 into a self-driving car using surround and proximity sensors and a homemade software that controls the vehicle's speed and steering. The car is also able to detect pedestrians and other obstacles thanks to a deep learning algorithm dedicated to this part. Teleoperation systems pose many challenges, such as providing the teleoperator with the same level of situational awareness as a driver in the car. The driver needs to focus more on the surroundings, and therefore teleoperated drivers will have to rest more often and take more breaks. To address this challenge, the teleoperation system will use high information density sensors, including LiDAR, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, to provide the driver with an overlay of detected obstacles and the predicted path, enhancing reality to compensate for latency in communication by taking some workload off the operator. Another big challenge is to switch between the autonomous and teleoperated driving modes, as there are different problems that can appear. Most noticeably, during the time it takes for the operator to get aware of the situation and respond to the call, the car must be able to safely stop and wait for instructions from the operator. The failure to do so could result in dangerous or even deadly situations for the autonomous vehicle's occupants as well as for the other road users, who do not need to wait for the communication to be established. One of the last great challenges is allow stable and fast communication between the car and the teleoperator. This can be achieved by narrowing the data transmitted for example by reducing video quality in predefined cases, or by ensuring redundancy in the communication media. Nevertheless, a complete loss of communication is not impossible, so a protocol needs to be defined in order to safely halt the vehicle while waiting on the reconnection of the transmission. To fulfil this project, our team will use MATLAB and Simulink in combination with different toolboxes from the MathWorks company. We will try to develop a human-machine interface for the teleoperator, implement a way for the operator to take over control of the vehicle, build scenarios to test and simulate our different programs and much more. All of this is done in order to build safer and more reliable autonomous vehicles for the future.

Acoustic Traffic Monitor for a Smart City Concept aims to create a high-performance sensor that can accurately detect and analyse sound waves. The sensor is designed to have a compact form factor, low cost, and energy-efficient operation, making it a suitable solution for a broad range of applications such as security surveillance, environmental monitoring, and industrial automation. The sensor uses advanced signal processing algorithms, including machine learning, to classify and identify different types of sounds, making it versatile in its applications. The project team will use a combination of experimental and parnumerical techniques to optimise the sensor's performance and explore different ways of integrating the sensor into existing systems. In addition to the technical aspects of the project, the team will also focus on creating a viable business and marketing plan. The project will involve market research to identify potential customers and competitors, as well as determining the best pricing strategy for the sensor. The team will also explore different distribution channels and work on creating a strong brand identity for the sensor. By creating a high-performance, cost-effective sensor and implementing an effective business and marketing plan, the project aims to bring a new product to the market that can have a significant impact on various industries. The successful development of this acoustic sensor concept has the potential to revolutionise sound wave detection and analysis, making it an exciting project with significant commercial potential.

Our main objective in this study is to evaluate the renewable energy potential of Vilanova i la Geltrú, with a particular focus on the use of solar panels. To achieve this, we have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the electricity generation possibilities on the rooftops of commercial and large warehouse spaces within the city. Throughout our study, we have taken into account various aspects, including the economic factors and overall efficiency of photovoltaic systems. We have specifically looked at the connection of these systems to the existing electrical grid, allowing us to measure and compare the amount of energy produced and consumed in Vilanova i la Geltrú. In our research, we have delved into photovoltaic systems, their operating principles, and the different components that make them up. We have also explored various types of photovoltaic system mounting, from static setups to systems that adjust their tilt angle twice a year (at the beginning of summer and winter), considering their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, we have developed a comprehensive electrical diagram that presents a concrete proposal for the energy flow, from the production generated by the solar panels to its connection to the electrical grid. This diagram has helped us visualize and understand how the entire system integrates within Vilanova i la Geltrú.

This is the final report of an EPS project about large industrial building. During a year abroad at Escola Politècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Vilanova i la Geltrú, the team was faced with the real life problem of a Spanish company offering two services. Neteja Viària and Companyia d'Aigües are owned by the municipality of Vilanova i la Geltrú, each responsible for the city's street cleaning and water supply. Additionally, the surroundings of the place will be designed taking into consideration energy efficiency, renewable energy and newest innovations. Methodology is outlined in this project, which involves research about the desired outcome and visits to the already existing building. State of art was also conducted by the team, where they examined more thoroughly materials that can be used for construction, latest innovative solutions and existing designs. In conclusion, the report consists of a detailed overview of the team's research and progress in designing large industrial building to fit two companies.

This report is the methodology of how this EPS group of students came together to create an app for the railway museum of Catalonia. We have been asked to do this to allow their visitors to have a better experience of the museum. The app will not only serve as a comprehensive resource for visitors, but it will also offer practical functionalities. By incorporating these features, we aim to make the museum more accessible and engaging, improving the overall visitor experience. Extensive research has been conducted on existing apps and interactive games to inform the app's layout and interactive elements. In summary, the Railway Museum Project focused on developing a user-friendly app that enhances the Vilanova Railway Station's visitor experience. By providing comprehensive information, interactive features, and practical functionalities, we aimed to make the museum more accessible and engaging for a wider audience and believe this report shows that.

This report is a final report of an EPS project about artificial reefs. The project is being carried out by four engineering students who are studying at Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya in Vilanova I La Geltrù. The aim of the project, which began on February 8th, is to design an artificial reef to restore the flora and fauna in a specific area near a marine observatory established by the company SARTI. The report outlines the methodology used to carry out the project during these months of work, which involved research on the existing fauna in the targeted area (fish and crustacean species), creation and analysis of 3D designs, simulation of the different models and other processes in order to create the most suitable design. The report also contains market and competitive research as well as the analysis of different materials. Overall, the report provides a detailed overview of the two models of artificial reefs that have been created to restore the marine environment.

Incorporation of new raw materials in the existing warehouse and elimination of intermediate buffers for production storage, to locate new machinery. By eliminating Kanban's factory of raw materials of large consumption or use, ensure the efficiency of the factory during 3 production shifts and 2 warehouse shifts (ensure raw material for production during the night shift). AkzoNobel, a Dutch multinational with 30 manufacturing plants and 125 warehouses located across Europe, is the subject of this project. The focus will be on the Vilafranca del Pendès warehouse, which currently employs manual tools in certain manufacturing processes. The company has encountered limitations in its production line and requires significant changes to enhance its capacity. The project aims to improve the company through four fundamental concepts: efficiency, sustainability, competitiveness, and effectiveness. These concepts are closely associated with the main objective of this project, which can also be defined as: Increasing efficiency by automating production. Implementing automation can be a crucial step toward achieving better outcomes. By using automated multi-stations instead of relying on human resources only, labor costs and risks can be minimized and at the same time achieve much higher production outputs. This reduction in costs and human resource requirements also opens up new opportunities for future development within the company. To remain competitive in the industry, it is essential to make changes that will benefit the future of the company. As this famous naval saying by John Paul Jones, “Those Who Do Not Risk Cannot Win”. The purpose of this report is to showcase the AkzoNobel team's work during the first part of the EPS on automating production. The report starts with an overview of the company's background, their state of the art to see what they have achieved, benchmarking with other companies, the EPS program, our team, and the project roadmap. Followed by the project's scope, including details on the company's current situation, ongoing projects, their drawbacks, project objectives, and potential challenges. Additionally, the report provides a concise description of the paintfilling process and the characteristics of the barrels used. The report then presents four solutions, outlining their pros and cons, and compares one of our proposed solutions with AkzoNobel's. After presenting these four solutions, the focus will be put on the chosen solution by AkzoNobel by presenting the final layout, detailing some safety protocols, environmental impact, and the forecasted budget. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of our future plans for the final report, conclusions, and appendices detailing the tools that were used to carry out this project.

Museums, now more than ever, must be able to adapt to the times. Whatever the kind, the aim of museums is to preserve the collective heritage and to give everyone access to it. The Railway Museum of Catalonia located in Vilanova i la Geltrú is dedicated to the history of Catalonia's railways. The museum has a beautiful collection of locomotives and documents and strives to offer access to everyone. The museum currently has a website to inform people about the museum, but they want to do more than that, they want to create a micro-site (a single function website that performs alongside a primary website) that allows all people (families, school groups, people with diverse abilities) to plan their visit before coming to the museum. In this way, future visitors feel more understood and know exactly what to expect in the museum according to their needs (accessibility, age). This report presents the different steps conducted to create this micro-site. The first part of this report introduces the museum history and the project objectives. After this is presented, the research phase which includes benchmarking and design principles (visual and technical) is detailed. The third step is the analysis phase; in this part it is explained who the user is and what functions the micro-site should fulfil. The next part in this report is the ideation phase. It is important to show ideas and explain design choices. The fifth and final part is materialisation which informs about the programming method used to create the micro-site.

The ocean is full of anthropogenic noise which can harm marine animals. The anthropogenic sounds can cause a threshold shift in their hearing sensibility, which can on its turn cause changes in their behavior. The aim of this project is to develop a portable hydrophone sound level meter that displays sound levels in real time. In addition, a warning signal will be displayed when a defined sound level is reached or surpassed. In order to achieve these goals, research was carried out. It was determined when sound levels and octaves become dangerous or deadly for the respective marine life. For the development process of the hydrophone sound level meter, it was important to determine requirements in order to make the device usable for this purpose. Based on the requirements, a selection of technical components and the design of the device was made. With the help of the necessary software, the measured values of a hydrophone can be displayed on the hydrophone sound level meter in an easily understandable way. In this report a final design of a hydrophone sound level meter is presented, which fulfils almost all requirements and objectives.

”Automated assembly lines are a fundamental part of today's manufacturing industry” [1]. The future of manufacturing is near, and most manufacturers are looking towards industry 4.0, while AkzoNobel Vilafranca partly is using manual tools to manufacture their own products. AkzoNobel has reached its limits when it comes to its production line, which means that the company must make some necessary and significant changes to reach their goals about increasing its capacity. Production automation focuses on reducing the physical effort of workers to focus on quality control to achieve the high standards of products sought by the company. Automation can be the necessary change for a better outcome in the end. By using automated multi-stations instead of human resources, you can minimize labour costs and reach a much higher production output [2]. While minimizing the costs and need for human resources, there are a lot of opportunities in hiring people for future development in the company. To compete with your opponents on the field, you must be willing to make the changes for the future of the company. There are two main aims of this project. The first one is to propose a fully automatic filling process for AkzoNobel Vilafranca. The second aim is to develop a business case study that would show the feasibility of the proposal in a real-life situation. Such a process would allow AkzoNobel management to move their human resources to product preparation, without the need for manual labour in filling processes. As a result, AkzoNobel would be able to increase its production capacity and possibly expand to other markets. This report aims to present the work of the AkzoNobel team over the first part of the European Project Semester (EPS), on the project of automatic filling lines. Firstly, the report begins with an introduction to the EPS program, the project team, supervisors, and the company. Secondly, the scope of the project is defined, giving details of the current situation in the company, explaining the specific goals of the project, and outlining the challenges within the project. It is then followed by sketches of 2 possible solutions to AkzoNobel's automation problem. Next, extra modules that can be used in any production automation case are researched and explained. Later, the report focuses closely on pigging (pipe cleaning system) and quadrupling the flow from the end nozzle. Then, estimated costs for both solutions are provided. Next parts of the report focus on the solution that AkzoNobel chose for the team to investigate further. The report dives deep into data analysis from the production demand from previous years' data provided by AkzoNobel. This information is then used to group mixing tanks together to decrease the number of required cleanings. The layout of the solution is presented together with process flow diagrams. Next, the report discusses how exactly production capacity could increase thanks to the solution provided by the team. Lastly, required initial investment and ROI (Return on Investment) are shown.

This report explains the process the team went through when designing and developing a smart bridge that integrates into a smart city. It was proposed by the CRAAX lab which is a research group based in UPC Vilanova. It consists of both students and researchers studying computer science and telecommunications. In the CRAAX lab, there is a smart city testbed, which is a miniature model of a smart city. A smart city uses a framework of information and communication technologies to create, deploy and promote development practices to address urban challenges and create a joined-up technologically enabled, and sustainable infrastructure. Our goal is to create a smart bridge concept and show its integration into the smart city and the benefits it has towards improving traffic flow. Simulations will be conducted using an online program called Flexsim to compare traffic flow in different street layouts; an intersection, a four-lane bridge, and a two-lane bridge. From these calculations, we can decide which bridge will be most suited for the smart city. In the smart bridge, there will be many smart features incorporated to enhance the bridge further. These include smart sensors, big data, VMS, and other smart features. The bridge's concept will be communicated through the simulation programs and with detailed design sketches describing each smart feature's layout and function.

The 2021 EPS spring team composed of Sem, Rebekka, Bogdan, Daniel and Laurent has been working on the project proposed by the CRAAX Lab. The initially proposed name of the project was “Design of an ad-hoc adaptable sensor system for the 6MWT”. Since the scope of the project partially changed since then, the name was changed to “Medical Automated Movement Detector (MedAMD)”. The challenge is to develop a product that simplifies different tests that physicians run to know the desaturation level in patients with hypoxia, an illness in which the blood doesn't carry enough oxygen. The CRAAX Lab has as of today two working prototypes, each specifically designed for one test. Our objective is to develop a device that is able to function for a multitude of tests, therefore facilitating the testing. In order to achieve that, we combined the technology of two devices, built by the CRAAX team and modified them so it would send data about the different movements of the patients to an already existing app, by Bluetooth. The scope of this project encompassed the analysis of the existing prototypes, conceptualizing our device, creating the overall design of both the casing of the electronic components and the strapping system to hold our device in place and build a functioning electronic circuit with the required set of sensors. The tests we are aiming to facilitate with our device require the device to be either strapped to the patient or to a cone. Ideally our device would send the data recorded by the sensors to an already existing app, via Bluetooth. As we have not had access to the existing coding and do not possess the necessary skills to code it on our own, we consider the successful bluetooth connection of our device to a bluetooth testing app (Serial Bluetooth Terminal) a measure of success. A future step to fully implement this device would be the coding necessary for the communication with an app. To conclude, we have successfully printed the redesigned casing for the electronic components, built a working strap system and the sensors have successfully sent signals to the bluetooth app ‘Serial Bluetooth Terminal'.

The UPC will celebrate it's 50th Anniversary in October 2020, and so, the university's director put forth a project aiming to celebrate the past, present and future of its campus. The present report details the project “UPC 50th Anniversary” during the European Project Semester 2020, completed by five international students at Escola Politècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Vilanova i la Geltrú (EPSEVG). Our research showed that students wanted a more social and engaging campus. To make this possible, we focused on the following four key areas during the project; the building A rejuvenation, the building B seating and social area, the linked campus and the commemoration of the EPSEVG's history. Some of these aspects altered slightly during the semester due to the pandemic which made it impossible to make physical mock ups and videos. Further in this report you will find extensive research into social and engaging public spaces and university campuses. This inspired the creation of a variety of design concepts for the EPSEVG which are expressed through sketches, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator renders, and Solidworks drawings. These were then refined into final designs and agreed upon by all stakeholders. Safety features, accessibility and sustainability were all extensively researched and factored into the decision process of the final designs. Over the course of the planning, the costs are monitored and calculated with estimated and researched numbers for each element, to give as precise a total cost estimation as possible and to also compare it with similar concepts.

This project report illustrates and explains our process of creating an online ‘escape room' game for the Catalonia Railway Museum. We are a group of four students who have collaborated with the Catalonia Railway Museum through our European Project Semester (EPS) in UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Both the museum and university have collaborated on numerous projects throughout the past few years through the EPS program, creating great relationships and projects between the two entities and the students. The main aim of this year's project was to create an interactive activity that teaches the visitors about the Catalonia Railway Museum, railway history and also to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of transport. The activity needed to raise public consciousness about railways as a sustainable and clean mode of transport. Our activity is targeted at students between the ages of 12 to 15 years old, aiming to impact the users at a young age and encouraging the use of trains. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, we had to make changes in the project to adjust to the situation and continue with our work to the best of our ability. This meant we could not carry out any of our planned primary research and effected our initial idea, however in this report you will see our work and progress throughout the whole project. After conducting secondary research and brainstorming, we eventually made our final product. We created a virtual ‘escape room' that can be played by the public online in the comfort of their own home. The user must work their way through the rooms by playing different quizzes and tasks to reach the end and win. The user is guided through the escape rooms by special railway characters and follow a storyline told by them. The aim of the game is to collect different blueprints throughout the rooms to eventually have a template of a futuristic train that they can print out and make at home.

The study of renewable energies is becoming more important as the usage of them grows exponentially. In order to use some types of renewable energies harvested by systems such as photovoltaic or wind systems an inverter system is essential. The main objective of the project is to improve an existing inverter system, developed by the SEPIC research team, that will be used in research in the renewable energy field. For that purpose more functions have been added, which resulted in a more user-friendly and more secure system.

Craft beer is all beer produced by a small, independent brewery with local ingredients and traditional methods. Recently, the craft beer market has grown extensively among the young adults from all parts of the world. This information creates a good opportunity to enter in this profit market. The aim of this work was to create a craft beer brand that enables young adults who are conscious of the environment and want to support local business a way to enjoy the craft beer experience in an accessible manner. In addition, the cost efficiency of the production was carried out, as it needs to be possible to offer the product to the target market at an affordable price. For this purpose, firstly it was made a deep research of brewing process, potential competitors, business model, pricing, marketing strategies and sustainable practices. After, the target market was defined, and a survey was conducted among the UPC students in order to evaluate the habitual trends and tastes tended towards age, gender and region. Later, Eco-design practices were investigated, although it could not be practiced. Then, a beer called Del Poble was designed with all its visual and brand aspects. All the style (colours, typography, logo, design) was inspired by the modernisme català and Art Deco/Nouveau. The main logo is also a reference to the Catalan culture as it exhibits the Catalan donkey, one of the region symbols. There are also some references to Vilanova city in the label and packaging as a tribute to the city which the brand is born. The recipe was developed with the assistance of the BeerSmith® software and the final beer created was flavoured with orange, ginger, and mint. Later, a market plan was structured using the 4P model. Mainly marketing strategies were executed on social media as it is the most common platform of the brand target market. Finally, it was developed a financial model to ensure that the business can be run in a financially viable manner in the long-run.

This report presents the outcome of a study towards enhancing the performance of a smart car and the testbed. The conducted study involved the design of a smart car, that would drive by itself on a testbed. Literature review has shown that there are existing similar systems, in which the purpose was to enhance functionalities like lane control, drive control and obstacle avoidance. Combining the different functionalities enhancement, a final proposition design is stated for future work.

Diabetes is a growing health issue worldwide due to the increasing numbers of people with the condition and diabetes-related complications including an increased risk of developing cardiovascular, kidney, and nerve diseases. A worldwide increment of 51% is expected between 2019 and 2045 resulting in 700 million diabetes patients in 2045. The sustained rise is largely due to the increase in type 2 diabetes and related risk factors. This is on the social level caused by increasing urbanization leading to higher consumption of processed food and sedentary lifestyles. Type 2 diabetes can be managed through lifestyle modifications including physical activity, a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and smoking cessation. Social programs can help patients with the lifestyle changes. However, internet-based programs to promote physical activity and weight loss may be more successful than social programs and usual care. Therefore, the goal of this project was the design and development of an application to positively influence the behaviour of type 2 diabetes patients resulting in reduced drug dependency and increased quality of life. In addition, an overview of the patients' data would be provided to the doctor to monitor the patients' health between appointments and provide better care to the patient. The application is running, but it is still a prototype. The main features of the application are defined by user research and market research. The features activity tracker, body weight tracker, diabetes information, dynamic stretch exercises, the gamification element “pet” and personal notifications are implemented in the application. In addition, the data is visualized for the doctor. The heartrate tracker and gamification elements except for the pet are not implemented in the application. The user interface (UI) design is almost completed and not implemented in the application. The current lay-out is simple, easy to use for people of all age groups, and self-explanatory. The end software framework is developed and running. The users' data including the number of steps, body weight, battery level, and location are sent to Sentilo. Sentilo sends the data to InfluxDB and the data is visualized in Grafana. The connection between Android Studio and Sentilo is tested and works. The connection between Sentilo, InfluxDB, and Grafana is not tested yet. The application is quite basic and could be improved by fine-tuning the working of the implemented sensors and implementing the gamification design and UI design.

The paper reviews the study of the state of the art of Fabrication Laboratories in order to implement them on Neàpolis buildings. The Neàpolis Fabrication Laboratories Project is conducted by a team of 4 international students participating in the European Project Semester 2019 in cooperation with Neàpolis agency. There is a lack of existing platform that encourages the maker culture, innovative ideas and creative thinking skills in Vilanova I La Geltrù. Therefore, Neàpolis proposed a project to develop Fabrication Laboratories into their buildings to provide the mentioned platform. This concept is going to be implemented in the Neàpolis main building, the La Nau building from Neàpolis district and the sea container building. First of all, a researched on the general information about Fabrication Laboratories, the differences between Maker Space and the existing Fabrication Laboratories were carried out. Next, several proposals for the designs and implementation of the Fabrication Laboratories were done for each of the three buildings. Subsequently, a single final proposal was chosen for each building and a list of machines and equipment was put together for the Fabrication Laboratories. Afterwards, the constructions and installation processes needed was carefully analyzed. Over the whole planning period, the overall cost estimations of Fabrication Laboratories in each building was calculated to give an idea of the project budget. This project shows that the Fabrication Laboratories concept is applicable for Neàpolis and hence, will provide a suitable platform for development of innovative ideas. Besides that, different designs of Fabrication Laboratories in different places around the world would still serve the same purposes and functionalities. The hybridization concept could also be achieved along with this existing platform. Moreover, the said platform would make Vilanova I La Geltrú be a part of the knowledge-sharing community across the world. Therefore, it is hoped that this project will be physically carried out by Neàpolis in the future as there is a lot of positive outcomes of this project.