ISEP – LSA – Comunicações em eventos científicos
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- Loopbin Composter: An EPS@ISEP 2025 ProjectPublication . Díaz Martín, Clara; Amant, Emile; Tibbe, Lianne; Audy, Nathan; Tan, Qi Xuan; Lünswilken, Simon; Duarte, Abel J.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Castro Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de; JUSTO, Jorge; Guedes, Pedro; Ferreira, Paulo; Silva, Manuel; Auer, Michael E.; Toth, PeterThe European Project Semester (EPS) at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) is a challenge-based learning framework in which engineering students from various majors and nationalities collaborate to solve real-world problems. EPS@ISEP projects provide a context for teams to jointly acquire and apply new knowledge and skills during the design, development, and testing of a proof-of-concept prototype. In spring 2025, the LeftLovers team tackled the challenge of creating an accessible, economical, ecological, and odourless kitchen food waste disposal solution for apartment dwellers. LeftLovers aimed to raise awareness of the benefits of composting food waste, educate about composting, convert food waste into compost, and use the compost to grow plants at home. The proposed Loopbin concept consists of a device and an application. The device has four vertically stacked bins: a small garden for direct compost use at the top, two compost bins in the middle, and a compost storage bin at the bottom. The compost bins are equipped with handles to turn the contents and pins to open the trap doors between connected bins. A smart system monitors the composting process, controls automatic ventilation, and communicates with the app, which displays the composting status and provides instructions to produce high-quality compost. This solution stands out for its accessibility, affordability, and inclusion of a vegetable garden.
- Smart public water dispenser: An EPS@ISEP 2025 ProjectPublication . Ferreira, Alexandre R.; Linthorst, Kim C.; Wojciechowski, Mikołaj; Staeyen, Olivia van; Hanfeld, Till; Tarnai, Panna; Castro Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de; Guedes, Pedro; Ferreira, Paulo; Silva, Manuel; JUSTO, Jorge; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Duarte, Abel J.BiboLink is an innovative smart public water dispenser developed during the European Project Semester (EPS) at ISEP in 2025. Designed for outdoor use in parks and sports facilities, BiboLink provides clean, filtered water enriched with optional supplements such as electrolytes and vitamins, tailored to user activity levels and health needs via a connected mobile app. Addressing the challenges of urban hydration, BiboLink combines sustainability with smart technology, featuring solar power, recyclable materials, and reduced plastic waste. The project highlights the limitations of existing hydration systems, positioning BiboLink as a valid alternative. Ethical considerations, environmental responsibility, and compliance with EU standards were integral to its development. A working prototype demonstrates the main features, such as water distribution and the integration of supplements, although the application's connectivity needs to be improved. BiboLink promotes public health by encouraging proper hydration habits while supporting environmental sustainability. Future enhancements may include advanced personalization through wearable integration and touchless controls. This interdisciplinary project led to the design of a viable solution and provided students with valuable technical, project management, and teamwork skills, underlining the role of the EPS programme in promoting innovation and collaboration.
- Enhancing decision-making through BI automationPublication . Ribeiro, Hélder; Gonçalves, Carlos A.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIAEvery second, large volumes of data are generated which, if not properly interpreted, can lead to wrong decisions and undesirable consequences. Automating and optimising information processing enables faster handling and supports timely, informed decision-making. With the evolution of Business Intelligence tools, adopting data-driven solutions is essential for organisational competitiveness. This work tackles real-time management and analysis of strategic and operational industrial data through the design and development of the Unified Performance Metrics dashboard, which consolidates strategic information of internal business units via key metrics, and the improvement of the existing human resources dashboard. The system integrates a Power BI front-end with a Python- and SQL-based back-end for automation and the extract, transform, and load process. The dashboards were successfully evaluated, approved, and deployed. By automating strategic and operational analyses, the dashboards effectively replaced inefficient manual error-prone procedures, demonstrating clear operational advantages.
- EPS@ISEP: Mapping sustainabilityPublication . Guedes, Pedro; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Arnó, Elisabete; Fuentes, Pedro; Malheiro, Benedita; Sánchez, Antonio J.; Monjo, LluisThe European Project Semester (EPS) is a project-based learning framework designed to prepare engineering undergraduates for future professional challenges. During one semester, multicultural multidisciplinary teams design, develop and test solutions to real problems affecting the planet, society or individuals, considering technical, sustainability, ethical, and market requirements. The implemented learning process gives teams the autonomy to make design decisions, as long as they are based on clear sustainability and ethical criteria. The aim is for students to develop skills not only in critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, effective communication, collaboration, and teamwork, but above all, the ability to make decisions based on ethical and sustainability principles. This study aims to demonstrate that EPS@ISEP effectively contributes to the development of sustainability-oriented engineers. To this end, it compiles evidence found at the institutional level, represented by programme documentation, and the student level, represented by team deliverables. The method involves semi-automatic mapping of sustainability keywords compiled from the documents, as well as by other researchers. The results show that both the institution and the participants are aligned and committed to the design of sustainability-driven solutions.
- VIRIATO: Visual-Action Reinforcement Integrator for Actor-Critic with Temporal ObservationsPublication . Campanhã, João; Neves, Francisco; Pinto, Andry; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Fonseca, Pedro; Moreira, António; Neto, Pedro; Morais, Pedro; Lima, JoséThe Visual-Action Reinforcement Integrator for Actor-Critic with Temporal Observations (VIRIATO) is a compact multi-input feature-extractor architecture designed to enable robust visual navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) conducting close-range inspection of photovoltaic arrays. The target task of low-altitude flight over dynamic, visually variable surfaces without privileged information is inherently partially observable. VIRIATO augments stacked image observations with a short history of recent past actions, producing a richer latent state for the Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) agent. Training is performed with domain randomization to expose the policy to diverse lighting, backgrounds and panel layouts. In simulation, VIRIATO yields faster learning and improved sample efficiency compared to a standard image-only Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) feature extractor, achieving lower position and yaw errors and substantially better robustness under image perturbations while retaining high task completion rates. The architecture is intentionally simple and general: it improves temporal awareness without adding complex recurrence, and it could be adapted to other perception-driven robotic tasks. These results demonstrate that integrating historical action data with visual encoding, together with domain randomization, is an effective way to achieve reliable autonomous vision-based navigation.
- Smart Pill Dispenser for Children - An EPS@ISEP 2024 ProjectPublication . Ehrenhofer, Lena; Borowski, Łukasz; Oliveira, Noé; Steyaert, Stijn; Kronshagen, Tamara; Clauwaert, Tibo; Duarte, Abel J.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Castro Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de; JUSTO, Jorge; Silva, Manuel; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, Pedro; Auer, Michael E.; Rüütmann, TiiaPeople around the globe struggle with health issues requiring regular medication. Children, in particular, suffer more and more from chronic illnesses. In 2024, a team of six EPS@ISEP students chose to design a solution for this problem, followed by the assembly and testing of the corresponding proof-of-concept prototype. The aim was to design a solution for children to take the right medication, at the right time and in the right dose, in a pleasant and engaging way, based on technical, ethical, sustainability and market analyses. Focusing on children between the ages of 8 and 12, the team decided to incorporate a motivational system based on rewards to ensure that they take their medication correctly. The outcome is billy, a pill dispenser controlled via an app which allows carers to plan doses and release rewards, and children to autonomously take their medication. The system dispenses up to 21 doses of medication to the child through fingerprint authentication, and photographs the child taking the medication to reassure carers.
- Breeding endangered beetles - An EPS@ISEP 2024 ProjectPublication . Florus, Cedric; Lattunen, Jennifer; Knäuper, Julius; Jugiel, Krzysztof; Silva, Marion; Dekkers, Thomas; Duarte, Abel J.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; Santos Ribeiro, Maria Cristina; JUSTO, Jorge; Ferreira, Paulo; Silva, Manuel; Guedes, Pedro; Auer, Michael E.; Rüütmann, TiiaHabitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use are key threats affecting beetle populations. This paper describes Scarabreed, a project that contributes to mitigate the beetle decline crisis. It was carried out by a team of six European students from different engineering fields and nationalities within the European Project Semester (EPS) at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), a project-based and teamwork learning framework. The designed solution -- the Beetle Breeder Version 2 (BBV2) -- consists of a smart modular vivarium created especially for beetle breeding. It monitors and controls relevant habitat parameters and offers two user-friendly interfaces (on-device and a Web application). The innovative modular structure of the vivarium allows easy scaling, customisation, and transportation. As a whole, the project offers significant environmental benefits: (i) facilitates the captive breeding of endangered beetle species, promoting population restoration efforts; (ii) fosters, as an educational tool, youth and general public awareness about the crucial role beetles play in ecosystems; and (iii) adopts eco-efficient and responsible business practices by following ethics and sustainability driven design and marketing.
- Algae and Fish Farming: An EPS@ISEP 2022 ProjectPublication . Blomme, Rose-Farah; Domissy, Zoé; Dylik, Zuzanna; Hidding, Thomas; Röhe, Alina; Duarte, Abel J.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; JUSTO, Jorge; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, Pedro; Castro Ribeiro, Maria Cristina de; Silva, Manuel; Auer, Michael E.; Rüütmann, TiiaThe European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) is a capstone engineering design program where students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, create a solution for a proposed problem, bearing in mind ethical, sustainability and market concerns. The project proposals are usually aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). New sustainable food production methods are essential to cope with the continuous population growth and aligned with SDG2 and SDG12. In this context, this paper describes the research and work done by a team of Erasmus students enrolled in EPS@ISEP during the spring of 2022. Since sustainable algae farming can be a suitable source of food, the team's goal was the design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype, named GREEN·flow, of a symbiotic aquaponic system to farm algae and fish. The smart GREEN·flow concept comprises a modular structure and an app for control and supervision. The proposed design was driven by state-of-the-art research, targeted to a specific market niche based on a market analysis, and considering sustainability and ethics concerns, all of which are described in this manuscript. A proof-of-concept prototype was built and tested to verify that it worked as intended.
- Raising Awareness to Waste Collection and Recycling in Urban Spaces – An EPS@ISEP 2023 ProjectPublication . Bohon, Nina; Durand, Olivier; Emmelot, Charlotte; Hellemans, Koen; Jasny, Lukas; Reisinger, Kathrin; Duarte, Abel J.; Malheiro, Benedita; Ribeiro, Cristina; Justo, Jorge; Silva, Manuel F.; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, PedroThe European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) is a capstone engineering design programme in which students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, develop a solution for a proposed problem, taking into account sustainability, ethical and market concerns. This paper describes a research project aimed at raising awareness and changing behaviour in relation to waste disposal, carried out by a team of EPS@ISEP students during spring 2023. BinIt, as the project is named, targets young adults who want to live in a cleaner city. Unlike other campaigns, it simplifies and stimulates proper waste disposal and recycling, tackling the root of the problem and creating a new social norm. BinIt includes a campaign, a web app and the Garbage Gladiator bin. The app consists of a city map where users can pin and check bin locations, and an educational platform with information on waste disposal and recycling issues. Gamification is incorporated through a ranking system. The Garbage Gladiator is a physical container for urban public spaces specially designed to encourage people to dispose of their waste correctly.
- Smart Adjustable Furniture – An EPS@ISEP 2023 ProjectPublication . Prończuk, Astrid; Mertz-Revol, Clément; Hinzpeter, Jan; Smeets, Julie; Chmielik, Mario; Duarte, Abel J.; Malheiro, Benedita; Ribeiro, Cristina; Justo, Jorge; Silva, Manuel F.; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, PedroSmall living spaces require ingenious solutions that are functional, ergonomic and, above all, reconfigurable. This project for smart, ergonomic and adjustable furniture was embraced by a team of students from different countries, universities and study areas enrolled in the European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP). EPS is a design project where international students work in teams to create a solution to a real problem from scratch, analysing the state of the art, the market and the associated ethical and sustainability issues. As a project-based learning process, EPS aims to prepare engineering students to work together in multidisciplinary teams, develop personal skills and address the challenges of the contemporary world. The current project aims to design, simulate and test an ethically and sustainability-driven safe and transformable furniture. Amplea is the adjustable furniture solution developed by five EPS students in spring 2023. It transforms into a kitchen counter, dining table or standing desk. By transforming easily, Amplea’s design provides more comfort and saves space in small living spaces. This paper summarises the research, the design of the solution and the development and testing of the proof-of-concept prototype.