The need to reduce carbon emissions calls for more use of renewable generation, particularly distributed resources. The intermittency of renewable generation, and concerns about energy security, require us to become more independent of central grid operation by use of local or regional (micro-grid) electricity systems. Distributed generation, allied to the commercial availability of battery storage products, permits this–the pathway to energy autonomy. This paper reviews the contribution of different renewable energy sources (RES), trends in energy storage technologies to enable energy autonomy, and the centralised and decentralised techniques that coordinate the associated energy management. The paper covers energy autonomy at different scales, ranging from household levels to district levels. The improvements in grid independency are measured accordingly. There is discussion of this measurement and of the economic and ecological benefits from energy autonomy in the context of policy frameworks.
The need to reduce carbon emissions calls for more use of renewable generation, particularly distributed resources. The intermittency of renewable generation, and concerns about energy security, require us to become more independent of central grid operation by use of local or regional (micro-grid) electricity systems. Distributed generation, allied to the commercial availability of battery storage products, permits this–the pathway to energy autonomy. This paper reviews the contribution of different renewable energy sources (RES), trends in energy storage technologies to enable energy autonomy, and the centralised and decentralised techniques that coordinate the associated energy management. The paper covers energy autonomy at different scales, ranging from household levels to district levels. The improvements in grid independency are measured accordingly. There is discussion of this measurement and of the economic and ecological benefits from energy autonomy in the context of policy frameworks.
Most people with dementia (PwD) are cared for by unpaid family carers, many of whom must balance caring with paid work. This regularly entails dealing with care-related emergencies (CRE). This study aims to explore the impact of carers’ autonomy at work regarding breaks, schedule, and place on their ability to manage CRE, and use technology to that end. We conducted interviews with 16 working carers of PwD in Scotland. Data were analysed thematically to identify key themes. Autonomy at work appeared on a spectrum from no to complete autonomy. Carers’ position on this spectrum was often dynamic and determined by the nature of their work, their workplace culture and regulations, and their line managers’ support – or clients in the case of self-employed carers. Break autonomy allowed carers to use technology to be notified of and delegate the CRE response. Schedule autonomy allowed for an in-person response to CRE. Place autonomy allowed carers to work and care simultaneously, which enabled them to manage CRE immediately but presented them with additional challenges. Distance between workplace and PwD’s residence impacted carers’ ability to manage CRE, despite having complete autonomy. Implications for healthcare professionals, service providers, employers, policymakers, and technology developers are presented.
De Nederlandse agrosector heeft te maken met sterke schaalvergroting, klimaatverandering, achteruitgang van bouwland door bodemverdichting van zware machines, teruglopende beschikbaarheid van arbeid en een strengere milieuwetgeving. Oplossingen worden gezocht in het gebruik van kleine, autonome machines (agrobots) die specifieke taken van boeren kunnen overnemen. Nederlandse machinebouwers als Lely spelen hierop in met melk-, voer- en mestruimrobots. De agrarische sector wil steeds efficiënter werken, haar productiviteit verbeteren en vraagt zodoende voortdurend om slimmere applicaties. Een toekomstbeeld waarbij samenwerkende agrobots situaties kunnen beoordelen en gezamenlijk complexe taken kunnen uitvoeren wordt gezien als ‘The next step’ en onvermijdelijk, maar tevens als ingewikkeld, risicovol en voorlopig onrealiseerbaar. Machinebouwers hechten grote waarde aan betrouwbaarheid en missen de technologie om onderlinge coöperativiteit tussen machines met de nodige robuustheid te kunnen ontwikkelen en te integreren in hun product. De HAN heeft inmiddels veel ervaring opgebouwd op het gebied van programmeertools voor robotica en wil samen met kennisinstellingen als WUR, TUDelft en UT, machinebouwers als Lely en MultiToolTrac en eindgebruikers uit de agrarische sector, kennis en ervaring ontwikkelen op het gebied van het programmeren van robuuste, coöperatieve systemen. Het consortium wil dit doen met behulp van een modelgebaseerde workflow op basis van een integrale, open source toolchain waarin bestaande tools c.q. ecosystemen zijn geïntegreerd. Dit moet uiteindelijk resulteren in een praktijkdemonstratie – op de Floriade 2022 - van de technologie middels twee prototypes: mestrobots in de veehouderij en oogstafvoersystemen in de akkerbouw. Ten behoeve van een goede projectfocus beschouwt DurableCASE autonomie als reeds bestaand en voegt hier coöperativiteit aan toe. Concreet levert DurableCASE het volgende op: - gedemonstreerde en gepubliceerde, toepasbare kennis over robuuste coöperativiteit in agrobotica, gebaseerd op multi-agent technologie; - een open toolchain die efficiënte, modelgebaseerde ontwikkeling van robuuste coöperativiteit mogelijk maakt; - inzicht in de business case; - lesmateriaal op basis van bovengenoemde kennis en toolchain.
Sport injuries are a major reason for reduced participation and drop-out from sports and PE. Refraining from sport participation has negative bearing effects on mental and physical wellbeing, which tracks into adulthood. It is therefore important for youth to be facilitated into lifelong active participation in physical activity and sport, as the importance of physical activity for the health of youth is undisputed. Participation in physical education (PE) classes and membership of sports clubs and are essential for health enhancing physical activity. Despite the importance of sports injury prevention in youth, no broad scale approaches that work in real-life situations with significant positive effects exist. Main reasons for this are very poor uptake and maintenance of current sports injury prevention exercises. Sportscoaches and physical educators experience these exercises as not context specific, time consuming and not contributing to their training goals. Whereas youth perceives these exercises as not attractive, no fun and without any play or game component. These aspects cause lack of maintenance and thus no significant reduction of injuries. Recent scientific and practical insights promote more emphasis on motivation through autonomy and attractive exercise routines based on principles of motor learning which can be integrated in regular training sessions or physical education classes. Purpose: Therefore, the Move Healthy project develops ICT based support video material of routines for and with physical educators and sport coaches, which supports them to prevent sports injuries in youth. This material should be easy to integrate in regular training sessions or physical education classes.
Due to the exponential growth of ecommerce, the need for automated Inventory management is crucial to have, among others, up-to-date information. There have been recent developments in using drones equipped with RGB cameras for scanning and counting inventories in warehouse. Due to their unlimited reach, agility and speed, drones can speed up the inventory process and keep it actual. To benefit from this drone technology, warehouse owners and inventory service providers are actively exploring ways for maximizing the utilization of this technology through extending its capability in long-term autonomy, collaboration and operation in night and weekends. This feasibility study is aimed at investigating the possibility of developing a robust, reliable and resilient group of aerial robots with long-term autonomy as part of effectively automating warehouse inventory system to have competitive advantage in highly dynamic and competitive market. To that end, the main research question is, “Which technologies need to be further developed to enable collaborative drones with long-term autonomy to conduct warehouse inventory at night and in the weekends?” This research focusses on user requirement analysis, complete system architecting including functional decomposition, concept development, technology selection, proof-of-concept demonstrator development and compiling a follow-up projects.
