Research & Development

Joint Research and Development Initiatives

Iniciativa Drone

Drone Initiative

The initiative involves researchers from Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Federal University of the Semi-Arid Region (UFERSA), Amazonas State University (UEA) and Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) aiming at the use of unmanned aerial units (popularly known as drones) and analytical tools in studies dedicated to solve societal problems.

Research and Development Groups

Group of Engineering in Decision-Making and Artificial Intelligence (GEDAI)

Website: www.gedai.tech

Main Research Lines:

• Data Mining and Analysis

• Process Optimization

• Distributed Artificial Intelligence

Grupo de Pesquisa em Gestão Estratégica do Conhecimento e Inovação em Organizações Públicas (GCI-UFAL)

Research Group In Strategic Knowledge and Innovation Management in Public Organizations

Main Research Lines:

• Models for Academic Management

Current Research Projects

(MCTI/CNPq/FNDCT) Amazônia Porto Seguro: Monitoramento segurança de transporte na navegação a partir da utilização de Veículo aéreo não tripulado (Unmanned aerial vehicle UAV)

Amazônia Porto Seguro: Transport safety monitoring in navigation using Unmanned aerial vehicle UAV.

Planned to start in January, 2023.

Summary: One of the critical challenges of Public Security in the North and Northeast region is the constant monitoring of the waterway freight transport safety. This task becomes even more challenging when a security system operates in a complex environment with high traffic of merchant and fishing vessels and many islands in the North region. The potential tactics that targets can use add to the difficulty of this task. Integrating Vehicles Unmanned Aerials (UAVs) in a surveillance system consisting of ground-based radars and surface ships can improve the system's capabilities and mitigate its vulnerabilities. In addition, this project will be proposed a new methodological framework to assess public safety in freight transport based on a simulation agent-based paradigm. The navigation behavior of an individual ship is modeled as an agent, and its encounters are detected by an intelligent algorithm based on a geographic information system (GIS). The results will allow a positive impact on the performance of the waterway safety system since the detection through sensors and communication accuracy and the ability to counter-detect attacks are still limited. In addition, it will result in the application to the Amazon region, which will be identified and map complex geographic features through the UAVs in a security role in freight transport.

Members: Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho - Member / Thyago Celso Cavalcante Nepomuceno - Member / Thiago Poleto - Coordinator / Jordânia Louse Silva Alves - Member / Robério José Rogério dos Santos - Member / Armando Lirio de Souza - Member / Bruno Rafael Dias de Lucena - Member / Fernanda Carla Lima Ferreira - Member / Harley dos Santos Martins - Member / Isaac Matias - Member / Cristiano Descovi Schimith - Member

Funder(s): Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

(MCTI/CNPq/SEMPI/MCTI/FNDCT) Ferramentas Inteligentes para Apoio à Segurança Pública no Estado de Alagoas: aplicando Aprendizagem de Máquina e Análise de Dados sobre imagens e vídeos capturados por meio de Veículos Aéreos Não-Tripulados

Intelligent Tools to Support Public Security in the State of Alagoas: applying Machine Learning and Data Analysis on images and videos recorded by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Planned to start in January, 2023.

Summary: Machine Learning combined with Data Analysis can provide interesting solutions for solving problems in several areas. Among these areas, Public Security demands intense interaction with analytical tools to ensure the promotion of social welfare. The use of images and videos is very useful for monitoring people's movements to identify events potentially harmful to security. For this, it is necessary to create media bases, which should have large volumes of data as their main characteristic, guaranteeing reliable analyses. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) are also extremely useful tools for capturing these images and videos. This proposal is focused on the application of Machine Learning and Data Analysis tools on images and videos obtained with the use of Drones to support the actions of public security agencies. Its relevance lies essentially in helping to investigate and understand social events that pose a risk to people's security. The fundamental issue to be addressed is the verification of the feasibility of an analytical process using the mentioned tools to build a framework focused on images and videos captured in situations potentially threatening to public security. Design Science in Information Systems Research will be the methodological approach adopted, providing the design of products based on a rigorous process, guaranteeing quality and reliability, always based on the theory associated with the problems that these products intend to solve.

Members: Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho - Coordinator / Robério José Rogério dos Santos - Deputy Coordinator / Salvatore Verde - Member / Francirley Paz da Silva - Member / Thyago Celso Cavalcante Nepomuceno - Member / Thiago Poleto - Member / Felippe Rocha Presado Menezes de Barros - Member / Jordânia Louse Silva Alves - Member / Ciro José Jardim de Figueiredo - Member

Funder(s): Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

(MCTI/CNPq/FNDCT) Uso de veículos aéreos não tripulados (UAVs) e Sistemas de Informação Geográfico para fornecer monitoramento inteligente de segurança pública

Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Geographic Information Systems to provide intelligent public security monitoring

Started in January, 2022.

Summary: Project approved through Call CNPq/MCTI/FNDCT No. 18/2021 - Range A - Emerging Groups, whose premise is the use of new technologies applied to public security and public policy decisions from the images captured by UAV. Therefore, the project aims to improve the management of information in support of public safety, so that its use occurs in step with the evolution of society.

Members: Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho - Member / Thyago Celso Cavalcante Nepomuceno - Member / Thiago Poleto - Coordinator / Robério José Rogério dos Santos - Member / Armando Lirio de Souza - Member / Bruno Rafael Dias de Lucena - Member / Fernanda Carla Lima Ferreira - Member.

Funder(s): Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Current Technological Development Projects

(MCTI/CNPq/MCTI/SEMPI) Desenvolvimento e Aplicação de Ferramentas baseadas em Inteligência Artificial para Apoio à Pré-Incubação de Modelos de Negócios Inovadores no Sertão Alagoano

Development and Application of Tools based on Artificial Intelligence to Support the Pre-Incubation of Innovative Business Models in Alagoas State Backlands

Planned to start in January, 2023.

Summary: The process of analysis and selection of innovative business projects is endowed with variables related to several aspects, such as technical factors, human resources, and management strategy, which make the activities of the people involved quite complex. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has connectionist, symbolic, and evolutionary approaches to support these complex activities, reducing people's cognitive effort. The three cases can generate valuable tools to generate coherent suggestions supporting the evaluators in their decisions and the selection of the best projects or innovative business models. The central research problem is developing intelligent tools to support analytical and project selection processes and using an appropriate combination of AI tools. The fundamental factor that justifies this proposal is the need for objective decision support for evaluators, which can be addressed through intelligent recommendation tools. It will seek to understand the characteristics of the analysis of innovative business projects so that the appropriate AI tools are employed, which highlights the need for a systematic literature review to understand the state of the art of existing intelligent tools aimed at such ends. The general methodology for conducting the project will consist of: (i) carrying out a systematic literature review on the use of AI in project selection; (ii) definition of a fundamental architecture for making suggestions/recommendations aimed at supporting the analysis and selection of innovative projects; (iii) development of initial versions of intelligent recommendation tools, based on adequate software modeling, for testing and validation; (iv) documentation record of the recommendation tools, to enable the continuity of the project. Each step will require specific methodologies or protocols.

Members: Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho - Coordinator / Robério José Rogério dos Santos - Deputy Coordinator

Funder(s): Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Previous Technological Development Projects

(MEC/SEB/FNDE) PNLD Digital Baseado em Evidências

Evidence-Based Digital National Book and Teaching Material Program (PNLD)

From Jan. 2022 to Jul. 2022.

Function: Project Manager

Summary: It is expected to develop activities within the scope of the Basic Education Secretariat (SEB) of the Ministry of Education according to the norms and guidelines of this secretariat with a view to the design and development of the process and the Evidence-based evaluation platform of materials and digital resources of works entered in the National Book and Teaching Material Program (PNLD) 2021, 2022 and 2023. In this way, research and development activities will be demanded to ensure the maintenance and constant improvement of the computer systems that allow the development, implementation and maintenance of the Platform (called Platform Evidences1) for the Evaluation of the Digital Material of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 PNLDs. It also expects, in the context of this project, to develop research and development activities for the elaboration of the interactive guides of the PNLD 2020 Literary and the revised 2019 didactic PNLD. Finally, the objective is to carry out research activities to develop a data-based decision-making process and technology to support evidence-based decision-making by PNLD educational policy managers.

Members: Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho - Member / Dalgoberto Miquilino Pinho Júnior - Member / Diego Dermeval Medeiros da Cunha Matos - Coordinator / Ig Ibert Bittencourt - Member / Alan Pedro da Silva - Member / Seiji Isotani - Member / Jário Santos - Member / Ibsen Mateus Bittencourt - Member / Ranilson Paiva - Member / Leonardo Brandão Marques - Member / Francisco Menezes - Member / Luiz Claudio Ferreira da Silva Junior - Member / Kamilla Tenório - Member / Geiser Chalco - Member / Davi Zanotto - Member.

Funder(s): Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Educacional (FNDE)