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- Electrification of a remote rural farm with solar energy: Contribution to the development of smart farmingPublication . Santos, Adriano A; Pereira, Filipe; Silva, António Ferreira da; Caetano, Nídia; Felgueiras, Carlos; Machado, JoséRural farms constitute a vital component of a country’s agricultural landscape, traditionally reliant on energy installations known for their reliability yet notorious for their energy-intensive and inefficient characteristics. While the smart farm concept, integrating renewable energy sources and resource management technologies, has seen widespread adoption in domestic and industrial sectors, rural farms have been slower to embrace these innovations. This study presents a groundbreaking solution, deployed on a rural farm in Portugal, resulting in an impressive 83.24% reduction in energy consumption sourced from the grid. Notably, this achievement translates to a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions, aligning with the growing need for environmentally sustainable farming practices. The technical intricacies of this pioneering solution are comprehensively described and juxtaposed with other scientific case studies, offering valuable insights for replication. This initiative represents a vital first step towards the integration or combination of conventional farming with photovoltaic energy production, exemplified by agrivoltaic systems. In conclusion, this research showcases the potential for rural farms to significantly enhance energy efficiency and financial viability, thereby contributing to a more sustainable and cost-effective agricultural sector. These findings serve as a model for similar endeavors, paving the way for a greener and more economically viable future for rural farming practices.
- Didactic bench to support automation learning - Industry 4.0 educationPublication . Pereira, Filipe; Lopes, Rogerio; Sarmento, Ruben; Felgueiras, CarlosThe teaching of automation is increasingly present in the industry, through increasingly aggregating and complete platforms. Automation teaching/learning faces several limitations. On the one hand, teaching automation using automata is done in laboratories whose didactic applications rarely replicate industrial applications. On the other hand, students' difficulties in accessing these spaces are often limited to the time allocated to each laboratory class, and it is often not possible to repeat assignments or work variants. It should be noted that the difficulty of accessibility for working students or students with COVID restrictions has a lot of impact. Thus, it would be important for a student to have access to an automation bench that replicates the needs of the industry and that includes remote access. The present work presents the development of a didactic workbench to support the teaching / learning of automation, with an industrial design and with the possibility of remote access.