Program de DOCTORAT
Program de Doctorat (3-4 ani, cu frecvenţă, cu bursă)
Aprobat prin Ord. Ministrului nr. 5288/28.12.2001; reconfirmat prin Ord. Ministrului M.Ed.C.T. nr. 1805/20.08.2007
Programul de doctorat se va desfasura sub conducerea d-lui prof. univ. dr. ing. Lucian VINTAN, in principal in "Laboratorul de cercetare pentru arhitecturi avansate de procesare a informatiei" din cadrul Universitatii "Lucian Blaga" Sibiu - a se vedea http://acaps.ulbsibiu.ro/index.php/en/ Diplomele de doctorat vor fi eliberate de Universitatea Tehnică din Cluj-Napoca (Ordinul Ministrului MEdCTS nr. 3499/12.03.2012), universitate clasificată ca fiind de “cercetare avansată și educație” (A).
- Calculatoare si tehnologia informatiei
Posibilităţi de colaborare sau/si cotutela internaţională (Siemens AG CT IC Munchen, Augsburg University-Germania, University of Hertfordshire-Anglia, UPC-Barcelona, Delft University etc.)
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PHD PROGRAM IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT "LUCIAN BLAGA" UNIVERSITY OF SIBIU, SUPERVISOR PROFESSOR LUCIAN VINTAN, PHD
The Computer Engineering PhD Program at the "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu, Romania, is led by Professor Lucian N. VINTAN, PhD, member of the Academy of Technical Sciences from Romania (www.astr.ro
) and European Commission Expert in Computing Systems field
The doctoral studies and researches are integrated in the Advanced Computer Architecture & Processing Systems (ACAPS) Research Centre led by Professor VINTAN, too - see http://acaps.ulbsibiu.ro/index.php/en/
. The ACAPS Centre offered good research equipments for the PhD students, including High Performance Computing facilities containing 14 Intel Compute nodes (2 processor HS21 blades with quad-core Intel Xeon) and 2 Cell Compute nodes (2 processor QS22 blades with IBM PowerXCell 8i Processor).
At this moment (January 2011) 5 PhD students are working to their PhD theses. Two former PhD students already obtained the PhD title. Their work was supervised by Prof. L. VINTAN in collaboration with Siemens AG CT IC Munich (Prof. Hartmut Raffler, Vice-President) and, respectively with University of Augsburg (Prof. T. Ungerer, PhD). The main current PhD projects are focusing on the following scientific topics:
Anticipatory Techniques in Advanced Processor Architectures (Selective Dynamic Instruction Reuse ad Value Prediction)
Multi-objective Automatic Design Space Exploration Framework for Multicore / Manycore Systems Optimizations
Optimizing Application Mapping Algorithms for Network on Chip (NoCs) through a Unified Framework
Adaptive Meta-Classifiers and Clustering Algorithms for Text Documents
Optimal Computer Architecture for CFD calculation (Parallel Processing Methods and Techniques)
The Advanced Computer Architecture topics researched through this PhD frame are very important taking into account the emerging multicore and manycore systems. Industry is especially interested in efficiently using these new architectures. Optimizing these extremely complex systems from a multi-objective point of view (performance, energy, complexity, etc.) is a hot objective, approached by many researchers, from both academia and industry. In order to do this, advanced heuristic methods were developed and implemented by our PhD students and ACAPS staff (for example evolutionary algorithms).
In the context of parallel programming, optimally (energy/performance) placing the concurrent threads on the NoC's tiles, is a very useful and challenging aim. Interesting complex software tools and researches were developed in this area, too. In order to successfully implement all these objectives we are approaching them through an interdisciplinary methodology, applying and adapting some Machine Learning Techniques to these Computer Architecture challenges.
Developing and implementing complex techniques to automatically classify and cluster text-documents belonging to the Internet is another important PhD research topic that continues a former PhD that was developed with significant industrial support (Siemens Munich). We already improved the results obtained through the first PhD focused on this topic.
In order to develop these works we are strongly cooperating with the Chair of Systems and Networking Institute of Computer Science, University of Augsburg, Germany (Professor Theo Ungerer, PhD) that already offered, for two of our PhD students, research grants for a 5 months period. During this period, both our PhD students worked hard to develop their research ideas together with some German PhD students. Also we cooperate with Politecnica di Milan (Professor Cristina Silvano, PhD) that offered to one of our former PhD student a 6 weeks research visit at Milan. Due to the fact that Professor VINTAN is a FP7 HiPEAC Nework of Excellence reviewer, our PhD students and ACSAC staff are concretely benefiting through grants, research visits and other professional facilities.
The PhD students from ACAPS published valuable joint-papers in cooperation with all the foreign scientific collaborators. In 2010, one of our PhD students, received the Best PhD Paper Award from the 9-th IEEE RoEduNet International Conference.
Some of the published PhD papers developed under ACAPS Center umbrella could be found at the following addresses:


The Voopoo Drag Max kit. An powerful all in one pod kit with a maximum 177W output power. Fitted with the PNP Pod tank, which is compatible with all coils across the PNP series, this really is the kit that has it all. Crafted from zinc alloy with a leather insert, the Drag Max kit feels perfect in the hand. Powered by two 18650 batteries (not included) the Drag Max features a 1.08 TFT colourful screen and a chice of two user interface themes. The upgraded GENE.Fan 2.0 chipset provides a more stable output than ever before and a host of intelligent functions and features.
- Product Size: 122 x 50.25 x 25mm
- Output Wattage: 5.0 -177 Watts
- Output Modes: Smart Mode or RBA Mode (Wattage Only)
- Output Voltage: 6.4 – 8.4V
- Resistance range: 0.1-3.0
- Display: 0.96” colour display
- Dual Screen Theme
- GENE Fan 2.0 Chip which is the upgraded chip from Drag allowing for more features to be added.
- Battery:Dual 18650 (Not Included)
- Charging – Via USB-C Connection at 2A
- Drag MAX is compatible with all PnP systems (including coils and pods), so it can be a pod (with MTL coils) , mod pod and mod (with HDL and DL coils）


Absorption-desorption phase transition induced by parametric modulation
Van den Broeck
Limburgs Universitair Centrum, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294
We present a nonequilibrium absorption-desorption phase transition, induced by a time-periodic parametric modulation, and compare it with the phase transitions induced by white and dichotomous Markov noise. In the case of time-periodic modulation and dichotomous Markov noise, the phase transition is found to be reentrant with respect to the strength of the spatial coupling.


What is GRISO ?
GRISO is an international, open network of scientists interested in working together to address the large, complex questions associated with recent changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet, and its impact on the surrounding ocean (including the marine ecosystem), the atmosphere and communities living around Greenland's coastal margins.
GRISO started as a US CLIVAR working group (GRISO WG), founded in 2011 and active until 2014, which aimed to facilitate interaction across the different scientific disciplines and to identify the key priorities for Greenland Ice-Ocean Interactions. GRISO WG organized an international workshop held in 2013 in Beverly (MA, USA) which brought together over 100 glaciologists, oceanographers, climate and paleoclimate scientists, as well as NSF and NASA program managers. Key conclusions from this workshop were summarized in a workshop report (PDF) commissioned by US CLIVAR, NSF, and the US Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC).
GRISO was subsequently supported by Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)—a system-scale, interdisciplinary research program that seeks to connect scientists working on Arctic change with stakeholders and decision makers, from 2014 to 2016. During this time, a second international workshop was held in San Francisco (CA, USA) in 2015 to define the steps necessary for the creating of a Greenland Ice-Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS) around Greenland, summarized in the workshop report.
From 2017 to 2019, GRISO was supported by an Earth Cube Research Coordination Network Grant from the NSF. During this time a third, international workshop was held in Washington DC (USA) in 2018 on the theme 'Freshwater Fluxes from Greenland' aimed at bringing together communities interested in quantifying the exchange of freshwater between the ice sheet and the ocean. Results from that workshop are summarized in the workshop report.
Starting in 2020, GRISO - a project funded by the National Science Foundation ACCELNet program - aims to facilitate the interaction of the large number of networks, associations and individual groups on problems relevant to climate change occurring at Greenland's marine margins.


Anti Fatigue Mats
Features and Benefits
Stat Zap Electro Static Dissipative Anti-Fatigue Mat protects sensitive electronic equipment from damaging static discharge while improving the ergonomics of the workplace. This Stat Zap ESD Anti-Fatigue Mat drains static electricity instantly before it can zap your circuitry.
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- Relieve fatigue while protecting sensitive electronic equipment from harmful electric discharge.
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- Cost effective expanded vinyl foam that is lightweight and comfortable to stand on.
Click here for technical specifications.


Established in 1969, BCAB is the oldest association of blind and partially sighted technology users in the world. Originally created to support computer professionals, we now promote and encourage the use of technology amongst all blind and partially sighted people.
What do we do?
We're involved in the following key activities:
- Sharing impartial advice about computers, tablets, mobiles and assistive technologies;
- Campaigning for equal access to technology and the internet;
- Hosting an independent technology help line and discussion forum;
- Producing technology articles, tutorials and webinars;
- Holding technology meetups and events.
Who are our members?
Our members include people taking their first steps with technology, through to people working as professionals in the IT industry.


Pixel 101: Challenging the CX in Smartphone Industry
Google unleashed some mighty products promising unique customer experiences during its “Made By Google” event on 4 October. Out of all these new innovative devices, Pixel handset shone as the star. Artificial intelligence (AI) development and integration of hardware with software are the key themes of this new phone. If you would like to find out more, you’ll find what you need to know about Pixel and what new experiences it offers you here.
Changing the Smartphone Camera and AI Game
Nexus was abandoned for a pretty solid reason. Pixel is the new flagship smartphone offering pure Google experience inside and outside. Unlike the Nexus line, hardware manufacturer HTC takes a back seat. This transition promises a smoother user interface in 5” screen Pixel and its larger version, 5.5” screen Pixel XL.
There are two qualities of Pixel you should pay attention to: camera performance and Google Assistant. Just as CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted during the event, Pixel scored the highest out of any other smartphone on DxOMark Mobile (89 out of 100) test. Its 12.3MP rear and 8MP front cameras are automatically set to HDR+ mode which layers simultaneously taken photos for the best visual quality and was developed heavily since Nexus 6P. You can capture videos at 4K quality at 30fps and 1080p quality at 120fps with both phones. And here’s the bomb: You can upload unlimited amount of full-resolution photos to the Cloud with Pixel. This means zero storage costs for your visual projects and a gigantic challenge to other companies using the cloud technology for image storage. As a customer, you can expect to reap the benefits of this challenge very soon.
As for the Assistant, when you press down on the software home button or speak out the classic “OK, Google” command, this new bot based application will come out to play. You would be correct in guessing its rivalry to Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana. Just like its competitors, Assistant goes one step further than Google Now’s simple voice search; Assistant is able to make reservations, help you navigate, and more in a conversation-like manner. More entries to mobile AI market means more pressure on the companies to produce better and more intelligent software at affordable prices.
Hardware, Design, and Price Details
Customers expect fast and unhindered service, starting right from the beginning of their experience. Google knows this well, so Pixel will come out of its box with the newest Android OS Nougat, Allo chat-app, and Duo video-calling app already installed. You will be able to carry out your chats on the Pixel’s 5” screen with 1080p display quality and Pixel XL’s 5.5” screen with Quad HD display quality. For an uninterrupted experience throughout the day, Pixel XL’s 3,450mAh battery and the Pixel’s 2,770mAh battery promise 7 hours of battery life after just 15 minutes of charging. System speed is boosted as both devices run on 2.15 GHz 64-bit processor and 4GB of RAM; whether there will be lags with more installed updates remains to be tested out. Normal business as usual, USB-C port, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3.5mm headphone jack are all included. This last point was especially underlined during the event as an obvious nod to iPhone 7.
About the outlook of this new device, the design is pretty standard and smooth without a physical home button. On its back, there’s a broad glossy plate with the fingerprint button in the middle. The Live Cases option is continued, meaning you can decorate your phone case with images from Google Earth and Trends. Available in black and silver colours (no blue yet), Pixel is going to be shipped out on 20 October in the UK; ready to be preordered today. The prices for Pixel phones are £599 for 32GB and £699 for the 128GB one. For Pixel XL, 32GB of memory sets you back £719 while 128GB is priced at £819. You can also pick up the Pixel for an upfront cost of £79.99 and the Pixel XL for £159.99, both on a £42 a month with 6GB of data allowance on Vodafone in the UK. These prices are certainly more geared towards an upper segment than Nexus but comments on performance-to-price ratio have to wait until the phone is out.
It goes without saying that Pixel is Daydream View VR compatible. You can read more about this new VR in our next post.
So, what kind of changes can you expect from Pixel? Entering the Samsung and Apple-dominated smartphone market with its (mostly) own high-segment phone, Google is pushing its competition to innovate in AI and cloud technologies. Expect even better hardware-software integration and braver AI improvements for next year’s designs. This spells out faster and multichannel connections for everyone. You’d better start getting used to it soon.
If you are a business owner and need the latest technology to connect to your customers, we can help. Request your copy of Pisano demo today and empower your business.
Google's biggest hardware event of the year could've been, emm, bigger. Today Google's San Francisco press event…venturebeat.com


If you have a big flat screen or are thinking of buying one soon, you will need to consider buying sound bars. They are not just great alternatives for home theatre systems, but the missing ingredient that will take your television enjoyment from good to great. You will love them a lot because they are going to eliminate most of the wiring as well as the setup hassles you have to go through if you opt for a home theatre system. Also, the sound bars will not take up a lot of space in your house. You will not need to buy an AV receiver to be able to use them because they are self-powered. To help you buy the right ones for your needs, here are top 10 best buy sound bars reviews.
1. SONOS PLAYBAR TV Sound Bar/Wireless Streaming Music Speaker
You will be very impressed with this sound bar. It is designed to complement HD TV screens with Hi-Fi sound that is richly textured. Once you install it, you will be able to stream all kinds of music wirelessly. It requires just two cords to work, namely an optical cord and power cord. Both of them are included in the package, so you will not need to buy them separately. It will play all sources that you will plug into your HD television.
2. VIZIO SB4051-C0 40 Inch 5.1 Sound Bar System
With this sound bar from VIZIO, you will enjoy the ultimate home theater experience in your house without having to put up with a lot of messy cables. It features a solid, all metal construction and delivers excellent audio for any 47 inch plus class television. It comes with a HDMI cable that enables you to have access to the best audio quality for your television. It also has built-in Bluetooth and comes with an intuitive LCD display remote.
3. Samsung HW-J450 2.1 Channel 300 Watt Wireless Audio Soundbar
This one of the best sound bars that you will never go wrong with. It has a lot of interesting features, including surround sound expansion, Bluetooth convenience as well as a wireless active subwoofer. The sound bar comes with an optical cable, a USB cable and a wall mount kit with a screw. It also comes with a user manual to allow you to learn how to use it with ease.
4. Sony HT-CT370 2.1 Channel 300W Sound Bar
If you are looking for a good sound bar at a reasonable price, you need to consider buying this one from Sony. It has awesome sound with very good bass. It also has a voice feature that you can use to enhance sound on movies, television and so on. It is wall mountable and comes with a remote to allow you to operate it with ease. It supports Bluetooth and NFC connectivity.
5. BOHM B2 Premium 60-Watt 40″ inch Sound Bar
This sound bar brings together the best audio as well as connectivity in a slim and stylish compact package that you will love. You will start using it immediately because it does not have anything to configure. You simply need to plug it into your television’s output and start enjoying the expansive and immersive virtual surround sound that it brings. It features three modes of enhanced audio and enhanced frequency response that you will totally love.
6. Salute 24 Inch 2.2 Channel Bluetooth Sound Bar
When you buy this Salute 2.2 channel sound bar, you will get a better sound stage as well as cleaner sound without any distortion when watching television or movies. It perfectly balances sound in order to create a dynamic home theatre experience. It comes equipped with an advanced Bluetooth chip that allows you to stream content from Bluetooth devices with good quality sound. Other features include infrared remote control and support for coaxial input.
7. Klipsch R-10B Bluetooth Soundbar
One of the things that make this sound bar one of the best market is its ability to increase sonic details in midrange frequency areas and above to significantly improve dialogue clarity. It features 250 watts peak power output and is made with aptX audio coding technology. It is compatible with many Bluetooth enabled devices. You will enjoy powerful bass with it.
8. Denon DHT-S514 Home Theater Soundbar System
Some of the features that this sound bar comes with include HDMI, wireless subwoofer and Bluetooth streaming. You will enjoy high fidelity sound that will fill your room whether you are watching a movie, listening to music or playing video games. It offers you up to 175 watts of power and supports aptX technology that allows you to stream CD-quality sound from laptops, tablets or smartphones.
9. LG Electronics SH2 2.1 Channel 100W Sound Bar
This LG Electronics sound bar features a mixture of performance, style and convenience. You will not regret investing your money on it. You will enjoy up to 100 watts of power and a wired subwoofer that enhances the sonic depth of the bass. You will also be to stream from Bluetooth enabled devices such as a tablet or smartphone.
10. ZVOX SoundBase 570 30″Sound Bar
This is a really nice sound bar that allows you to enjoy surround sound in your house without adding a lot of clutter. It does not require external speakers, speaker wires or a subwoofer to work. It features aptX Bluetooth technology that allows you to stream music from Bluetooth enabled devices very easily. Its space saving design can fit into a single slim cabinet and help you save space in your house.


Potential Applications of Geoinformatics in Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change
27 July 2022 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Several countries around the world suffers from limited natural and water resources and the high rate of population increase over the last few decades, this resulted in widening the gap between water demand and supply. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change are anticipated to worsen this situation by jeopardizing existing water resources. Strategic vision to ensure an adequate, safe, and secure drinking water supply presents a challenge, particularly for such countries, faced with a critical supply-demand imbalance and a high risk of water quality deterioration. To provide sustainable and equitable long-term water management plans, current and future demands, along with available adaptation options should be assessed through community engagement.Recently, Geoinformatics were used efficiently for several climate change studies, this includes the use of the state-of-art technology for investigating, monitoring, documenting, and understanding the impacts of climate change and its consequences. Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences and related branches of science and engineering. This includes the use of earth observation satellites (EOS), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and other related technologies. In this webinar, the speaker will focus the shed on the current of future trend of geoinformatics and its applications in assessing the impacts of climate change.


Flare occurs to some degree in all lenses and optical systems. Stray light that enters the lens is reflected among the optical components and fogs the image. Below is an example of very bad lens flare.
An example of bad flare (right).
In these images, we can see how Flare is showing light in the image where there should be none. Flare in optical components is a major limiting factor for a systems overall dynamic range. Sensors often can boast dynamic range >120 dB. In practice, the system cannot get close to that range because of the effects of flare. For more information, please read our documentation on Veiling Glare (Flare).
Setting up the NIR camera test
For this test, we will be using the same Raspberry Pi camera and Imatest light source from our previous post. The major differences are the chart and image processing. The ISO 18844 chart features numerous black dots arranged in an X pattern according to the standard. The chart is made out of clear polyester film and the dots are made from Acktar black to prevent reflections that would ruin the test.
The other major difference for this test from our previous one is the change in processing. The image needs to be linear. Nonlinear processes such as auto white balance and jpeg compression can influence the results if enabled. Fortunately, it is possible to get raw sensor data from the Raspberry Pi Camera V2. This recipe was used to capture a raw image from the Pi.
Analyzing the NIR image
Images of the flare chart were captured under two lighting conditions; visible and NIR (850 nm).
We then analyze each image with the Uniformity module in Imatest Master 5.1.9. In the Uniformity Settings dialog we want to select “ISO 18844 flare method C: Linearize with Color Space”. For this analysis, we can ignore the rest of the options.
Imatest will display several plots related to uniformity but we are only interested in the ISO 18844 flare plot for this test. The plots for each of our measurements can be seen below.
ISO 18844 Flare Visible light plot
ISO 18844 Flare NIR light plot
The plots show the % flare for each dot according to the 18844 calculation as well as the Mean Flare at the bottom. From the plots, we see that Mean Flare for the visible light sources is 5.2% and 13.6% for the NIR.
Similar to our previous test on sharpness, there is a drastic change in quality when the wavelength of light is varied. The ISO 18844 Flare increases more than 2.5 times in the NIR versus the visible. The expectation then is the NIR camera has a diminished dynamic range due to the increased flare. In applications such as security or automotive cameras, the diminished dynamic range could significantly decrease the effectiveness of the system to detect obstacles or intruders. The large change in quality shows how important it is to construct a test environment that matches the application of the imaging system. This is especially true when the system is multi-purpose, such as a security camera with a day (visible) and night (NIR) modes. A good follow up to this test would be to measure the dynamic range of the system in either lighting condition.


What follows is an article I have put together based on research I have conducted, personal practice and experience, and some enormously valuable technical help from John Scrip, A.K.A. MASSIVE Mastering. Although I’ll talk about analog systems here, the majority of this article is written to help the digital home studio.
Eliminating unwanted noise is a fundamental task in any studio, be it a digital in-the-box set up, or a purely analog rig. But perhaps the most important point of understanding your gain structure, is its impact on headroom in your mixes. As John has pointed out to me, everything starts with having and protecting the right amount of headroom at every stage in the audio production process.
Building in the right amount of head room begins with having the right gain structure in your signal chain when you begin tracking. It’s widely understood that mastering too hot is not a good thing. Mixing too hot is even worse, as it will leave less headroom for the mastering stage. But tracking too hot is the worst thing you can do to a mix. Since it’s the first stage, it drives a domino effect of hot and hotter signals throughout the rest of the audio production process.
Digital recording systems that operate at 24 bit resolution are designed to capture a high quality sound while assuring the best signal to noise ratio and dynamic range possible. Having said this, dealing with noise and distortion are a frequent challenge for the home studio operator. In the majority of cases, your equipment is not the problem, but the gain structure of your signal chain may be.
Using the correct gain structure in either digital or analog studio scenarios assures that the final result utilizes all of the dynamic range available while minimizing background noise and without any undesired signal distortion. This may seem like an obvious and generic statement, but it’s very relevant when discussing gain structure as any added distortion to your signal in an early stage of your signal chain, cannot be later removed in subsequent stage. Independent of the function of any of the pieces of gear (hardware or software) in your signal chain, it’s important to guarantee that the level of the line out of each piece of gear is adequate for feeding into the input line of the next piece of gear in the chain. Every piece of your signal chain (hardware or software) should be adjusted so that each receives the appropriate input signal. As a consequence, all pieces of your signal chain are optimized within their dynamic range.
THE WEAKEST LINK
A good gain structure is based on having every piece of your signal chain operating within the appropriate range even though unwanted distortion in your signal can occur at any point in your signal chain. Preamps are especially susceptible to internal distortion, especially those that are built into lower end mixers. It is also possible that you microphone adds distortion, but it is more likely still that your preamp is creating the distortion. In this case, an accurate measurement can serve as a guide to solving the problem. Once distortion has been introduced into the signal, it cannot be resolved by lowering the volume of the channel. You first have to correctly adjust the gain of the preamp. Just make sure you do so without an EQ, as EQ can influence the signal being measured.
ANALOG VERSUS DIGITAL
The most critical moment to guarantee an optimal gain structure is during the tracking process. If you are working with analog equipment there will always be a certain dynamic margin (the amount of space available between a processor’s line level signal and the point in which distortion begins to occur) available before any distortion becomes evident. But keep in mind that depending on the converter and how its calibrated, analog signals can become distorted well before they will actually clip the digital converter, again assuming the converter is calibrated low enough.
But moving from the analog world to the digital world we eventually reach a point of no return wherein all of the bits are 1s and anything beyond that point corrupts the signal. Twenty four bit recording allows for much more dynamic range than we can ever achieve with analog gear, and it is important to not run an analog signal too hot (+12cBVU for example), so as to leave enough headroom. Smaller analog distortions can add up during a mix. For this reason, the importance of headroom (assuming a converter calibrated to -18dBFS = 0dBVU) is to allow healthy recording signals with lots of room for the occasional errant peak.
A possible solution is to adjust the sensitivity of the line in on your sound card. Instead of adjusting the line out of the mixing console to match the line in of the sound card, it’s possible to configure your sound card to a sensitivity of -10dBV. If the level of the signal of the line outs of the mixing console are +4dBu, you can achieve 0dBFS for the digital line in with a level of +4dB VU on the analog mixer. One tip is to insert a VU meter into your signal chain, wherein you can monitor that input levels are within reason. A -10dB signal at 0dBVU sent unbalanced is going to read 0dBVU. Just as a +4dBU signal at 0dBVU is going to read 0dBVU.
To obtain the maximum signal-to-noise ratio for a digital line in, it’s not always easy. With a 16 bit system for example, leaving 6dB of margin reduces the level of signal to noise to 90dB. Some argue to very lightly apply an analog compressor before going into the line in of the sound card. This can smoothen out the transitory peaks and raise the level of the weaker signals. However, others including John Scrip, (A.K.A. MassiveMastering), say a 90dB dynamic range is much better than nearly any input chain. A 6dB margin, even at 16 bits, is hotter than the desired input. Even if your input levels as low as -30dBFS in 24 bit (or around -15 to -12dBFS in 16 bit) that wouldn’t be leaving too much headroom.
In the digital world, a poor gain structure can have a much more catastrophic effect than in the analog world. If you saturate a virtual channel beyond 0dBFS you can damage the audio signal. The advantage of those virtual mixers is that the measurement can help you detect and resolve problems easily. All of your channels, busses or aux channels, groups or main outs, have a peak meter that gives you additional visual information about your audio signal. But if they are approaching Full Scale (0dB) the mix is too loud and all of the headroom required for mastering is being used up. Keep in mind, that in the digital world the signal is always controllable. If it’s too hot, you simply turn it down. However, in the analog world, any damage done to the signal on the way in is permanent.
And so I end this article where we began. Everything starts with having and protecting the right amount of headroom at ever stage in the audio production process. Building in the right amount of head room begins with having the right gain structure in your signal chain.
See you around the Forums!


Xinwangda Electronics Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise with the main business of research, design, production and sales of lithium-ion battery modules. It is a leading solution and product provider of lithium-ion battery modules in China. It is committed to providing customers with safe, portable and lasting green energy products. With the continuous independent innovation ability, excellent lithium-ion battery modules are integrated. With the capability of development and design, excellent cost control, reasonable business positioning and high quality customer resources, the company has become one of the most powerful lithium-ion battery module manufacturers in the field of lithium energy in China, with the most complete supporting capabilities and the largest product series.
Including: integrated wiring system, perimeter alarm system, intelligent parking management system, video surveillance system, computer room engineering, one-card system, office automation management system, energy metering management system, video conference system, computer network system, information dissemination system, attendance management system, etc.


Bosch Electronics Australia
A trusted partner in the development of smart electronic solutions.
Bosch Electronics Australia (BEA) specialises in end-to-end product development, engineering, manufacturing and business development. We take a highly adaptive approach and offer efficiency and professionalism when undertaking turnkey business solutions for SMEs and large corporates. We are a trusted partner in data driven, cyber secure IoT solutions.
BEA develops IoT technologies for the Retail Industry to provide consumers with a better shopping experience. This increases convenience for customers and enables data optimisation for businesses.
BEA works with the Agriculture Industry to digitalise traditional practices through intelligent solutions that improve efficiency, decision making and conserve resources.
BEA assists the Utilities Industry to increase customer value by improving efficiency and reducing waste. Robust designs allow for scalable deployment and attractive return on investment.
"Bosch is clearly at the forefront of technology innovation"
"Bosch, a company with deep technology experience, provided critical input and strategic direction to guide the development of sensor and data science-based research projects.
The contacts within Bosch have been highly engaged, responsive and the outputs generated have been of high quality. Moreover, our interactions with Bosch have been valuable and they have helped Food Agility to expand our Digital Agri-Food research strategy.
We look forward to finding further opportunities to co-invest and collaborate on digital research and development initiatives in the future."
Clare Rutherford, Chief Operating Officer
Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre


If you’ve not purchased holiday lights in several years, you are in for some surprises next time you head out shopping for new holiday lighting. Recent advances have produced a wave of new and innovative LED lighting that is far more energy efficient than holiday lighting your father or grandfather installed in years past. Many of the new LED holiday light strings are 7 to 8 times more efficient than traditional incandescent light strings. This translates to additional benefits aside from lowered electricity bills: more strings can be safely strung together end-to-end (which may mean a simplified layout of your light display) and there is a lowered fire hazard as the strings do not get as hot as many of the incandescent holiday light bulbs.
One down side to these new types of holiday lights is their higher up-front cost. But if you calculate in the lower operating costs, LED lights are likely to cost you less money in the long run. And as more LED holiday lights are being manufactured, prices have been dropping.
One criticism of LED lights has been the tendency of light from LED bulbs to appear harsh and “cold”. Manufacturers have responded to this issue and are now producing LED holiday lighting that appears “warmer”, like the incandescent lights they are intended to replace.
So this year, consider adding some ‘green’ lights to your holiday decor by choosing energy efficient LED holiday lights.
Here’s a list of pros and cons for LED Holiday lighting:
Lower energy use / operating cost
Lower heat output (Less fire hazard)
More strings can be connected safely (Fewer outlets or extension cords needed)
Higher purchase cost than incandescent.
Color & “temperature” of light output difference as compared to incandescent
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.


The story of Duracell begins in the early 1920’s with an inventive scientist named Samuel Ruben and an eager manufacturer of tungsten filament wire named Philip Rogers Mallory. Ruben came to the P.R. Mallory Company seeking a piece of equipment he needed for an experiment. But Ruben and Mallory saw an opportunity: uniting Ruben’s inventive genius with Mallory’s manufacturing muscle. Their partnership, which would last until Mallory's death in 1975, was the bedrock of Duracell International.
During WW2, Ruben devised the mercury cell and the Mallory Battery Company was formed shortly thereafter. In the 1950’s, Ruben went on to improve the battery and when Eastman Kodak introduced cameras with a built-in flash unit that required more power from a smaller sized battery, Mallory made the first AAA battery. The new photography-related demand for power put alkaline cells on the map, and in 1964 the Duracell brand was introduced.
As technology advances, the uses for batteries only increases. Duracell quickly became the world's leading producer of high-performance alkaline batteries. And while some people need to power their child’s new toy, others need to make sure their smoke detectors work. But whether you are making your children smile or ensuring their safety at home, Duracell know that their batteries have to work. And establishing that reliable and consistent performance launched us as the brand that was, and is, trusted everywhere.


Reach Out does STEM with Computing 2018
As technology is being applied more and more in the classroom, we were keen to host our first dedicated computing and electronics day.
Inspired by robotics, the event asked each attending school to build and program a Lego Mindstorm EV3 kit, made up of bricks, motors and sensors.
After 1 hour of building complex models, children connected their EV3 Bricks to the programmer app on iPads and experimented with programming components.
Using Action and Flow blocks on the EV3 app, children completed a series of coding demands to become familiar with their robot. These included: “Program your robot to travel for exactly half a metre”; “Program your robot to travel forwards for 3 rotations then turn 90 degrees”; “Place a piece of white paper on the floor about 50cm in front of your robot. Use the ‘Wait’ block to program your robot to travel forwards until it reaches the white paper and then travel backwards for 5 rotations.”
We were thoroughly impressed with the natural coders in the room, quickly taking to the EV3 software with ease and programming their robots to perform numerous manoeuvres.
As teams became more confident with coding and programming, they were asked to reprogram their robots to complete a full course around a maze.
This task was a test of team work, communication and perseverance as pupils raced against the clock to complete the challenge before home time.
Combine STEM with computing and electronics to engage children in kinaesthetic programming.
Share specially designed STEM and computing resources.
Encourage critical thinking, reflective learning and team work.
Part of the new curriculum of computer science, information technology and digital literacy is to teach children how to code, how to create their own programs; not just how to use a computer but how to make it work for them.
STEM with Computing introduced children to familiar Lego resources and tablet-computers to communicate instructions and adapt an engineer's eye to problem solving.
Resources critical to the success of the event include Lego Mindstorm EV3 kits, iPads with EV3 Programmer application and specifically designed resources by teachers of Computing and Maths.
The day was lead by teacher of Maths and Outreach coordinator Miss Taylor, supported by Teacher of Chemistry and Computing, Dr Critchley, as well as support staff.
The day focused on two main areas: developing fine motor skills through building and developing digital literacy with coding and programming.
Part of the new curriculum of computer science is to teach how to code, how to create programs, understand how computers work and how to make programs work you the individual. By asking children to build and program a robot to complete a series of tasks, children had to think logically, creatively and intuitively; skills akin to engineer observations.
Once children moved on from building to looking at code and programming their robots to complete a course, some became independent learners, predicting what instructions their computers needed to complete a task, establishing confidence in articulation and information technology
46 pupils from city and county primary schools, made up of boys and girls in Years 4 and 5.
STEM with Computing is part of a STEM dedicated 2017 - 18 provision for partner schools.


The most popular FLAT SCREEN televisions have several advantages over their plasma (or older LCD model) alternatives. To start with, FLATSCREEN screens are good for well lit environments. When you’re in a room with a lot of sun, or plan on having a tv set in a public atmosphere such as a brightly lit restaurant, than LCD screens will provide a more viewable picture image than other types of TV screens.
FLAT SCREEN televisions also consume less power than other types of TVs. So for those of you trying to “go green”, or at least cut back on your monthly charges, LCDs offer that specific advantage. Additionally, with FLAT SCREEN TVs you don’t have to worry at all about the dreaded “screen burn in” that can be known to ruin other types of TV sets. While that is a issue that is largely being looked after through improvements in technology anyway, you never have to even consider such as problem with the most popular FLAT SCREEN televisions.
You no longer have to worry that LCD televisions aren’t appropriate to large sizes. Thank you to improvements in technology, the most popular FLATSCREEN TVs function just as wonderfully as other HIGH DEFINITION televisions, regardless of the size of the screen. Many companies make various models of FLATSCREEN TVs, but according to LCD tv set reviews, some of the best are:
The Sony Bravia LCD TV – Great picture and sound, smooth video play and all around high quality. Sharp AQUOS FLAT SCREEN TV – Sharp AQUOS models are recognized for their extremely thin design and their outstanding picture quality and contrast ratio.
Samsung LN-40A650 LCD HDTV – This Samsung model is great not simply for the sharpness of its picture but also for the adaptability to other media players and outlets, such as MP3 players. Of course, this is merely a tiny sampling of one of the most popular LCD tvs. You will find more information about some of the most popular LCD televisions. In addition, you can find FLATSCREEN tv set reviews and you will even buy LCD samsung tv repair london.
With the price of large (> 32″) LCD displays decreasing rapidly and new functionalities being added to LCD displays, does it still seem sensible for businesses to buy a projector versus an LCD screen?
Some of the variables to consider when assessing this question are product quality, price, picture quality, screen size and other such considerations. We discuss these and other factors from a typical business organization perspective. Read other articles and make your informed judgement.
Support life: LCD TVs or displays typically have a backlight life of 30, 000 to 60, 000 hours (ie, if you have the display on for ~6 hours every day, the backlight will last for 16 years). Even then a backlight can be replaced in many LCD displays. A projector bulb typically has a lifetime of 2, 000 hours.
Price Considerations: A basic projector is available for INR 25, 000. However, if the projected is going to be used for video conferencing or board room presentation, a high resolution, good contrast ratio and saturated colour projector would need. The cost of such a projector is near to INR 1 lakh. Thereafter, you need to factor in the prices of projector bulb and projection screens. A typical projector bulb must be substituted almost annually or two with bulbs costing Rs 20, 000+ per bulb. We have added these costs over a five-year period in order to a projector versus. an LCD (see chart below). With 46″ FLAT SCREEN TV or display charging around Rs 135, 500 – Rs 150, 500 and dropping, price becomes less of your issue when considering whether to get a Projected or LCD display.


Mobile gadgets have become an integral part of our lives. They are practical and functional helpers in work, study and everyday life. Also, portable devices help to brighten up leisure and have a good time. Users who value high sound quality and compactness choose JBL acoustics. These speakers will be a practical addition to your laptop or PC.
How to connect via Bluetooth?
You can connect the JBL speaker to your computer using Bluetooth wireless technology. The main thing is that this module is built into the laptop and the acoustics used. First, let's look at synchronization with technology running on the Windows operating system.
This is the more common OS that many users are familiar with (the most used versions are 7, 8, and 10). Synchronization is performed as follows.
- The speaker must be connected to a power source.
- The speakers should be close to the laptop for the computer to quickly detect the new device.
- Turn on your music equipment and start the Bluetooth function.
- The button with the corresponding logo must be pressed until the flashing light signal. The indicator will start flashing red and blue, indicating the module is working.
- Now go to your laptop. On the left side of the screen, click the Start icon (with the Windows logo on it). A menu will open.
- Highlight the "Options" tab. Depending on the version of the operating system, this item may be located in different places. If you are using version 8 of the OS, the required button will be located on the left side of the window with the gear image.
- Click once with the mouse on the "Devices" item.
- Find the item titled "Bluetooth and Other Devices". Look for it on the left side of the window.
- Start the Bluetooth function. You will need a slider at the top of the page. Nearby, you will find a status bar that will indicate the operation of the wireless module.
- At this stage, you need to add the required mobile device. Click the mouse on the button "Add Bluetooth or other device". You can find it at the top of an open window.
- Click on the Bluetooth icon - an option in the "Add device" tab.
- If everything is done correctly, the name of the portable speaker should appear in the window. To synchronize, you need to click on it.
- To complete the procedure, you need to click on "Pairing". This button will be next to the column name.
Now you can check the acoustics by playing any music track or video.
Appliances trademark Apple works on the basis of its own operating system Mac OS X. This version of the OS is significantly different from Windows. Laptop owners can also connect a JBL speaker. In this case, the work must be done as follows.
- The speakers need to be turned on, start the Bluetooth module (hold down the button with the corresponding icon) and put the speakers next to the computer.
- On a laptop, you also need to enable this function. The Bluetooth symbol can be found on the right side of the screen (drop down menu). Otherwise, you need to look for this function in the menu. To do this, you need to open "System Preferences" and select Bluetooth there.
- Go to the protocol settings menu and turn on the wireless connection. If you notice a button with the name "Turn off", then the function is already running.
- After starting, the search for devices to connect will start automatically. As soon as the laptop finds the mobile speaker, you need to click on the name and on the "Pairing" icon. After a few seconds, the connection will be established. Now you need to run an audio or video file and check the sound.
Features when paired with a PC
The operating system on a laptop and a stationary PC looks the same, so there should be no problems finding the required tab or button. The main feature of synchronization with a home computer is the Bluetooth module. Many modern laptops have this adapter already built-in, but for ordinary PCs it must be purchased separately. This is an inexpensive and compact device that looks like a USB flash drive.
Connection via Bluetooth protocol during activation is powered by a battery or a battery of the acoustics. In order not to waste the device's charge, experts advise sometimes to use a wired method of connecting speakers. To do this, you need to use a 3.5mm cable or a USB cable. It can be purchased at any electronics store. It is inexpensive. If this is the first time you sync the speakers with a laptop, do not place the speakers far from it. The optimal distance is no more than one meter.
The operating instructions must indicate the maximum connection distance.
If it is not possible to synchronize equipment using a wireless signal, you can connect the speakers to a PC via USB. This is a practical and convenient option if the computer does not have a Bluetooth module or if you need to conserve battery power. The required cable, if not included in the package, can be purchased at any gadget and mobile device store. Using the USB port, the speaker is connected quite simply.
- One end of the cable must be connected to the speaker in the charging socket.
- Insert the second side (wider) port into the desired connector of a computer or laptop.
- The column must be turned on. As soon as the OS finds the connected gadget, it will notify the user with a sound signal.
- A notification about new hardware will appear on the screen.
- The name of the music device may appear differently on each computer.
- After connecting, you need to play any track to check the speakers.
It is recommended to provide an internet connection, as the PC may ask you to update the driver. This is the program required for the equipment to work. Also, a driver disk may come with the speaker. Be sure to install it before connecting the speakers. An instruction manual is included with any model of acoustic equipment.
It details the acoustics functions, specifications and connections.
When pairing technology, some users face various problems. If the computer does not see the speaker or there is no sound when turned on, the reason may be related to the following problems.
- Old drivers responsible for the operation of the Bluetooth module or sound playback. In this case, you just need to update the software. If there is no driver at all, you need to install it.
- The computer does not play sound. The problem may be a broken sound card. In most cases, this element must be replaced, and only a professional can repair it.
- The PC does not automatically configure the device. The user needs to open the sound parameters on the computer and carry out the work manually by selecting the necessary equipment from the list.
- Poor sound quality or sufficient volume. Most likely, the reason is the large distance between the speakers and the laptop (PC) when connected wirelessly. The closer the speakers are to the computer, the better signal reception will be. The sound is also affected by the settings that are adjusted on the PC.
How do I update the driver?
The software must be regularly updated for optimal mobile device performance. It only takes a few minutes to do this. In most cases, the operating system will notify the user to download a new version. An update is also needed if the computer stopped seeing acoustics or if there were other problems when connecting or using speakers.
The step-by-step instructions are as follows.
- Click on the "Start" icon. It's in the lower right corner of the taskbar.
- Open Device Manager. You can find this section through the search bar.
- Next, find the Bluetooth model and right-click on it once. A menu will open.
- Click on the button labeled "Update".
- For a computer to download a driver from the World Wide Web, it must be connected to the Internet by any means - wired or wireless.
It is also recommended that you download new firmware for your audio equipment.
The JBL brand has developed a separate application specifically for its own products - JBL FLIP 4. With its help, you can quickly and easily update the firmware.
How to connect a JBL speaker to a computer and laptop, see the following video.


Digital Non-Contact Infrared Forehead Thermometer - FDA Registered - Medical Grade
(You save $70.00)
- IR Thermometer Calibration Guide
Our digital non-contact forehead thermometer gives you proven accuracy right when you need it! Simply hold the device for 1-2 seconds and the temperature will display instantly. Be able to check your child's temperature without waking them up. Additionally, this thermometer is easy to clean. Simply plug in two AA batteries.
- Easy to use – point and pull the trigger
- Toggle between Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Backlit LED panel with 3 color settings
- Dual Mode – Choose body or surface
- Data recall – Stores the last 32 measurements
- Rapid measurement
- Accurate results
- Quickly retake temperature
- Uses two AA batteries (Not Included)
- Calibrate before first use
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!


Welcome to the world of HD Coax Modulatoh, where technology meets innovation in the most mesmerizing way possible. In this comprehensive review, we will take you on an exhilarating journey through the power-packed realm of HD Coax Modulation and unlock its hidden potential. Brace yourself for a captivating exploration that will leave you in awe of how this cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing the way we transmit high-quality video signals. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or simply intrigued by advanced digital communication methods, get ready to dive deep into this extraordinary phenomenon that promises unmatched clarity and efficiency. So buckle up and prepare to be amazed as we unravel the endless possibilities offered by HD Coax Modulation!
Introduction to HD Coax Modulatoh
HD Coax Modulatoh, also known as High-Definition Coaxial Modulatoh, is a type of digital modulation that allows for the transmission of high-definition video and audio signals over a single coaxial cable. HD Coax Modulation offers a number of benefits over traditional analog modulation methods, including higher resolution, improved sound quality, and reduced cabling costs.
What Is HD Coax Modulation?
HD Coax Modulatoh is a data communication technique that allows for the transfer of high-definition digital video and audio signals over a single coaxial cable. This makes it an ideal solution for transmitting HD content from sources such as Blu-ray players, satellite receivers, and cable TV set-top boxes to display devices such as HDTVs and projectors.
HD Coax Modulation uses a process called Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) to encode the digital video and audio signals onto the coaxial cable. QAM is a form of modulation that encodes data into both the amplitude and phase of an electrical signal. This allows for more data to be transferred over a given amount of bandwidth than other modulation methods, such as Amplitude Modulation (AM) or Frequency Modulation (FM).
The encoded signal is then sent over the coaxial cable to the receiving device, where it is decoded and displayed on the screen. HD Coax Modulation provides several benefits over other methods of transmitting HD content, including:
1. Increased Bandwidth Efficiency: QAM encoding allows more data to be transmitted over a given amount of bandwidth than AM or FM. This means that less bandwidth is required to transmit HD content using HD Coax Modulatoh than other methods.
2. Reduced Interference: QAM signals are less susceptible to interference than AM or FM signals. This means that there is less chance of picture degradation due to interference when using
Benefits of HD Coax Modulation
HD Coax Modulation can provide a number of benefits for your business or home. By providing a higher quality signal, HD Coax Modulation can improve the clarity and resolution of your video surveillance system. This can help you to more easily identify potential security threats, and take steps to protect your property. In addition, HD Coax Modulation can also reduce the amount of storage space required for your video footage. By using a compression algorithm, HD Coax Modulation can reduce the size of your video files without sacrificing quality. This can free up valuable storage space on your DVR or NVR, and allow you to keep more days or weeks of footage on hand.
Applications of HD Coax Modulation
The applications of HD Coax Modulation are vast and varied. This technology can be used in a number of different ways to improve the quality of your signal or to transmit data over long distances. Here are just a few of the ways that HD Coax Modulation can be used:
1. To improve the quality of your signal: If you have ever had problems with your signal quality, then HD Coax Modulation can help. By using this technology, you can ensure that your signal is free from interference and that it is as strong as possible.
2. To transmit data over long distances: HD Coax Modulation is perfect for transmitting data over long distances. This is because the signals that are sent using this technology are much less likely to be interrupted than those sent using other methods.
3. To create a private network: If you want to create a private network, then HD Coax Modulation is the perfect solution. This technology allows you to create a network that is secure and that only authorized users can access.
4. To save money on your cable bill: If you are tired of paying high cable bills, then HD Coax Modulation can help. By using this technology, you can save money on your monthly bill by eliminating the need for certain channels or services.
HD coax modulation is a powerful tool that allows for the transmission of high-definition video and audio signals over great distances. Its ability to combine digital and analog systems into one unified network makes it an ideal choice for those wanting greater control, convenience, and compatibility with their existing media equipment. With this review, we have gone through the basics of what HD coax modulation is as well as its advantages in order to give you a better understanding of this technology’s capabilities. Now that you know more about it, why not explore all the power has to offer?


Department of Engineering
Control Systems, Optimization and Robotics
The Control Optimization and Robotics (COR) laboratory activity at the University of Salento, Lecce (Italy), is focused on the area of control systems engineering, robotics and its applications. Methodological tools from control systems theory are applied to fault diagnosis, distributed control and robotic networks, marine robotics are examined in depth for didactic and research purposes...
Marine and underwater robotics, Robotics, Distributed control in multi agent systems and robotic networks, Fault detection and isolation, topology change detection and fault tolerant control, Robust control of uncertain systems...
The COR lab activities involve analysis and control of dynamical systems. Methodological tools from control systems...
Underwater vehicle AUV - Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) X-300, two mobile robots Volksbot (Fraunhofer IAIS), an underwater vehicle ROV (Remotely Operated Vevhicle) for shallow water, a team of 7 ‘Lego Mindstorm’ mobile robots...
COR - Control Systems, Optimization and Robotics
Seminar “Introduzione alla robotica mobile terrestre” - July 7th, 2021
Seminar “Introduction to Marine Robotics: applications and future challenges” - July 15th, 2021
EMRA 2021 - Workshop on EU-funded Marine Robotics and Applications - July 7th-8th, 2021
Prof. Engr. Gianfranco Parlangeli
University of Salento - Department of Engineering for Innovation
Ecotekne - The building La Stecca - Provincial road Lecce-Monteroni
Tel. + 39 0832 297301


Our world will become completely digital in a few years. This is a good thing but also raises some serious questions about data security; every business (be it small or large) needs to be vigilant about data security in this digital era.
Most companies store their data on-premise and look after its security themselves. However, a new trend is slowly picking up the pace – cloud hosting. The technology has given impressive results when it comes to data security by offering a secure virtual environment.
Cloud hosting offers numerous control levels to enable protection and continuity. It has become an integral part of creating a secure environment for businesses across the globe. The cloud hosting providers offer multiple security features like data privacy, data integrity, encryption, and more. Let’s have a look at some methods by which cloud hosting ensures security.


All sealed lead acid batteries self-discharge. If the capacity loss due to self-discharge is not compensated for by recharging, the battery capacity may become unrecoverable. Temperature also plays a role in determining the shelf life of a battery. Batteries are best stored at 20℃. When batteries are stored in areas where the ambient temperature varies, self-discharge can be greatly increased. Check the batteries every three months or so and charge if necessary.
Sealed lead acid battery life is determined by many factors. These include temperature, depth and rate of discharge, and the number of charges and discharges(called cycles).
What is the difference between float and cycle applications.?
A float application requires the battery to be on constant charge with an occasional discharge. Cycle applications charge and discharge the battery on a regular basis.
Valve-regulated sealed maintenance-free lead-acid battery is different with other batteries. In fact, though less evaporation of the electrolyte and no leakage, the battery still needs a little bit maintenance work. Because the charging equipment do not reach the ideal level yet, it is inevitable that there are small amount of evaporation of distilled water. For those who know a little about the battery knowledge, if find the capacity decreased above, they could add some water in moderation to recover the concentration of electrolyte. A little bit lower concentration is also okay. Those activities are good for the plates.
During the battery charging process, electrical energy transforms into chemical energy, heat energy and other energy. It is normal phenomenon for that battery is heating during charging. But at high temperature, battery should be timely check whether charge current is too excessive or internal short circuit happen and so on. And, if there are less electrolyte, the internal resistance will increase, which also can cause the high temperature and high voltage when battery is charging. Aging battery, dry electrolyte, internal short circuit, etc. will cause heating as well. If charging equipment can’t keep invariable at the later charging period, the voltage value will exceed permission value, and the temperature will raise at the same time. Finally, the battery will be bulged seriously and at the end of its life.
Try not to mean or upend the battery which is in use, for avoiding that lots of gas produced in the battery can’t exhaust from the valve smoothly, especially don’t do it when charging, or this activity will cause cover bombing.
The battery in the charging and discharging process, will release certain heat. But a lot of heats is very harmful to the battery. Heating will make electrolyte water evaporation and dried up at first, and then gradually reduce the charging efficiency, deform plate, increase resistance, make the mechanical components oxidation, burn out plates or clapboard, finally reducing battery capacity and shortening battery life.
Routine battery examinations detects irregularities in the charging system as well as in the batteries. The principle method is to examine the electrochemistry of the battery through hydrometric electrolyte inspection. As previously discussed, this important examination cannot be accomplished with sealed absorption or gel batteries. Voltage readings alone require experience to interpret. Hydrometric readings will uncover early warnings of overcharging or over discharging before batteries are damaged. The state-of-charge and reliability of a lead acid battery can best be determined by the specific gravity of the electrolyte measured directly with a common bulb-type hydrometer with a glass float. We do not recommend the ball float type hydrometer. Specific gravity is a unit of measurement for determining the sulfuric acid content of the electrolyte. The recommended fully charged specific gravity of marine batteries is 1.255 to 1.265 taken at 80ĄăC More than .025 spread in readings between fully charged cells indicates that the battery may need an equalization charge. If this condition persists, the cell is failing and the battery should be replaced. Since water has a value of 1.000, electrolyte with a specific gravity of 1.260 means it is 1.260 times heavier than pure water while pure concentrated sulfuric acid has a specific gravity of 1.835.
Though there is a strict battery selection procedure, after a certain period usage, the non-homogeneity will appear more and more obviously. Meanwhile, charging equipment can’t choose and recongnize the weak battery out, so it is user who can take control of how to keep the equilibrium of battery capacity. User would better test the OCV of every battery regularly or irregularly in the middle and later period of battery pack usage and recharge the battery of lower voltage separately, in order to make the voltage and capacity as the same as other batteries , that decrease the difference between the batteries.
OVERDISCHARGING is a problem which originates from insufficient battery capacity causing the batteries to be overworked. Discharges deeper than 50% (in reality well below 12.0 Volts or 1.200 Specific Gravity) significantly shorten the Cycle Life of a battery without increasing the usable depth of cycle. Infrequent or inadequate recharging can also cause over discharging symptoms called SULFATION. Despite that charging equipment is regulating back properly, over discharging symptoms are displayed as loss of battery capacity and lower than normal specific gravity. Sulfate occurs when sulfur from the electrolyte combines with the lead on the plates and forms lead-sulfate. Once this condition becomes occurs, marine battery chargers will not remove the hardened sulfate. Sulfate can usually be removed by a proper desulfation or equalization charge with external manual battery chargers. To accomplish this task, the flooded plate batteries must be charged at 6 to 10 amps. at 2.4 to 2.5 volts per cell until all cells are gassing freely and their specific gravity returns to their full charge concentration. Sealed AGM batteries should be brought to 2.35 volts per cell and then discharged to 1.75 volts per cell and then this process must be repeated until the capacity returns to the battery. Gel batteries may not recover. In most cases, the battery may be returned to complete its service life.
CHARGING Alternators and float battery chargers including regulated photo voltaic chargers have automatic controls which taper the charge rate as the batteries come up in charge. It should be noted that a decrease to a few amperes while charging does not mean that the batteries have been fully charged. Battery chargers are of three types. There is the manual type, the trickle type, and the automatic switcher type.
Discharge efficiency refers to the ratio of actual power to nominal capacity when battery discharges at the ending voltage in certain discharge conditions. It is mainly affected by factors such as discharge rate, environmental temperature, internal resistance. Generally, the higher the rate of discharge is, the lower the discharge efficiency will be; the lower the temperature is, the lower the discharge efficiency will be.
One cycle of a battery is a discharge from full charge to full discharge and a return to full charge again. The total number of cycles a battery can perform before failure is called its Cycle Life. Moat battery manufacturers will not discus the Cycle Life of their product. Many advertised Deep Cycle batteries have not been tested, or, which is the case with cranking batteries, were never designed for long Cycle Life .


The goal of this project is to build a mechatronic device capable of shooting projectiles (Nerf ballistic balls) and striking static and dynamic targets continuously. To achieve this goal, since all of our group members are mechanical engineers, our design of the shooting mechanism is more focused on using mechanical structures. Basically, we use rubber bands to generate elastic potential energy for shooting and use a cam to tighten and loosen the rubber bands. To realize the tracking of targets in different positions, we need to aim our robot to different targets accordingly. We designed two mechanical subsystems to get pitch and yaw freedoms. Specifically, we designed a four-bar linkage for pitch and a square turntable for yaw. Details can be found in the descriptions of overall system and subsystems.
For sensing, we used an IP camera to grab RGB information of the target board and detect different targets using RGB information. The microcontrollor we use is CompactRIO, which is unique among all groups this year. And we used LabView for control system programming.
2. Team members and responsibility
Haiyue Li (Team leader): Electrical control system design and realization, assistance in design and assembling, testing, final report.
Bowei Tang: Mechanical structure design, assistance in assembling, testing, final report.
Xiaowei Zhu: Manufacturing and assembling, sensing, testing, webpage.
3. Labeled pictures of the overall system with description
Fig.1 Overall System
Fig.2 Overall Control System
Fig.2 is an image showing the overall control system. As we can see from it, the CompactRIO microcontrollor receives information from the IP camera and control four motors accordingly(3 servo motors and 1 DC motor).
4. Pictures and descriptions of subsystems
4.1. Mechanical Subsystems
4.1.1. Aiming subsystem
Fig.3 CAD model for Aiming Subsystem(Pitch and Yaw)
Fig.4 Real Model of Aiming SubsystemFig.3 is the CAD model of the aiming subsystem, which contains mainly a four-bar linkage for controlling pitch and a square turntable for yaw. We also added a counterweight at behind to decrease the torque in pitch. Fig.4 is the real model we manufactured and assembled for aiming subsystem.
4.1.2. Shooting Subsystem
Fig.5 CAD Model for Shooting Subsystem
Fig.6 Real Model for Shooting Subsystem
The shooting system as we can see from Fig.5 mainly contains a cam to tighten and loosen the rubber band by pulling strings attached on the rubber band. The cam will rotate to tighten the rubber band and at the straight line position it will suddenly loosen it, which can generate enough force to shoot the ball. Fig.6 is the real model of the shooting subsystem.
4.1.3. Loading Subsystem
Fig.7 CAD Model for Loading Subsystem
Fig. 8 Real Model for Loading Subsystem
We used a long cylinder to contain balls and designed a container which separates its space into six parts as we can see from the CAD model in Fig.7. To load a ball, the servo motor will rotate 60 degrees every time to make sure one ball will fall though the hole at the bottom of the container. Fig.8 is the real model of the loading subsystem.
4.2. Electrical subsystems
4.2.1. Sensing subsystem
Fig.9 Sensing Subsystem (IP Camera)
We use an IP camera as our sensing subsystem as shown in Fig.9. The reason we choose an IP camera is that it works well with our microcontrollor CompactRIO. Also, we can get clear RGB information through this camera and have the knowledge of accurate positions of the targets.
4.2.2. Microcontrollor subsystem
Fig.10 NI CompactRIO Microcontrollor
We use NI CompactRIO Microcontrollor as our controllor and LabView as programming language. This is unique among all the groups this year. Fig.10 is an outlook image of the CompactRIO. The two modules from the left side are all Digital I/O modules, one of which we use for common digital input and output, the other one of which we use for generating PWM. The third module is the Analog Input module, which we do not need for the subsystem. The data transmission of CompactRIO is through Ethernet port.
As mentioned before, we use 3 servo motors and 1 DC motor as our subsystem of actuator. We can find them in Fig.1 which are labelled. Specifically, DC motor is used to control the rotation of the cam, and servo motor are for pitch, yaw and loading freedoms.
4.2.4. Power subsystem
Fig. 11 PC Power Supply
The PC Power Supply can be considered as a cheap, high-power and multiple outputs transformer. It can transform the 110v AC into DC at 3.3v, 5v and 12v. It also has protection circuits, which make it a perfect DC power supply for our system. As the current can reach more than 15 amps, in order to protect the servo motors, we need regulators to limit the current.
5. Video of the system in action


June 5th 2015
Join some of the most forward-thinking AI experts for an inside peek into how we can expect AI technologies to empower and disrupt the way we live, work and play.
Bringing together expert leaders in their respective fields, be that cutting-edge startups, leading academics or large company executives, we will delve into each main area of artificial intelligence. Whether its product recommendation engines, predictive search, text and speech synthesis, computer vision, we are moving towards a world of ubiquitous technology. A world where the rate of advancements in technology impacting the way we live, work and play is accelerating at an exponential rate. How will this change you or your business in the future?
Morning (10am – 1pm) – Technology Deep Dive
Join us for a series of fireside chats and presentations with some of the smartest people in computer vision, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, predictive search and augmented reality. We will evaluate the status quo of these technologies within robotics, life sciences, fraud and security, financial services, advertising, and logistics.
Afternoon (2pm – 5pm) – General applications of AI for businesses & implications for wider society
Here, we will explore the ways in which artificial intelligence is shaking up businesses as well as the downstream implications for society as a whole, from technological unemployment to singularity.
|Dr Ben Medlock, CTO of Swiftkey
Ben co-founded SwiftKey and invented an intelligent typing system for smartphones that has transformed the text input industry. The software has become the global best selling app on Android and is preinstalled on more than 250 million mobile devices worldwide. Based on advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, the system adapts to individual language usage and device interaction, making touchscreen typing fast and enjoyable. SwiftKey won "most innovative mobile app" at the 2012 GSMA awards, and the company was ranked as the world's 6th most innovative mobile business by Fast Company. Ben developed his expertise in NLP and machine learning during eight years of computer science research, which culminated in a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has reviewed for a number of prominent international journals, and his academic work is published in ACL, the leading conference for NLP research.
|Mustafa Suleyman, Co-Founder and Head of Applied AI, Google DeepMind
Mustafa was co-founder & Chief Product Officer of DeepMind Technologies, a leading AI company backed by Founders Fund, Li Ka-Shing, Elon Musk, and David Bonderman amongst others, which was bought by Google in 2014 in their largest European acquisition to date. He is now Head of Applied AI at Google DeepMind, responsible for integrating the company’s technology across a wide range of Google products. At 19 he dropped out of Oxford University to help set up a telephone counselling service, building it to become one of the largest mental health support services of its kind in the UK. He then worked as a policy officer for the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. Mustafa went on to help start Reos Partners, a boutique consultancy with eight offices across four continents specializing in designing and facilitating large scale multi-stakeholder ‘Change-Labs’ aimed at navigating complex problems. As a skilled negotiator and facilitator Mustafa has worked all over the world for a wide range of clients such as The UN, The Dutch Government and WWF.
|Jaan Tallinn, Co-Founder, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Future of Life Institute; Founding Engineer, Skype, Kazaa
Jaan Tallinn is a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk in Cambridge, UK as well as the Future of Life Institute in Cambridge, MA. He is also a founding engineer of Kazaa and Skype.
Tallinn is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on P2P technologies and is often credited for helping to establish Estonia’s global reputation for world class software and engineering talent. As a result of Kazaa and Skype, he currently holds the world’s record for the largest number of software downloads at almost 500 million.
In 1989, he helped create Kosmonaut, the first Estonian computer game to be published outside his country. In 1996, he graduated from the University of Tartu with a BSc in Theoretical Physics.
|Dr Rand Hindi, CEO of Snips
Dr Rand Hindi is an entrepreneur and data scientist. He is the founder and CEO of Snips. He has been elected as a TR35 by the MIT Technology Review, as a "30 under 30" by Forbes, received the Excellence Française award, was the founding ambassador of the Sandbox network in Paris, is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a Kairos Society fellow. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and a PhD in Bioinformatics from University College London (UCL), as well as two graduate degrees from Singularity University in Silicon Valley and THNK in Amsterdam.
|Dr Gabriel Brostrow, Associate Professor of Computer Science, UCL
Dr Brostow is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Computer Science at UCL. His research group explores problems relating to Computer Vision and Computer Graphics. Previously, he held a visiting researcher appointment at ETH Zurich's CVG Group, and a Marshall Sherfield Fellowship in the Computer Vision & Robotics Group at Cambridge University.
Dr Brostow holds a PhD with Irfan Essa at Georgia Tech and undergraduate degree at UT Austin.
|Dr Ferenc Huszar, Data Scientist, Balderton Capital.
Ferenc leads the Data Science work at Balderton Capital, a leading European focused venture capital fund. Prior to Balderton, Ferenc was Chief Data Scientist at PeerIndex, a London-based media analytics startups, where he analysed influence and information propagation in social media. Ferenc earned a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, where he was part of the Machine Learning Lab developing Bayesian statistics approaches for cognitive science and quantum physics. He also holds an MS in Computer Science from Budapest University of Technology.
|Calum Chace, AI novelist
Regular contributor to the Singularity weblog and author of Pandora's brain, an AI novel: Around half the scientists researching artificial intelligence (AI) think that a conscious AI at or beyond human level will be created by 2050. If they are right, the consequence could be an intelligence explosion, in which the AI rapidly and enormously exceeds human cognitive ability.
|Dr Stefan Leutenegger, Deputy Director and Lecturer in Robotics, Imperial College London
Dr Leutenegger is Deputy Director and Lecturer in Robotics at the Dyson Robotics Lab of Imperial College London. His work explores the interface of real-time computer vision, mobile robotic localisation and mapping, including application to Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Dr Leutenegger holds a PhD in Unmanned Solar Airplanes from ETH Zurich, and a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering with focus on robotics.
|Dr Daniele Quercia, Urban Computing Research Scientist, Yahoo! Labs.
Daniele is a computer scientist, has been named one of Fortune magazine's 2014 Data All-Stars, and spoke about “happy maps” at TED. His research area is urban computing. He was Research Scientist at Yahoo Labs, a Horizon senior researcher at The Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, and Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his PhD from UC London. His thesis was sponsored by Microsoft Research Cambridge and was nominated for BCS Best British PhD dissertation in Computer Science. During his PhD, he was MBA Technology Fellow at London Business School.
|Dr Jun Wang, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) and Founding Director of MSc/MRes Web Science and Big Data Analytics, University College London
Dr Wang is Senior Lecturer in University College London and Founding Director of MSc/MRes Web Science and Big Data Analytics. He is also co-Founder/CTO of MediaGamma, a UCL adtech spin-out using financial methods and machine learning to buy online advertising. His main research interests are in the areas of information retrieval, data mining and online advertising. His research has been dedicated to building an Intelligent (text and non-textual media) System that can access, retrieve, change and design the media content and its representation in such a way that it is adapted to the environment and context, and suitable for an individual person.
Dr. Wang obtained his PhD degree in Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands; MSc degree in National University of Singapore, Singapore; and Bachelor degree in Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
|Dr Blaise Thomson, Founder of VocalIQ.
VocalIQ is the world’s first self-learning dialogue API - putting real, natural conversation between people and their devices. Previously, Blaise spent several years researching new approaches to building spoken dialogue systems; first for a Ph.D. and then as a Research Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge.
|Dr Tristan Fletcher, Director of Machine Learning Research, Thought Machine.
Tristan heads up the machine learning team at Thought Machine - a start up revolutionizing personal finance with AI. He's an expert in applying state of the art machine learning techniques in the practical domain: from algorithmic trading, portfolio management, supply chain optimization and medical research to fine wine pricing at Invinio. Tristan holds a PhD in Machine Learning from UCL and an MEng in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
|Dr Martin Goodson, VP Data Science, Skimlinks.
Martin runs the Data Science team at Skimlinks, specifically working on large scale machine learning and behavioural modelling. Before Skimlinks, he worked at Oxford University, researching the genetic determinants of personality and applying machine learning to genomics data sets. Since then, he’s been working in the digital marketing world focusing on the statistical modelling of consumer behaviour and Natural Language Processing.
|Alex Housley, Founder and CEO of Seldon
Alex Housley is the founder and CEO at Seldon, a predictive AI platform released under a permissive open-source license in February 2015, after three years of R&D. Seldon is on a mission to make machine intelligence accessible to developers and analysts by building a fully-integrated ecosystem that connects the world’s leading open and closed AI platforms.
Alex is a creator of audacious projects that challenge the status quo. His Genome Laser sequenced the late Dr. Charles Townes, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of the laser, and blasted his DNA into space with a giant laser.
|Dr Guillaume Bouchard, Research Scientist, Xerox Research Centre Europe
Dr Bouchard is a researcher in statistics and machine learning, focusing on statistical learning for large amounts of relational data. This includes text understanding, user modelling, and social media analytics. The main application areas of his work includes link prediction (predictive algorithms for relational data), social media monitoring, transportation analytics, and machine learning for education. His work aims to build a next generation of computer language programs that are actually in natural language.
Guillaume holds a PhD in statistics from INRIA Rhône-Alpes and Université Joseph Fourier (France), an engineering degree in mathematics from Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, and a masters in Applied Mathematics with a specialization in probability theory.
More speakers to be announced in due course


iNetra, An Intelligent Asset Tracking System is a powerful tracking tool that helps businesses track their critical assets in real-time. Every business is unique and so are its assets. Tracking these critical assets 24X7 with real-time alerts helps prevent losses and damages. Today, businesses track their key assets to improve their business performance.
iNetra Intelligent Asset Tracking System uses different sensors like CCTV, GPS, UWB, and BLE to track and monitor key assets effectively and efficiently. The asset tracking system can be accessed on different devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It allows key personnel to receive real-time alerts, as well as access intelligent insights and reports.
We make businesses safer and more secure by tracking their key assets.
An Intelligent Asset Tracking System, iNetra, ensures the safety of your key assets within your office, factory, shopfloor, or even outside. Every business's key assets are unique, and tracking and monitoring them is critical to ensure safety and security of the business.
Sounds Interesting, tell me more ...
iNetra is a powerful AI based solution that helps your security personnel by providing them with accurate tracking information for vehicles. iNetra offers customizable alerts to notify the people as and when a deviation occurs.
iNetra leverages your existing surveillance infrastructure and makes it more intelligent by tracking and monitoring the movement of vehicles inside your premises. This allows your security personnel to track all vehicles in a single view. Our system generates alerts (customized) when a vehicle deviates from its designated path or enters a restricted area.
Safety & Security
Notifications Anytime & Anywhere
Deep Learning-based Analytics
How it works?
Office Asset Tracking
Shopfloor Asset Tracking
Factory Asset Tracking
Outside Asset Tracking
Safety and Security
Our Intelligent Vision Systems deploy a variety of complex vision-based algorithms and machine learning techniques to detect and track objects. Our special monitoring applications generate alerts in real-time and notify the right people at the right time.
Custom Reports and Alerts
Our solution presents relevant information to different stakeholders. The security guy monitoring the video feeds gets a comprehensive view of location of all vehicles, and alerts for specific events. The senior security officers are notified on mobile devices of any deviations. The detailed reporting application can give tons of useful information about movement of vehicles and help identify areas for improving logistics efficiency.


The LCM 473 is a standard Dew Point Thermo-Hygrometer, with a probe that includes a 2-stage Peltier measurement head, it is best suited for insertion into test chambers or environments with moving air.
Particularly suitable for use in relative humidity generators where it functions as a calibration transfer standard for dew/frost point, relative humidity and temperature. The LCM 473 can be used to calibrate the RH generator (before and after field tests) or act as a reference during the calibration of the RH probes.
The LCM 473 includes a temperature sensor for accurate temperature measurement with a 3 x 40mm platinum resistance thermometer (PRT) that can be mounted directly to the measurement head. Using a cable, it is supplied as standard. This ensures that the temperature used to calculate the RH is correct by minimizing the effects of temperature gradients or self-heating of the IUT.
Download tech specs pdf


EPISODE 02 – WHERE WE ARE: 2000 to 2020
(In our first episode we brought a brief account of the origins of AI (1940 to 2000) focusing on some historical landmarks in the area. If you haven’t read it yet, I invite you to start your reading there before reading this post.)
The first two decades of the new millennium ushered in a new phase in AI, marked by significant advances and a wide penetration in the productive sectors of the economy.
The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a Grand Challenge for the development of autonomous vehicles in 2004, and in 2005 a Stanford University autonomous vehicle won the challenge by driving in a desert for 131 miles. At the same time, Honda developed the humanoid robot ASIMO, capable of walking and interacting with humans, and recommendation systems gained a lot of expression, mainly as tools for optimizing the shopping experience and personalization in e-commerce.
In the same period, we had important evolutions for the consolidation of what came to be known as Big Data. Of course, the history of Big Data can be traced back to a much more remote time, but we will focus here on the events that led to the explosion of the area. In 2000 Seisint Inc. developed a distributed file-sharing framework, and in 2001 the Gartner Group (then called the Meta Group) published a report outlining challenges and opportunities for growing data as a 3D element, increasing the volume, speed, and variety of data. This 3D element became known as the 3Vs of Big Data. In 2004 Google published a paper on a process called MapReduce and an open-source implementation called Hadoop was made and had wide visibility. Big Data also gained a lot of traction with the increase in web traffic and the development of mobility, which promoted an exponential increase in the amount of semi- and unstructured data generated and stored, mainly multimedia data such as texts, images and videos.
In these two decades, we cannot fail to mention the relevant advances in deep learning), whose initial history is intertwined with the history of neural networks already narrated in the first episode of this series. It is worth taking a small step back in time and highlighting the proposition of recurrent networks LSTM in 1997 by Sepp Hochreiter and Jurgen Schmidhuber, who changed the history of deep learning. In 2006 Geoffrey Hinton, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, Osindero and Teh published an article proposing a fast-learning algorithm for networks called deep belief nets. In 2008 Andrew Ng ‘s research group at Stanford University started using GPUs to train deep networks, increasing the processing speed of networks by orders of magnitude. In 2009 another Stanford group, this time led by researcher Fei-Fei Li, launched the ImageNet database, with 14 million labeled images for community use. In 2011 Yoshua Bengio, Antoine Bordes and Xavier Glorot published a paper in which they showed that a specific type of activation function could solve the numerical problem caused by very low gradient values, and in 2012 AlexNet, an implementation of convolutional networks on GPUs, promoted a leap in accuracy in the performance of deep networks applied to Imagenet data. In 2014, Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) emerged, proposed by Ian Goodfellow and in 2016 a deep reinforcement learning model created by the company Deepmind won the world champion in the game Alphago.
In the last decade, AI algorithms and solutions have become part of many systems and products, solving complex problems in areas such as speech recognition, robotics, medical diagnostics, natural language processing, logistics and operations research, anomaly detection (e.g., frauds, crises, disasters, etc.) and many others. To illustrate some of these developments, we can mention that in 2011 IBM’s Watson won two great champions, by a wide margin, in a quiz contest on the Jeopardy! program. A year earlier, Microsoft had released Kinect for the XBOX 360 game console, based on machine learning technology for motion capture. Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana have also emerged as AI solutions, more specifically natural language processing, with the aim of answering questions and providing recommendations for users.
In addition to the greater scientific rigor of AI, high data availability and the possibility of contracting storage and processing on demand, I want to highlight another factor that has contributed to the acceleration of the area in recent years. Giant tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Intel and others have started to open up some of their technology to the community. Frameworks, infrastructure, toolkits, platforms, etc., were made available openly so that professionals, companies, entrepreneurs and educational and research institutions could use and advance knowledge and technology transfer. Keras, TensorFlow, NLTK, Spark, Scikit-learn, DAAL, Gensim, MongoDB, and Tika are just a few examples of these.
Finally, a striking aspect for the advancement of AI in the new millennium was the fact that research in the area began to delve into more conceptual and theoretical aspects, ceasing to be a mostly empirical discipline and becoming a more scientific area. The application of mathematical knowledge and formalisms, mainly linear algebra, probability and statistics, economic theories and mathematical programming (operational research), brought greater rigor to artificial intelligence. The greatest scientific recognition for AI came with the Yoshua Award Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton and Yann Lecun in 2019 with the Turing Award for research involving deep learning.


Babymoov Hygro+ Digital Humidifier
Bronchitis, conjunctivitis, colds…These annoying ailments disrupt baby’s sleep. The all new Babymoov digital humidifier purifies the air in the room and limits the amount of dust and pollen in your baby’s bedroom.
This eye-catching, noiseless humidifier allows you to check the environment in your baby’s room and make sure the air is healthy while baby sleeps. You can adjust the humidity level by hand or automatically and monitor it along with the room temperature on the backlit touch screen. The multi-coloured night light is also controlled via the screen. This practical humidifier features an essential oil diffuser too. Hygro+ has a very long runtime (up to 22 hr) and is suitable for use in rooms of up to 20 m².