Academic Supervisor:
Sebastian Gutierrez.

Group of Tecnun:
Control and Robotics Group of the department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials from TECNUN.

area subject:
Automation and Electronic Systems Engineering.

Description and objectives:

The goal of this PFG is to align with the evolution towards Industry 4.0 in the field of robotics, which is revolutionizing the way companies design, produce and distribute their products. In this context, advances in robotics are playing a key role by enabling the integration of a wide variety of sensors and actuators into industrial robots. The combination of the Internet of Things (IoT), cyber-physical systems and cloud computing provides these robots with the ability to efficiently collect and analyze data, facilitating informed decision-making and the optimization of manufacturing processes.

This project focuses on the implementation of an adaptive gripper that integrates as a slave device with a master industrial robot, which is controlled by a BECKHOFF automaton. Using the protocol EtherCAT, it seeks to leverage these advanced technologies to improve automation and optimize system performance in modern manufacturing environments.

Academic Supervisor:
Sebastian Gutierrez.

Group of Tecnun:
Control and Robotics Group of department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials from TECNUN.

area subject:
Automation and Electronic Systems Engineering.

Description and objectives:

The goal of this PFG is to align with the evolution towards Industry 4.0, which is radically transforming the way companies produce, improve and distribute their products. In this context, smart factories are playing a crucial role by integrating a wide range of sensors and actuators. The conjunction of the Internet of Things (IoT), cyber-physical systems and cloud computing enables efficient data collection and analysis to support decision making. 

This project, which addresses the design and development of an automated test system with BECKHOFF automaton, seeks to take advantage of these advanced technologies to automate a test bench, simulating an industrial equipment by means of a PLC and facilitating the collection and processing of data to optimize the performance of the system.

Academic Supervisor:
Jorge Juan Gil.

Group of Tecnun:
Robotics and Control (department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials).

area thematic:
Automatic.

Description and Objectives:
Force-reflective virtual reality systems allow the Username to "touch" digital twins of machines or objects. The person-object interaction is done through a manipulator robot to which a handle is attached so that the Username can move it at will.

The task of this GFP would be to program a bidirectional communication between the robot and the application that sample the 3D virtual scenario: the scenario receives the robot pose (position and orientation) and the robot receives information from the virtual contacts (collision between the Username and the virtual scenario). The technical challenges of project are: to design an architecture with leave latency, i.e., to minimize the time delay when the control loop is closed; to develop strategies for the robot to act in the absence of data from the scenario and to adjust the physical characteristics of the virtual scenario that guarantee the stability of the system (virtual stiffness of the walls, viscous damping of the virtual contact , etc.).

Academic Supervisor:
Enrique Castaño Carmona

Division CEIT:
Advance Powder Metallurgy and Laser Manufacturing Group

area thematic:
Computing, modeling and simulation

Description and objectives:
The machining of materials using ultra-short pulse lasers is a very recent technology development and opens multiple possibilities in the field of functional surfaces, such as low friction coefficient surfaces in wind turbines or anti-icing surfaces in aeronautics. 

Currently, Ceit is leading a European project in which one of its objectives is to develop a simulation software for the machining process with this subject of lasers. The mathematical modeling of the process is already well advanced, as well as its numerical implementation.
The task of this PFG will be to design and develop the graphical interface with the Username of the simulation program so that its use is easy and intuitive. The student will apply and extend his knowledge of Python programming, GUI (Graphic User Interface) and design UX/UI (User Experience/User Interface) to achieve an interface that allows Username an attractive experience of the simulation program.

Academic Supervisor:
Xabier Zubizarreta Iriarte.

Division CEIT:
data analysis and information management.

area subject:
Systems engineering.

Description and objectives:
Dynamic modeling of large systems (e.g., digital twins of a railway infrastructure - or a water system) is highly complex and consists of a number of sub-models (in the case of railroads, e.g., turnouts, tracks, vehicles, etc.) that are built using various methodologies and simulation software.

These digital twins represent a breakthrough in the development and optimization of new infrastructures, reducing costs by being able to replace physical subsystems with their digital twin, and thus sweeping a much larger number of configurations and parameter spaces at a much lower cost.

The main challenges for the efficient development of digital twins are their high complexity, computational cost and heterogeneity of simulation tools used. The task of this PFG will be to develop a modular and highly scalable digital twin modeling system to reduce the impact of the three factors mentioned above. For this purpose, it is foreseen to make use of highly parallelizable computational tools together with a container subject that encodes and standardizes the execution of the submodels of a digital twin.

Academic Supervisor:
Yuemin Ding

department Tecnun:
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

area thematic:
Telecommunication

Description and objectives:

Online monitoring and data collection in ultra-remote areas is specifically meaningful to investigate the local characteristics of climate change, biodiversity evolution, etc. It is also very important to prevent huge disasters, such as wildfires. However, online monitoring and data collection in ultra-remote areas have been challenging during the past decades. A major challenge is the lack of digital infrastructure for communication and data collection. However, the emerging satellite networking (such as Starlink) and low-power and long-distance IoT (such as MIoTy) technologies enable an alternate solution for online monitoring and data collection. The aim of this project is to develop a system based on satellite networks and low-power and long-distance IoT to enable online monitoring and data collection in ultra-remote areas.

Academic supervisor:

Íñigo Adín

Division CEIT:

ICT Division

area thematic:

IoT, communications, low power, Bluetooth.

Description and objectives:

This project proposes the evaluation of Bluetooth 5.1 technology in its modality Long Range for use in industrial environments. The aim here is to see the possibilities of this longer range version to compete in IoT technologies to be installed in production plants or in remote sensors, with range for the admissible meters in this case.

The aim is to evaluate this technology using evaluation boards and configuring the elements at FW and SW level to measure the signal quality in parameters potentially useful in industrial applications (time of flight, data rate, packet error rate, etc.). To do this, a search for these evaluation boards will be proposed and programming will be required using the admissible interfaces in each case.

Academic supervisor:

Ainara Rodríguez - Isabel Ayerdi

Division CEIT:

Materials and Manufacturing. Advanced Manufacturing in Powder Metallurgy and Laser Group.

Description and objectives:

Laser functionalization of surfaces is an approach widely used in a wide variety of applications and sectors, as it allows to provide final products with added functionalities, including, among others, decorative effects, the ability to repel liquids or improve the adhesion of coatings. At the moment Ceit is developing an international project of research and development in this last field, whose goal is to improve the adhesion of antibacterial and antiviral coatings to high traffic objects such as handles, switches or push buttons.

In the framework of this project in cooperation, a TFG is proposed whose goal is the design and implementation of a test bench for the characterization of the surface properties of the manufactured samples, among which are the improvement of adhesion, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity characteristics or optical properties among others. In addition to the above, it will be necessary to implement an intelligent processing system for the data obtained by the measuring elements.

Academic supervisor:

Yago Olaizola

Division CEIT:

Materials and Manufacturing. Advanced Manufacturing in Powder Metallurgy and Laser Group.

Description and objectives:

Transparent materials are currently used in a multitude of applications in which their optical properties are particularly relevant: lenses, devices for optical communications, smart glasses or optical sensors, among others. In this context, the characterization of the optical properties is a point core topic in the development of the devices.

The goal of this project will be to design and implement an optical microscopy system, starting from different optical and mechanical elements, for the analysis of certain properties of transparent materials. After the validation of the equipment, we will proceed to study the optical behavior of this substrate subject after different laser engraving processes. In parallel, it will be necessary to implement an intelligent processing system for the data obtained by the measurement devices.

Academic supervisor:

Gemma García Mandayo

Division CEIT:

Materials and Manufacturing. Advanced Manufacturing in Powder Metallurgy and Laser Group.

Description and objectives:

The project is framed within the development of an innovative system for the measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and coagulation, for application in clinical diagnostics. The main purpose of the system is to provide results of ESR and/or blood coagulation in a minimum time, with a minimum amount of sample and using sustainable materials, offering significantly higher performance than the devices currently available in the market, and thus allowing a faster and earlier diagnosis of pathologies such as infections, tumors or autoimmune diseases.

The goal of project is the optimization of the sample characterization processes, developing a test bench and performing tests to improve the performance of the device.

Academic supervisor:

Itxaro Errandonea

Division CEIT:

data analysis and Information Management

area thematic:

Control

Description and objectives:

In many industrial processes there are variables that, being of great interest for decision making, cannot be measured directly by sensors. However, sometimes these variables can be observed indirectly by relating them to other measurable variables. The Kalman filter is precisely an observer that allows observing non-measurable variables using dynamic mathematical models involving measurable and non-measurable variables.

The task of this GFP will be to use a simulator of a water treatment plant to develop an observer capable of estimating in real time the concentration of ammonium and nitrate in the plant. Matlab/Simulink and/or Python will be used to realize the project .

Academic supervisor:

Itxaro Errandonea

Division CEIT:

data analysis and Information Management

area thematic:

Artificial Intelligence

Description and objectives:

Classical automatic control is giving way to new, more sophisticated control techniques based on artificial intelligence, such as Reinforcement Learning techniques.

The task of this PFG will be to use a water treatment plant simulator and apply Reinforcement Learning techniques to design an automatic control strategy that adjusts the oxygen level to keep the ammonium level close to a setpoint of reference letter. Matlab/Simulink and/or Python will be used to perform the project .

Academic supervisor:

Itxaro Errandonea

Division CEIT:

data analysis and Information Management

area thematic:

Artificial Intelligence

Description and objectives:

Many real industrial processes can be mathematically formulated using complex mechanistic models composed of nonlinear differential equations. Although these models are very useful for carrying out studies of design and operation, their handicap is their high computational cost which makes them unfeasible for use in real time decision making.

With the advent of Deep Learning techniques, proposals have emerged to reduce the complexity of these models and thus the computational cost. The task of this PFG will be to use the technique known as "physics informed neural networks" to obtain a reduced model of a water treatment plant. The Python environment will be used to carry out the project .

Academic supervisor:

Itxaro Errandonea

Division CEIT:

data analysis and Information Management

area thematic:

Artificial Intelligence

Description and objectives:

Water treatment plants are subject to increasingly stringent operational requirements requirements. It is no longer sufficient to comply with the quality of the treated water, but it is also necessary to do so with the minimum energy consumption. To achieve this, the operators of these processes need to have adequate information to enable them to make better decisions.

The task of this PFG would be to use an already developed WWTP simulator to generate data sets that collect its historical operation. These data sets will then be used to evaluate different Machine Learning classification algorithms with the goal in order to predict the operational state of the process. The algorithms will be programmed in Python.

Academic supervisor:

Íñigo Adín

Division CEIT:

ICT

area thematic:

NDT, RF, Transport

Description and objectives:

This project aims to design a system for detecting cracks in railway rails. At the level of the basic principle of detection, it is proposed here to be carried out by means of a radar technique in radio frequency technologies with the capacity to illuminate the rail in movement. The reflections received must be processed to determine the presence of cracks smaller than the size specified in the regulations before grinding the rail. With this project, the aim is to advance in the specification of the basic principle of detection, and to investigate the needs for mounting on a moving element.

Academic supervisor:

Íñigo Adín

Division CEIT:

ICT

area thematic:

IoT, Energy Harvesting, low energy consumption

Description and objectives:

This project proposes the acquisition and implementation of novel platforms for the transformation of motion, radio frequency, sound or wind into energy usable by autonomous IoT systems. There are currently more integrated and more efficient platforms that promise to provide power to electronic data collection and remote connection systems and it is important to know the real scope of their possibilities. This refers here to testing and merging the possibilities of taking advantage of unusual physical elements/events for these applications, to replace the usual solar panels.

Academic supervisor:

Leticia Zamora Cadenas - Iker Aguinaga Hoyos.

Division CEIT:

Information and Communication Technologies. Intelligent Systems for Industry 4.0 Group.

area thematic:

Telecommunication/Industrial Engineering

Description and objectives:

Indoor location systems are a booming element in recent years. Whether using radiofrequency technologies, inertial sensors or artificial vision systems, the location of objects or people in interior spaces is an element core topic in many applications (tracking of parts, access to security areas, tracking of people, augmented reality, etc.).

To determine and evaluate the accuracy of a location system, the most common method is to measure guide a number of control points or tests in a controlled environment to determine the accuracy of the system. However, this subject measurement is always subject to measurement errors, human error, and the impossibility of tracking a moving element in real time. Another widespread option, especially when the accuracy is to be evaluated dynamically, is to resort to cost-effective systems that allow the creation of the real path or "ground truth", such as, for example, vision tracking systems. However, it is not always possible to deploy this type of system subject , or the economic means to do so are not always available. Therefore, being able to evaluate the accuracy of indoor positioning systems at a low cost is still a problem that researchers and companies are trying to solve.

Currently Ceit has a line of research associated with positioning systems for indoor spaces, in which it works with various companies to provide solutions to their needs. This is why the need for a ground truth system that is easy to install and not too expensive was born.

The task of this GFP would be to develop a ground truth system, using virtual/augmented reality systems, for subsequent use in evaluating the accuracy of the proprietary indoor location system Ceit. HTC Vice, Oculus Quest and Hololens 2 hardware are available for the development of this system using the Unity3D programming platform. The candidate must have programming skills in C# or similar languages such as C++ or Java.

Academic supervisor:

Emilio Sánchez Tapia

Division CEIT:

Information and communications technologies. Intelligent Systems for Industry 4.0 Group. Vision and Robotics Subgroup

area thematic:

Robotics Engineering

Description and objectives:

Industry 4.0 has paved the way for multiple forms of automation that have as goal improve productivity and optimize work processes. In this context, the aim is to develop an intelligent mobile manipulator: a new robot subject that integrates the technology of an autonomous mobile robot and a highly efficient collaborative robotic arm capable of performing various operations.

The idea of project is to develop a robot that can move, detect and avoid obstacles, explore its environment to recognize objects through artificial vision and perform part handling tasks, being able to interact with operators. With the idea of implementing a digital transformation model , required today in real factory environments, robots, control elements, sensors and other onboard elements will be connected to each other through a digital platform to control the process in real time and from anywhere.

Currently CEIT has already developed a first working prototype (see figure below).

The task of this GFP would be the programming under ROS-2 of a sequence of tasks for the robot to interact with a classic robotic cell. The specific case to be developed will be for the robot to go to a archive of parts to be processed, bring them to the cell, wait for their processing and take them to another storeroom of already sorted parts.

Under this simple task, the concepts of:

• Collaborative mobile robotics
• Machine tending
• Control in force
• Problem of synchronisation of two automatic devices

Programming skills in C/C++, Python or java-script are required.

Academic Supervisor: Gurutz Artetxe.

Division CEIT: Electric Vehicle and Smart Grids.

area subject: Electrical Engineering.

Description and Objectives: Induction heating is an efficient and fast method of generating heat. It can be employee in various applications where tempering, brazing or melting of metals is required. CEIT is interested in developing computational tools (based on a set of previously developed tools) for use in the design of induction heating systems for formwork. The goal of this project is to model the electromagnetic and heating behavior of a formwork heating system and to perform optimization studies with them in order to carry out the design of a practical case.

• profile/Degree: Industrial Technologies, Mechanics, Electricity, Industrial Electronics.
• Academic Supervisor: Juan Carlos Ramos.
• department/area: department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials / area of Thermal and Fluid Engineering.
• Description: The aim is to solve by means of the Finite Difference Method a thermal model of the generation and conduction of heat in the core and coils inside a transformer. The equations of the model and the solution by the iterative Gauss-Seidel method will be implemented in Matlab. Heat transfer issues will be applied. For further information please contact the professor.

Academic supervisor:

Andoni Irizar

department Tecnun/Division CEIT:

CEIT. Materials and Manufacturing Division

area thematic:

Electronic systems

Description and objectives:

In today's industrial processes it is increasingly necessary to monitor the manufacturing process and the quality of the components resulting from the process. There are a wide variety of methods that allow such monitoring in real time, that do not require separating the parts from the rest for analysis and that do not damage the parts in the process. The most commonly used inspection techniques are those using electromagnetic fields, ultrasonic signals and machine vision. This project deals with ultrasonic techniques. The Ceit has its own ultrasonic signal test bench that allows to generate and capture ultrasonic signals in a simple way from a PC. The goal of project will consist of making a proposal of design of a miniaturized test bench (for example, the size of a Raspberry). As a comparison, the current design occupies the size of a Desktop computer. It would involve making a block diagram of the system, making a selection of components including the processing platform to be used and the components of the power source . Finally, it will be necessary to estimate the consumption and cost of the final equipment.

Academic supervisor:

Jorge Juan Gil.

department Tecnun/Division CEIT:

CEIT. Intelligent Systems for Industry 4.0 Group.

area thematic:

Systems and Control Engineering

Description and objectives:

So far the control concepts are shown on the blackboard, by means of simulations or with videos. For the Control Engineering subject we want to build a mechanical control system (two pendulums coupled with springs) to be used for teaching purposes: to show in class the different behavior of the system before several controllers. To ensure portability, the system will be controllable through USB by means of an ARDUINO card . In a previous project the mechanical system has been built. In the proposed project several controllers will be programmed in C, in particular, a proportional-integral (PI) controller that allows "teleoperation" (that the Username moves one of the pendulums and the other one follows its movement without error in permanent regime).

Academic supervisor:

Íñigo Adín.

department Tecnun/Division CEIT:

CEIT. ICT Division

area thematic:

Positioning and communications

Description and objectives:

This project tries to propose novel techniques to achieve indoor and outdoor positioning by means of opportunity signals in combination with GNSS satellite signals (GPS, Galileo, etc.). The current trend is to merge the GNSS signal with inertial sensors and vision and radar based sensors for precise guidance. However, there are less expensive techniques using signals already present in the spectrum and application environment that can be useful. Wifi, Bluetooth beacons can be used as anchors and by fingerprinting techniques based on the received power, accuracies of the order of a few meters can be achieved. However, the new 5G, with higher frequency spectra and smaller cells can be useful for positioning by signal arrival time. There are also constellations of commercial satellites in low orbits that emit signals that can also be used for this purpose.

The goal is to establish the techniques used in each case and to estimate the achievable accuracies.