Optimizing Scan Homogeneity for Building Full-3D Lidars based on Rotating a Multi-Beam Velodyne Rangefinder

Multi-beam lidar (MBL) scanners are compact, light, and accessible 3D sensors with high data rates, but they offer limited vertical resolution and field of view (FOV). Some recent robotics research has profited from the addition of a degree-of-freedom (DOF) to an MBL to build rotating multi-beam lidars (RMBL) that can achieve high-resolution scans with full spherical FOV. In a previous work, we offered a methodology to analyze the complex 3D scan measurement distributions produced by RMBLs with a rolling DOF and no pitching. In this paper, we investigate the effect of introducing constant pitch angles in the construction of the RMBLs with the purpose of finding a kinematic configuration that optimizes scan homogeneity with a spherical FOV. To this end, we propose a scalar index of 3D sensor homogeneity that is based on the spherical formulation of Ripley's K function. The optimization is performed for the widely used Puck (VLP-16) and HDL-32 sensors by Velodyne.This work was partially funded by the Spanish project {DPI2015-65186-R}. The publication has received support from Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Andalucía Tech

Resilience Assessment in Urban Water Infrastructure: A Critical Review of Approaches, Strategies and Applications

Urban water infrastructure (UWI) comprises the main systems, including water supply systems (WSS), urban drainage/stormwater systems (UDS) and wastewater systems (WWS). The UWI needs to be resilient to a wide range of shocks and stresses, including structural failures such as pipe breakage and pump breakdown and functional failures such as unmet water demand/quality, flooding and combined sewer overflows. However, there is no general consensus about the resilience assessment of these systems widely presented by various research works. This study aims to critically review the approaches, strategies and applications of the resilience assessment for the complex systems in UWI. This review includes examining bibliometric analysis, developed frameworks related to resilience assessment to help comprehend resilience concepts for the specified UWI systems in urban settings, strategies for improving resilience, resilience indicators and common tools used for modelling resilience assessment in UWI. The results indicate that resilience assessment has primarily been conducted in developed countries, underscoring the macroeconomic significance of UWI. Three key areas have been identified for analysing resilience in UWI: system design, development of resilience concepts and implementation of green infrastructure. Moreover, it has been discovered that although resilience is commonly defined using technical approaches, a more comprehensive understanding of resilience can be gained through a holistic approach. Furthermore, while strategies such as system upgrades, decentralisation, digitalisation and nature-based solutions can enhance UWI resilience, they may be insufficient to fulfil all resilience indicators. To address the challenge of effectively comparing different resilience options, it is crucial to extensively examine comprehensive and sustainability-based indicators in future research

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

INVESTIGATION OF THE UNDERGROUND BUILDING HERITAGE AND THE MECHANISM OF WATER FLOWING IN QANĀTS IN PALERMO THROUGH INNOVATIVE SURVEYING TECHNIQUES

The valorisation, protection and preservation policies for the underground building heritage are often difficult to implement due to an inadequate knowledge of hypogeal constructions. The complex and widespread underground structures of the vast “Cavo” Heritage (“horizontal wells”, “shelf wells” or “well tunnels”), so called qanāts, hidden underground and built over the centuries in Palermo, representing an evocative testimony to the history of water culture in the ancient city. Through the historical and constructive analyses and the implementation and development of measurement and 3D representation and visualization, first actions have been carried out. The paper will present the first results of the restoration project and the path of re-introduction in the fruition network of the qanāt “Gesuitico alto”, developed also in the field of “iHeritage. Mediterranean Platform for UNESCO Cultural Heritage” project, financed by ENI CBC MED Programme 2014-2020. The paper presents an experimentation of a procedural workflow of data acquisition, analysis and subsequent 3D virtual navigation of hypogeal environments. The methodology used is the SLAM with a last generation WMLS. The platform of virtual reality visualization, within UnReal Engine, allows the user to immerse and navigate in the anthropic environment by engaging it with a set of infographics that highlight the virtual visit