University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland

About: University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland is a education organization based out in Delémont, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 1111 authors who have published 1998 publications receiving 31380 citations.

Internet of Things in the 5G Era: Enablers, Architecture, and Business Models

Abstract: The IoT paradigm holds the promise to revolutionize the way we live and work by means of a wealth of new services, based on seamless interactions between a large amount of heterogeneous devices. After decades of conceptual inception of the IoT, in recent years a large variety of communication technologies has gradually emerged, reflecting a large diversity of application domains and of communication requirements. Such heterogeneity and fragmentation of the connectivity landscape is currently hampering the full realization of the IoT vision, by posing several complex integration challenges. In this context, the advent of 5G cellular systems, with the availability of a connectivity technology, which is at once truly ubiquitous, reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient, is considered as a potentially key driver for the yet-to emerge global IoT. In the present paper, we analyze in detail the potential of 5G technologies for the IoT, by considering both the technological and standardization aspects. We review the present-day IoT connectivity landscape, as well as the main 5G enablers for the IoT. Last but not least, we illustrate the massive business shifts that a tight link between IoT and 5G may cause in the operator and vendors ecosystem.

Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics for Smart and Connected Communities

Abstract: This paper promotes the concept of smart and connected communities SCC, which is evolving from the concept of smart cities. SCC are envisioned to address synergistically the needs of remembering the past (preservation and revitalization), the needs of living in the present (livability), and the needs of planning for the future (attainability). Therefore, the vision of SCC is to improve livability, preservation, revitalization, and attainability of a community. The goal of building SCC for a community is to live in the present, plan for the future, and remember the past. We argue that Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to provide a ubiquitous network of connected devices and smart sensors for SCC, and big data analytics has the potential to enable the move from IoT to real-time control desired for SCC. We highlight mobile crowdsensing and cyber-physical cloud computing as two most important IoT technologies in promoting SCC. As a case study, we present TreSight, which integrates IoT and big data analytics for smart tourism and sustainable cultural heritage in the city of Trento, Italy.

Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution

Abstract: Plastic pollution is a pervasive and growing problem. To estimate the effectiveness of interventions to reduce plastic pollution, we modeled stocks and flows of municipal solid waste and four sources of microplastics through the global plastic system for five scenarios between 2016 and 2040. Implementing all feasible interventions reduced plastic pollution by 40% from 2016 rates and 78% relative to “business as usual” in 2040. Even with immediate and concerted action, 710 million metric tons of plastic waste cumulatively entered aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To avoid a massive build-up of plastic in the environment, coordinated global action is urgently needed to reduce plastic consumption; increase rates of reuse, waste collection, and recycling; expand safe disposal systems; and accelerate innovation in the plastic value chain.

Electromyography data for non-invasive naturally-controlled robotic hand prostheses

Abstract: Recent advances in rehabilitation robotics suggest that it may be possible for hand-amputated subjects to recover at least a significant part of the lost hand functionality. The control of robotic prosthetic hands using non-invasive techniques is still a challenge in real life: myoelectric prostheses give limited control capabilities, the control is often unnatural and must be learned through long training times. Meanwhile, scientific literature results are promising but they are still far from fulfilling real-life needs. This work aims to close this gap by allowing worldwide research groups to develop and test movement recognition and force control algorithms on a benchmark scientific database. The database is targeted at studying the relationship between surface electromyography, hand kinematics and hand forces, with the final goal of developing non-invasive, naturally controlled, robotic hand prostheses. The validation section verifies that the data are similar to data acquired in real-life conditions, and that recognition of different hand tasks by applying state-of-the-art signal features and machine-learning algorithms is possible. Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks Applied to Electromyography Data: A Resource for the Classification of Movements for Prosthetic Hands

Abstract: Natural control methods based on surface electromyography (sEMG) and pattern recognition are promising for hand prosthetics. However, the control robustness offered by scientific research is still not sufficient for many real life applications, and commercial prostheses are capable of offering natural control for only a few movements. In recent years deep learning revolutionized several fields of machine learning, including computer vision and speech recognition. Our objective is to test its methods for natural control of robotic hands via sEMG using a large number of intact subjects and amputees. We tested convolutional networks for the classification of an average of 50 hand movements in 67 intact subjects and 11 transradial amputees. The simple architecture of the neural network allowed to make several tests in order to evaluate the effect of pre-processing, layer architecture, data augmentation and optimization. The classification results are compared with a set of classical classification methods applied on the same datasets. The classification accuracy obtained with convolutional neural networks using the proposed architecture is higher than the average results obtained with the classical classification methods, but lower than the results obtained with the best reference methods in our tests. The results show that convolutional neural networks with a very simple architecture can produce accurate results comparable to the average classical classification methods. They show that several factors (including pre-processing, the architecture of the net and the optimization parameters) can be fundamental for the analysis of sEMG data. Larger networks can achieve higher accuracy on computer vision and object recognition tasks. This fact suggests that it may be interesting to evaluate if larger networks can increase sEMG classification accuracy too.