|
Rubén Heradio
Gil |
Assistant Professor at the Spanish Open University
Ph.D. in
Computer Science (Spanish Open University)
Bs.D. in Computer Science (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid)
|
E-mail: |
|
|
Phone number: |
(+34) 91 398
8242 |
|
Postal address: |
Departamento
de Ingenieria de Software y Sistemas Informaticos |
|
Office: |
2.20 |
Research
Recent Publications
2014:
Abstract: To
compete in the global marketplace, manufacturers try to differentiate their
products by focusing on individual customer needs. Fulfilling this goal
requires that companies shift from mass production to mass customization. Under
this approach, a generic architecture, named product platform, is designed to
support the derivation of customized products through a configuration process
that determines which components the product comprises. When a customer
configures a derivative, typically not every combination of available
components is valid. To guarantee that all dependencies and incompatibilities
among the derivative constituent components are satisfied, automated
configurators are used. Flexible product platforms provide a big number of
interrelated components, and so, the configuration of all, but trivial,
derivatives involves considerable effort to select which components the
derivative should include. Our approach alleviates that effort by speeding up
the derivative configuration using a heuristic based on the information theory
concept of entropy.
Abstract: In
software product line engineering, feature diagrams are a popular means to
represent the similarities and differences within a family of related systems.
In addition, feature diagrams implicitly model valuable information that can be
used in economic models to estimate the cost savings of a product line. In
particular, this paper reviews existing proposals on computing the total number
of products modeled with a feature diagram and, given a feature, the number of
products that implement it. The paper also reviews the economic information
that can be estimated when such numbers are known. Thus, this paper contributes
by bringing together previously-disparate streams of work: the automated analysis
of feature diagrams and economic models for product lines.
2013:
Abstract: In
software product line engineering, feature diagrams are a popular means to
represent the similarities and differences within a family of related systems.
In addition, feature diagrams implicitly model valuable information that can be
used in economic models to estimate the cost savings of a product line. In
particular, this paper reviews existing proposals on computing the total number
of products modeled with a feature diagram and, given a feature, the number of
products that implement it. The paper also reviews the economic information
that can be estimated when such numbers are known. Thus, this paper contributes
by bringing together previously-disparate streams of
work: the automated analysis of feature diagrams and economic models for
product lines.
Abstract: Virtual
and Remote Laboratories (VRLs) are e-learning resources that enhance the
accessibility of experimental setups providing a distance teaching framework
which meets the student’s hands-on learning needs. In addition, online
collaborative communication represents a practical and a constructivist method
to transmit the knowledge and experience from the teacher to students,
overcoming physical distance and isolation. This paper describes the extension
of two open source tools: (i) the learning management
system Moodle, and (ii) the tool to create VRLs Easy Java Simulations (EJS).
Our extension provides: (i) synchronous collaborative
support to any VRL developed with EJS (i.e., any existing VRLwritten
in EJS can be automatically converted into a collaborative lab with no cost),
and (ii) support to deploy synchronous collaborative VRLs into Moodle. Using
our approach students and/or teachers can invite other users enrolled in a
Moodle course to a real-time collaborative experimental session, sharing and/or
supervising experiences at the same time they practice and explore experiments
using VRLs.
Abstract: There
are two main obstacles for supporting lab experimentation in distance learning
institutions, such as the Turkish Anadolu University,
the UK Open University and the Spanish Open University (UNED): (i) their high number of students, and (ii) the fact that
students are usually scattered around the world. Both problems make impossible
to provide the scientific and technical courses with traditional labs at a
reasonable cost. To overcome those problems, we propose an approach to
developing webbased, deploying them into a learning
management system and reducing their cost by reusing software intensively.
Abstract: Libraries
incessantly undergo change determined by evolving user needs. These are often
induced by the emergence of previously unavailable tools. Web 2.0 represents an
example of such a need-shifting technology, which has led to an embrace of new
user interactivity services for many library websites, thus coined Library 2.0.
This paradigm shift calls for new evaluation models to include the
implementation of Web 2.0 technologies. The aim of this paper is to present
such a model, and to evaluate the quality of Library 2.0 functionalities,
measuring the quality of the 2.0 services offered through the websites based on
user perception. We adopt fuzzy linguistic modeling to represent user
perception, and apply aggregation operations to linguistic labels in order to
evaluate the quality of the new services. Furthermore, our model subsumes the LibQUAL+ methodology, allowing for the identification of
specific 2.0 functionalities in need of improvement and of those outstandingly
satisfied by the system.
Abstract: Web–based
labs are key tools for distance education that help to illustrate scientific
phenomena which require costly or difficult-to-assemble equipment. We propose
the extension of two open source tools: (i) the
learning management system Moodle, and (ii) the application to create web–based
labs Easy Java Simulations (EJS). Our extension provides: (i)
synchronous collaborative support to any lab developed with EJS (i.e., existing
labs written in EJS can be automatically converted into collaborative with no
cost), and (ii) support to deploy synchronous collaborative labs into Moodle.
Thanks to our approach, students and/or teachers can invite other users
enrolled in a Moodle course to a real-time collaborative experimental session,
sharing and/or supervising experiences at the same time they practice and
explore experiments using labs. The experimental evaluation of our work shows
statistical significant (i) increase in student
engagement and (ii) higher exam grades for students trained with collaborative
labs.
Abstract: This
paper presents a domain engineering approach to build a software product line
that supports the change notification service in a Configuration Management
Database (CMDB) according to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) best practices. For the development of this product line, the proposed
approach makes use of a construction of products methodology by analogy: this
is a new notation which reports the variability of the products, obtaining
metrics as important as the number of products and uses a language that
enables, by means of the flexibilization of a product
and the development of some generators, to build the rest of the product line.
In addition the paper offers a standard for the analysis and design of the CMDB
as well. Finally, the paper presents an economic model for the product line,
where the profitability and productivity of the proposed solution are analyzed.
Abstract: Este trabajo presenta un portal web de
laboratorios virtuales y remotos, UNEDLabs, que reúne
aplicaciones de experimentación (laboratorios) y un entorno web (basado en un
sistema de gestión de aprendizaje) juntos. Los laboratorios virtuales son
utilizados por los estudiantes como una primera toma de contacto con los
fenómenos estudiados, pero también les proporcionan resultados teóricos de los
experimentos (basados en simulaciones). Los laboratorios remotos permiten a los
usuarios llevar a cabo actividades de laboratorio de una manera real, controlar
los equipos a distancia, a través de Internet, y obtener datos experimentales reales. El
entorno web contiene y soporta los laboratorios virtuales y remotos, así como
la documentación asociada: introducciones teóricas a los experimentos, manuales
de uso, etc. El conjunto de experiencias
en UNEDLabs ya es suficiente para cubrir las
principales disciplinas de la Física y, por lo tanto, ofrece una enseñanza
completa, de acuerdo con el currículo oficial.
Abstract: Humans
decide how to carry out a spontaneous interaction with an object by using the
whole geometric information obtained from their eyes. The aim of this paper is
to present how our object representation model MWS (Adán
in Comput Vis Image Underst
79:281–307, 2000) can help a robot manipulator to make a single and reliable
interaction. The contribution of this paper is particularly focused on the
grasp synthesis stage. The main idea is that the grasping system, through MWS,
can use non-strict-local features of the contact points to find a consistent
grasping configuration. The Direction Kernels (DK) concept, which is integrated
into the MWS model, is used to define a set of candidate contact-points and
interaction regions. The set of DK is a global feature which represents the
principal normal vectors of the object and their relative weight in a
three-connectivity mesh model. Our method calculates the optimal grasp points
(which are ordered according to the quality function) for two-finger grippers,
whilst maintaining the requirements of force closure and safety of the grasp.
Our strategy has been extensively tested on real free-shape objects using a 6
DOF industrial robot.
2012:
Abstract:
Tanto para las organizaciones y empresas como para la Sociedad en su conjunto,
la protección del ciberespacio constituye un aspecto crucial y la privacidad de
la información es uno de los pilares sobre los que descansa esta protección. En
el proceso de construcción del ciberespacio, las redes sociales virtuales se
han convertido en uno de los elementos más relevantes para el intercambio de
información, y su utilización de forma global y masiva pone de relevancia su
gran importancia estratégica. En este artículo se propone la evaluación de la privacidad
en las redes sociales virtuales, mediante un modelo de madurez, un marco para
la evaluación y un cuadro integral de mandos.
Abstract: UNEDLabs is a web portal
based on a free, modern, open source, and well-known learning management
system: Moodle. This portal joins two theme networks of virtual and remote
laboratories (one for Control Engineering and another one for Physics, named AutomatL@bs and FisL@bs,
respectively) together. AutomatL@bs has been
operative for five years now. Following AutomatL@bs’
scheme, FisL@bs was created as a network of remote
and virtual laboratories for physics university education via the Internet to
offer students the possibility of performing hands-on experiences in different
fields of physics in two ways: simulation and real remote operation. Now, both FisL@bs and AutomatL@bs join
together (while maintaining their independency) into an
unique new web portal called UNEDLabs. This work
focuses on this new web environment and gives a detailed account of a novel way
in Physics to let distance learning students gain practical experience
autonomously. This paper explains how the new portal works and the software
tools used for creating it. In addition, it also describes the physics experiments
which are already operative.
Abstract: RFID
middleware is anticipated to one of the main research areas in the field of
RFID applications in the near future. The Data EPC Acquisition System (DEPCAS)
is an original proposal designed by our group to transfer and apply fundamental
ideas from System and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems into the areas of RFID
acquisition, processing and distribution systems. In this
paper we focus on how to organize and manage generic RFID sensors (edge
readers, readers, PLCs, etc…)
inside the DEPCAS middleware. We denote by RFID Sensors Networks
Management (RSNM) this part of DEPCAS, which is built on top of two new
concepts introduced and developed in this work: MARC (Minimum Access Reader
Command) and RRTL (RFID Reader Topology Language). MARC is an abstraction layer
used to hide heterogeneous devices inside a homogeneous acquisition network.
RRTL is a language to define RFID Reader networks and to describe the
relationship between them (concentrator, peer to peer, master/submaster).
Abstract: The benefits of following a product line approach to develop similar
software systems are well documented. Nevertheless, some case studies have
revealed significant barriers to adopt such approach. In order to minimize the
paradigm shift between conventional software engineering and software product
line engineering, this paper presents a new development process where the
products of a domain are made by analogy to an existing product. Furthermore,
this paper discusses the capabilities and limitations of different techniques
to implement the analogy relation and proposes a new language to overcome such
limitations.
Abstract: Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has
emerged as the new technology paradigm for acquisition and information
management. RFID can be used to improve significantly the efficiency of
business processes by providing the capability of automatic identification and
data capture. This technology introduces new challenges on data and process
information management in current systems. RFID data are time-dependent and dynamically
changing. In addition, data carry implicit semantics. The homogeneous data
processing of such implicit semantics allows us to propose RFID middleware as a
WHO–WHEN–WHERE data problem. This paper presents DEPCAS, a new middleware for
RFID information based on the SCADA architecture for control systems. An
application of DEPCAS is the resolution of heterogeneous situations, which
solves the WHAT or context-aware to apply the auto identification data received
from RFID systems in business applications.
Abstract: Software product line engineering pursues the efficient development of
families of similar products. COPLIMO is an economic model that relies on COCOMO
II to estimate the benefits of adopting a product line approach compared to
developing the products one by one. Although COPLIMO is an ideal economic model
to support decision making on the incremental development of a product line, it
makes some simplifying assumptions that may produce high distortions in the
estimates (e.g., COPLIMO takes for granted that all the products have the same
size). This paper proposes a COPLIMO reformulation that avoids such assumptions
and, consequently, improves the accuracy of the estimates. To support our
proposal, we present an algorithm that infers the additional information that
our COPLIMO reformulation requires from feature diagrams, which is a widespread
notation to model the domain of a product line.
Abstract: In the past two decades, the use of digital libraries (DLs) has grown
significantly. Accordingly, questions about the utility, usability and cost of
DLs have started to arise, and greater attention is being paid to the quality
evaluation of this type of information system. Since DLs are destined to serve
user communities, one of the main aspects to be considered in DL evaluation is
the user’s opinion. The literature on this topic has produced a set of varied
criteria to judge DLs from the user’s perspective, measuring instruments to
elicit users’ opinions, and approaches to analyse the
elicited data to conclude an evaluation. This paper provides a literature
review of the quality evaluation of DLs based on users’ perceptions. Its main
contribution is to bring together previously disparate streams of work to help
shed light on this thriving area. In addition, the various studies are
discussed, and some challenges to be faced in the future are proposed.
2011:
Abstract: Software Product Line (SPL) engineering is a cost effective approach to
developing families of similar products. Key to the success of this approach is
to correctly scope the domain of the SPL, identifying the common and variable
features of the products and the interdependencies between features. In this
paper, we show how the commonality of a feature (i.e., the reuse ratio of the
feature among the products) can be used to detect scope flaws in the early
stages of development. SPL domains are usually modeled by means of feature
diagrams following the FODA notation. We extend classical FODA trees with
unrestricted cardinalities, and present an algorithm to compute the number of
products modeled by a feature diagram and the commonality of the features.
Finally, we compare the performance of our algorithm with two other approaches
built on top of boolean
logic SAT-solver technology such as cachet and relsat.
Abstract: In this article, we concentrate in conceptual relations as a source of
information for Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) systems. We start with a review
the most relevant research in the field, then we
implement our own algorithm. As a starting point we have chosen the conceptual
density algorithm of Agirre and Rigau.
We generalize the original algorithm, parameterizing many aspects. This new
algorithm obtains a relative improvement of 24% in terms of precision and
recall. We also offer comparative evaluation of our system with respect to the
participants in the SENSEVAL-2 disambiguation competition. We conclude that
conceptual relations provide a source of information that is insufficient by
itself to achieve good disambiguation results, but can, however, be a very
accurate heuristic in a combined system.
Abstract: This work describes the experience of the authors regarding the design,
development, analysis, and exploitation of Web-based technologies for creating
an online experimentation framework with distance education purposes. This
framework is specially design for scientific and technical courses that require
a quite important presence of experimentation. Every component belonging to the
proposed structure for these kind of portals is
integrated into a free modern Learning Management System (LMS) that enhances
collaborative work. The features, use, and integration of this LMS (Moodle)
along with the other required tools are detailed. The proposed framework was
used to implement a network of remote and virtual laboratories for control
engineering education (AutomatLabs) that is presented
here too as an example of its application.
2010:
Abstract: In group decision making situations, there may be cases in which experts
do not have an in-depth knowledge of the problem to be solved and, as a result,
they may present incomplete information. In this paper, we present a new
selection process to deal with incomplete fuzzy linguistic information. As part
of it, we use an iterative procedure to estimate the missing information. This
procedure is guided by the additive consistency property and only uses the
preference values provided by the experts. In addition, the additive
consistency property is also used to measure the level of consistency of the
information provided by the experts. The main novelties of this selection
process are both the possibility to manage decision situations under incomplete
fuzzy linguistic information and the importance of the experts' preferences in
the aggregation processes is modeled by means of the experts' consistency.
Abstract: We review in detail here a polished version of the systems with which we
participated in the Senseval-2 competition English tasks (all words and lexical
sample). It is based on a combination of selectional
preference measured over a large corpus and hierarchical information taken from
WordNet, as well as some additional heuristics. We use that information to
expand sense glosses of the senses in WordNet and compare the similarity
between the contexts vectors and the word sense vectors in a way similar to that
used by Yarowsky and Schuetze.
A supervised extension of the system is also discussed. We provide new and
previously unpublished evaluation over the SemCor
collection, which is two orders of magnitude larger
than SENSEVAL-2 collections as well as comparison with baselines. Our systems
scored first among unsupervised systems in both tasks. We note that the method
is very sensitive to the quality of the characterizations of word senses;
glosses being much better than training examples.
Software
Moodle plugins for Virtual and
Remote Laboratories
- EJSApp: add any Java applet created with Easy Java
Simulations (EJS) to your Moodle course.
- EJSApp "private files" browser:
adaptation of the standard Moodle block "My Private Files" to
support the loading of state files generated by EJS simulations from their
correspondant EJSApp
instance.
- EJSApp Booking
System: handle the connections to the remote laboratories developed
using EJS and added to your Moodle courses by means of the ejsapp plugin.
- EJSApp Collab Session:
creating sessions for collaborative working with Java applets developed
with Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and added to your Moodle course by means
of the EJSApp module.
EFL (Exemplar Flexibilization
Language)
PhD. Dissertation: "Metodologia de desarrollo de software basada en el paradigma generativo. Realizacion mediante la transformacion de ejemplares"
- Abstract
- Thesis Introductory
video (in Spanish)
- Thesis text (in
Spanish)
- Thesis code
Technology
Transfer / Cooperation with Industry
1. 2007-2008: Collaboration Agreement, between the Spanish Exchequer and the Spanish National University Based on Distance Learning, for the Automatic Refactoring of a Monolingual Web Application into Multilingual (“Convenio de Colaboración entre la Intervención General de la Administración del Estado y la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia para el Desarrollo de un Traductor de JSPs”).
Teaching
Radio Programs
- Heradio, R.; Fernández D.; Coz J. R; Sáiz C. La ciberseguridad.
Estado del arte de la criptografía. Emitido por RADIO 3 (RNE) el 30 de
Noviembre de 2011.
- Heradio, R.; Fernández D.; Coz J. R.
La ciberseguridad. Historia y evolución de la criptología. Emitido por RADIO 3 (RNE) el 23 de
Noviembre de 2011.
- Heradio,
R.; Estivariz, J. F. Metodologías ágiles y
pesadas de desarrollo de software. Emitido por RADIO 3 (RNE) el 17 de
Marzo de 2010.
- Heradio, R.; Estivariz, J.
F.; Coz, J.R. Seguridad
y control de acceso basado en sistemas biométricos. Emitido
por RADIO 3 (RNE) el 26 de Marzo de 2008.
- Heradio Gil, R., Morales Puerta, J. Las pruebas en la ingeniería del
software. Emitido por RADIO 3 (RNE) el 9 de Mayo de 2007.