LabE - Laboratory of Excellence 4.0

LabE 4.0 laboratory is located at UOS (Organisational Units for Outlying Campuses and Centres) - Cesena of DEI, and represents an innovative meeting point between the various research areas of the Department, by integrating topics of biomedical, telecommunications, electronic and electrical engineering.

Laboratory was inaugurated in 2021 over an open-space area of about 370 m² as part of the project "Departments of Excellence" promoted by MIUR (MIUR Department of Excellence), with the aim of developing innovative solutions to the challenges proposed by Industry 4.0, promoting cross-disciplinary research activities realizing a continuum between embedded systems - which interact directly with the physical world through sensors and actuators - communication systems, control, processing and storage of digital data, and end users.

In this perspective, the creation of  precision cyberphysical systems (P-CPS), as well as applied research to precision medicine and the study of alternative systems for energy storage are key elements of the work carried out within the laboratory, that are also able to have a strong impact in terms of environmental and social sustainability.

 Precisely because of its heterogeneous nature, laboratory space is divided in different zones devoted to diverse research areas:

• CPS: Telecommunications / Electronic
• BIO: Equipped space with 12 fixed workstations for PhD students/researchers in the biomedical area, field of computational modelling, bioimaging, wearable and nearable sensors
• MOV: Biomedical, field of movement analysis
• LIV: Equipped space with simulation of a domestic environment for fall prevention and analysis in the biomedical field (under construction)
• EEG: Biomedical, field of electrophysiological signals
• MOL: Biomedical, biomolecular field
• POW: Electric machines

Research activities

At the LabE 4.0 different research activities are carried out on a wide range of topics in the field of Biomedical, Telecommunications, Electronic and Electronic Engineering, related to precision methodologies and enabling technologies for cyberphysical systems, medicine and diagnosis of electric machines.

In particular, with reference to the various zones of the laboratory:

CPS (ref. Prof. Chiani)

• Precision Cyberphysical Systems (C-CPS)
• Smart radio environments
• High precision active and passive localization techniques
• Packaging solutions for passive localization
• Radio propagation models
• Tracking systems based on blockchain

BIO (ref. Prof.ssa Magosso)

• Neurocomputational modeling and neuroenhancement for human-environment interaction: investigation of the neural basis of cognitive / motor processes and design of innovative rehabilitation strategies for patients with neurological deficits
• Model-based design of Medical CPS: for applications in hospital and out-of-hospital settings
• Development of support tools for personalized medicine for the diagnosis and planning and monitoring of therapies through the use of patient-specific simulation tools
• Advanced imaging diagnostics: 2D and 3D elaboration of bioimages for development of support tools to the formulation of diagnosis and monitoring of therapies
• Developing of artificial intelligence systems for precision medicine
• Computational cardiology, to understand the physiopathological mechanisms and to develop patients’ digital twins

MOV (ref. Prof.ssa Stagni)

• Human Movement Analysis & Personal Health Systems: motion capture based on heterogeneous sensing, physical activity and cognitive state monitoring
• Quantification, analysis and modeling of postural and motor function in adults and children

LIV (ref. Prof. Chiari)

• Methodological and technological tools for fall detection, prediction and prevention in the elderly
• Design and development of automated and immersive platforms for neurorehabilitation - Design of multisensory virtual environments for studying sensorimotor learning to drive new rehabilitation paradigms

EEG (ref. Prof.ssa Magosso)

• Acquisition and processing of electrophysiological signals (ECG, EEG, EMG, EOG, ...) in motor, perceptual, cognitive tasks, for the identification of features in physiological and pathological conditions

MOL (ref. Prof. Giordano)

• Biological tissue engineering and synthetic biology: advanced applications in molecular diagnostics, regenerative medicine and oncology

POW (ref. Prof. Bellini)

• Algorithm for control of high performance permanent magnet machines
• Diagnosis of electric machines
• Electromechanical storage systems of electrical energy

Equipment

CPS

• Sequitur indoor Ultra-Wideband Real-Time locating system
• Keyence CL-P015N optical displacement measurement system
• Arrick C4 controller for 3D positioning system

BIO

• 12 workstations equipped with desktop PCs

MOV

• TecnoBody Walker View 3.0 SCX treadmill
• Vicon motion capture system
• Wave Plus wireless Cometa system with 4 EMG sensors and 6 IMUs
• Sessantaquattro-OT Bioelettronica with 8 bipolar EMG channels and two EMG 16-electrode arrays

LIV

• Under construction

EEG

• Amplifier g.HIAMP 80 channels, for EEG (64 channels) and for EMG, ECG, EOG (16 channels) + dedicated laptop and monitor

MOL

• Educational Tabletop MRI based on OCRA

POW

• ABB ACS880 motor motor driver + Drive AX 63.2C motor
• NI cRio-9045 + ADC 9223 (3x) . AO 9263 . Vibration input module 9234 . Digital switch module 9375 . Differential ADC 9222