António Godinho

Modern commercial poultry farming typically occurs indoors, where partial or complete environmental control is employed to enhance production efficiency. Maintaining optimal conditions, such as temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, and ammonia levels, is essential for ensuring bird comfort and maximizing productivity. Monitoring the conditions of poultry houses requires reliable and intelligent management systems. This study introduces a Wireless Monitoring and Control System developed to regulate environmental conditions within poultry facilities. The system continuously monitors key parameters via a network of distributed sensor nodes, which transmit data wirelessly to a centralized control unit using Wi-Fi. The control unit processes the incoming data, stores it in a database, and adjusts actuators accordingly to maintain ideal conditions. A web-based dashboard allows users to monitor and control the environment in real time. Field testing confirmed the system’s effectiveness in keeping conditions optimal, supporting poultry welfare and operational efficiency.

Modern web development methods use full-stack to split front-end (client-side) and back-end (server-side) components. Front-end technologies involve what the user sees and interacts with, and back-end technologies involve the server-side logic, databases, and server configuration. Both sections can be technologically independent, yet there’s a need for a communications protocol. In modern web development, web APIs enable applications to interact with external services and exchange data, allowing the back-end to communicate with multiple and different front-ends. The landscape of software development, especially in web platforms, is in a constant state of technological advancement. Selecting the right technology for building a Web API requires a comparative analysis to make informed decisions. Performance testing of a web API involves evaluating various performance characteristics, such as response time, reliability, scalability, and resource utilization under different scenarios. However, many testing frameworks focus on specific components or HTTP methods rather than considering the entire technology stack, potentially leading to inaccurate performance assessments. In this study, two web APIs were developed—one using .NET and the other employing Java Spring Boot. Both APIs use the same database engine and the same database to manipulate identical datasets. By utilizing a test scenario and toolset, real-world conditions can be simulated, allowing for the evaluation and visualization of the results of each test to facilitate performance comparison.

The measurement of Functional Reach Test (FRT) is a widely used assessment tool in various fields, including physical therapy, rehabilitation, and geriatrics. This test evaluates a person’s balance, mobility, and functional ability to reach forward while maintaining stability. Recently, there has been a growing interest in utilizing sensor-based systems to objectively and accurately measure FRT results. This systematic review was performed in various scientific databases or publishers, including PubMed Central, IEEE Explore, Elsevier, Springer, the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and considered studies published between January 2017 and October 2022, related to methods for the automation of the measurement of the Functional Reach Test variables and results with sensors. Camera-based devices and motion-based sensors are used for Functional Reach Tests, with statistical models extracting meaningful information. Sensor-based systems offer several advantages over traditional manual measurement techniques, as they can provide objective and precise measurements of the reach distance, quantify postural sway, and capture additional parameters related to the movement.

Home servers are popular among computer enthusiasts for hosting various applications, including Linux OS with web servers, database solutions, and private cloud services, as well as for VPN, torrent, file-sharing, and streaming. Single Board Computers (SBCs), once used for small projects, have now evolved and can be used to control multiple devices in the IoT space. SBCs have become more powerful and can run many of the same applications as traditional home servers. In light of the energy crisis, this study will examine the feasibility of replacing a conventional home server with an SBC while maintaining service quality and evaluating performance and availability. The power consumption of both solutions will be compared.