Augmented reality (AR) provides huge opportunities for online teaching in science and engineering, as these disciplines place emphasis on practical training and unsuited to completely nonclassroom training. This paper proposes a new concept in virtual and remote laboratories: the augmented remote laboratory (ARL). ARL is being tested in the first and second years of the new degrees in industrial engineering and computer engineering, respectively, at the School of Engineering, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain. By means of augmented reality techniques, ARL allows the student to experience sensations and explore learning experiences that, in some cases, may exceed those offered by traditional laboratory classes. The effectiveness of this methodology for remote laboratory work is evaluated by comparing it to practical sessions in the laboratory at the university itself with the same group of students. Students completed a questionnaire after having experienced both types of practicals, and the results show that the use of ARL improves student outcomes. As discussed in the paper, the potential of AR to configure different experiments from the same physical configuration is virtually limitless.

Increasing problems regarding pollution and climate change have long been demonstrated by scientific evidence. An important portion of carbon emissions are produced by the building sector. These emissions are directly related not only to the building’s energy consumption, but also other building attributes affecting the construction and operation of existing buildings: materials selection, waste management, transportation, water consumption, and others. To help reduce these emissions, several green building rating system (GBRSs) have appeared during the last years. This has made it difficult for stakeholders to identify which GBRSs could be more suitable to a specific project. The heterogeneity of the GRBS scenario requires the creation of a transparent and robust indicator framework that can be used in any country within the European Union (EU), which is a common EU framework of core sustainability indicators for office and residential buildings Level(s) with the goal to provide a solid structure for building sustainability certification across all countries of the EU. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the most common GBRSs within the EU: Building Research Establishment Assessment Method (BREEAM), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQE), and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), and a bottom up comparison of the influence in the final score produced by the indicators stated by Level(s). The indicators studied show a different influence of Level(s) indicators on every GBRS, where LEED and BREEAM were most affected while HQE and DGNB were less so. This paper demonstrates the heterogeneity of current GRBSs in the EU scenario and the difference between sustainability assessments, where DGNB seems to be more aligned to the current EU framework. Finally, the paper concludes with the need to work to achieve alignment between the GBRS and Level(s).

This letter describes a new application of single-ended primary converter (SEPIC) and Cuk converter for dc bipolar network. A dc-dc converter configuration based on a combination of both converters is proposed. In the resulting topology, the switching node is shared by the SEPIC and Cuk converter since they have the same instantaneous duty cycle. The main advantage of this topology is that synchronization of various switches is not required and control terminal is connected to ground which simplifies the design of the gate drive. On the other hand, this configuration allows the connection of renewable energy sources to microgrids (MG)-type bipolar dc link and to cover the current needs of new distributed generation units with efficient, economical, and easy way. To verify its performance, a prototype was designed. Experimental results show as this combination of two converter topologies with appropriated modulation schemes are adequate to use in dc MG.