The present work develops an accurate prediction model of the COVID-19 pandemic, capable not only of fitting data with a high regression coefficient but also to predict the overall infections and the infection peak day as well. The model is based on the Verhulst equation, which has been used to fit the data of the COVID-19 spread in China, Italy, and Spain. This model has been used to predict both the infection peak day, and the total infected people in Italy and Spain. With this prediction model, the overall infections, the infection peak, and date can accurately be predicted one week before they occur. According to the study, the infection peak took place on 23 March in Italy, and on 29 March in Spain. Moreover, the influence of the total and partial lockdowns has been studied, without finding any meaningful difference in the disease spread. However, the infected population, and the rate of new infections at the start of the lockdown, seem to play an important role in the infection spread. The developed model is not only an important tool to predict the disease spread, but also gives some significant clues about the main factors that affect to the COVID-19 spread, and quantifies the effects of partial and total lockdowns as well.

The present work develops an accurate prediction model of the COVID-19 pandemic, capable not only of fitting data with a high regression coefficient but also to predict the overall infections and the infection peak day as well. The model is based on the Verhulst equation, which has been used to fit the data of the COVID-19 spread in China, Italy, and Spain. This model has been used to predict both the infection peak day, and the total infected people in Italy and Spain. With this prediction model, the overall infections, the infection peak, and date can accurately be predicted one week before they occur. According to the study, the infection peak took place on 23 March in Italy, and on 29 March in Spain. Moreover, the influence of the total and partial lockdowns has been studied, without finding any meaningful difference in the disease spread. However, the infected population, and the rate of new infections at the start of the lockdown, seem to play an important role in the infection spread. The developed model is not only an important tool to predict the disease spread, but also gives some significant clues about the main factors that affect to the COVID-19 spread, and quantifies the effects of partial and total lockdowns as well.

A collaborative tool for robotic polishing is developed in this work in order to allow the simultaneous operation of the robot system and human operator to cooperatively carry out the polishing task. For this purpose, the collaborative environment is detailed and the polishing application is designed. Moreover, the polishing tool is developed and its implementation using the minimum viable product approach is obtained. Furthermore, a robust hybrid position-force control is proposed to use the developed tool attached to a robot system and some experiments are given to show its performance.

Composite materials are widely used in the industry for their physical and mechanical properties. The objective of this work is the characterization of some composite materials with natural fibers, in order to determine the suitability in a later use in automotive components. For this purpose, we intend to obtain a model of tensile tests using finite element software, in order to be able to dimension real components.

Upper-Bound modelization of an ironed three-layered polymer coated steel stripAbstract Global beverage can and food container consumption is very high, with billions of cans produced annually worldwide. There are several steps in can manufacturing, but ironing is the most crucial. In a previous work [1], a series of ironing experiments were reported using a new material and an ironing simulator. This material was a three-layered polymer coated steel, and it was seen that under some process conditions, it survived the ironing process with no damage in any of the three layers. The critical die angle was determined as well as specimen quality surface tests.In this paper, an associated theoretical ironing model is described, using the Upper Bound Theorem, and considering the cases of successful ironing or shaving. It's possible to give insight into how to design a material that irons well. For example, the optimal layer thicknesses are also found.