José Antonio Oramas Mogrovejo associate professor

Research José Antonio Oramas Mogrovejo

Research team

Expertise

Research interest: - Visual Representation Learning. - Model Explanation and Interpretation. - Collective Representations and Relational Learning. - Disentangled Representation Learning.

IMEC-Adaptive Human Operator Interaction with Autonomous Systems (AHOI). 01/12/2023 - 31/03/2027

Abstract

Autonomous systems are gaining wider traction in various applications including autonomous vessel navigation, autonomous driving and robotics. This is due to the availability of large amounts of data which is motivating a large body of research into the interpretation of this data and independent decision making on top of it. The hallmark of autonomous systems is that they are considered to be independent of human intervention in a general sense, and contain the potential to enhance the performance, reduce the costs and improve the safety in a diverse range of application domains. However, a major problem remains that these systems leverage the developments in AI which remain black box. Due to this, the nature of their decision making remains an open concern and their violation of the set policies or regulations in a certain application domain remains a risk. In order to address these concerns, the nature of interaction between humans and autonomous systems should be reimagined. Rather than considering one being the supervisor of the other, the goal should be to investigate the continuous involvement of each other as a teaming problem. Adaptive Human Operator Interaction with Autonomous Systems (AHOI) aims to address these concerns. Our novel research approach brings together a diverse set of researchers involved in various research domains such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Explainable AI (XAI), human behavioral science, maritime personnel training and human machine interfaces (HMI) to solve the teaming problem between humans and autonomous systems in a use case of collision avoidance in the short sea shipping. We aim to solve this problem at multiple levels.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Funding

  • BELSPO

Project website

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

IDLab - Internet and Data Lab 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2026

Abstract

The IOF consortium IDLab is composed of academic supervisors at the IDLab Research Group, a UAntwerp research group with members from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Applied Engineering. IDLab develops innovative digital solutions in the area of two main research lines: (1) Internet technologies, focusing on wireless networking and Internet of Things (IoT), and (2) Data science, focussing on distributed intelligence and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The mission of the IDLab consortium is to be the number one research and innovation partner in Flanders and leading partner worldwide, in the above research areas, especially applied in a city and its metropolitan surroundings (industry, ports & roads). To realize its mission, IDLab looks at integrated solutions from an application and technology perspective. From an application point of view, we explicitly provide solutions for all stakeholders in metropolitan areas aiming to cross-fertilize these applications. From a technological point of view, our research includes hardware prototyping, connectivity and AI, enabling us to provide a complete integrated solution to our industrial partners from sensor to software. Over the past years, IDLab has been connecting the city and its surroundings with sensors and actuators. It is time to (1) reliably and efficiently connect the data in an integrated way to (2) turn them into knowledgeable insights and intelligent actions. This perfectly matches with our two main research lines that we want to extensively valorise the upcoming years. The IDLab consortium has a unique position in the Flemish eco-system to realize this mission as it is strategically placed across different research and innovation stakeholders: (1) IDLab is a research group embedded in the Strategic Research Centre imec, a leading research institute in the domain of nano-electronics, and more recently through groups such as IDLab, in the domain of digital technology. (2) IDLab has a strategic link with IDLab Ghent, a research group at Ghent University. While each group has its own research activities, we define a common strategy and for the Flemish ecosystem, we are perceived as the leading partner in the research we are performing. (3) IDLab is the co-founder of The Beacon, an Antwerp-based eco-system on innovation where start-ups, scale ups, etc. that work on IoT and AI solutions for the city, logistics, mobility and industry 4.0 come together. (4) Within the valorisation at UAntwerp, IDLab contributes to the valorisation within the domain 'Metropolitanism, Smart City and Mobility'. To realize our valorisation targets, IDLab will define four valorisation programs: VP1: Emerging technologies for next-generation IoT; VP2: Human-like artificial Intelligence; VP3: Learning at the edge; VP4: Deterministic communication networks. Each of these valorisation programs is led by one of the (co-)promoters of the IDLab consortium, and every program is composed of two or three innovation lines. This way, the IDLab research will be translated into a clear program offer towards our (industrial) partners, allowing us to build a tailored offer. Each valorisation program will contribute to the different IOF objectives, but in a differentiated manner. Based on our current experience, some valorisation programs are focusing more on local partners, while others are mainly targeting international and EU funded research projects.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Funding

  • IOF

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

IMEC-Super Bio-Accelerated Mineral weathering: a new climate risk hedging reactor technology (BAM). 01/09/2021 - 31/08/2025

Abstract

Conventional climate change mitigation alone will not be able to stabilise atmospheric CO2 concentrations at a level compatible with the 2°C warming limit of the Paris Agreement. Safe and scalable negative emission technologies (NETs), which actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and ensure long-term carbon (C) sequestration, will be needed. Fast progress in NET-development is needed, if NETs are to serve as a risk-hedging mechanism for unexpected geopolitical events and for the transgression of tipping points in the Earth system. Still, no NETs are even on the verge of achieving a substantial contribution to the climate crisis in a sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective manner. BAM! develops 'super bio-accelerated mineral weathering' (BAM) as a radical, innovative solution to the NET challenge. While enhanced silicate weathering (ESW) was put forward as a potential NET earlier, we argue that current research focus on either 1/ ex natura carbonation or 2/ slow in natura ecosystem-based ESW, hampers the potential of the technology to provide a substantial contribution to negative emissions within the next two decades. BAM! focuses on an unparalleled reactor effort to maximize biotic weathering stimulation at low resource inputs, and implementation of an automated, rapidlearning process that allows to fast-adopt and improve on critical weathering rate breakthroughs. The direct transformational impact of BAM! lies in its ambition to develop a NET that serves as a climate risk hedging tool on the short term (within 10-20 years). BAM! builds on the natural powers that have triggered dramatic changes in the Earth's weathering environment, embedding them into a novel, reactor-based technology. The ambitious end-result is the development of an indispensable environmental remediation solution, that transforms large industrial CO2 emitters into no-net CO2 emitters.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Funding

  • EU-KADER

Project type(s)

  • Research Project