Serverless protocols for inventory and tracking with a UAV

It is widely acknowledged that the proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may lead to serious concerns regarding avionics safety, particularly when end-users are not adhering to air safety regulations. There are, however, domains in which UAVs may help to increase the safety of airplanes and the management of flights and airport resources that often require substantial human resources. For instance, Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) has more than 7,000 staff and supports 30,000 direct jobs for more than 60 million passengers per year (as of 2016). Indeed, these new systems can be used beneficially for several purposes, even in sensitive areas like airports. Among the considered applications are those that suggest using UAVs to enhance safety of on-ground airplanes; for instance, by collecting (once the aircraft has landed) data recorded by different systems during the flight (like the sensors of the Aircraft Data Networks - ADN) or by examining the state of airplane structure. In this paper, our proposal is to use UAVs, under the control of the airport authorities, to inventory and track various tagged assets, such as luggage, supplies required for the flights, and maintenance tools. The aim of our proposal is to make airport management systems more efficient for operations requiring inventory and tracking, along with increasing safety (sensitive assets such as refueling tanks, or sensitive pieces of luggage can be tracked), thus raising financial profit.Comment: 11 pages, Conference, The 36th IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC'17

Towards an Autonomous Industry 4.0 Warehouse: A UAV and Blockchain-Based System for Inventory and Traceability Applications in Big Data-Driven Supply Chain Management

[Abstract] Industry 4.0 has paved the way for a world where smart factories will automate and upgrade many processes through the use of some of the latest emerging technologies. One of such technologies is Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which have evolved a great deal in the last years in terms of technology (e.g., control units, sensors, UAV frames) and have significantly reduced their cost. UAVs can help industry in automatable and tedious tasks, like the ones performed on a regular basis for determining the inventory and for preserving item traceability. In such tasks, especially when it comes from untrusted third parties, it is essential to determine whether the collected information is valid or true. Likewise, ensuring data trustworthiness is a key issue in order to leverage Big Data analytics to supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. In such a case, blockchain, another Industry 4.0 technology that has become very popular in other fields like finance, has the potential to provide a higher level of transparency, security, trust and efficiency in the supply chain and enable the use of smart contracts. Thus, in this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a UAV-based system aimed at automating inventory tasks and keeping the traceability of industrial items attached to Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags. To confront current shortcomings, such a system is developed under a versatile, modular and scalable architecture aimed to reinforce cyber security and decentralization while fostering external audits and big data analytics. Therefore, the system uses a blockchain and a distributed ledger to store certain inventory data collected by UAVs, validate them, ensure their trustworthiness and make them available to the interested parties. In order to show the performance of the proposed system, different tests were performed in a real industrial warehouse, concluding that the system is able to obtain the inventory data really fast in comparison to traditional manual tasks, while being also able to estimate the position of the items when hovering over them thanks to their tag’s signal strength. In addition, the performance of the proposed blockchain-based architecture was evaluated in different scenarios.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación de España; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

A Strategic Roadmap for the Manufacturing Industry to Implement Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 (also referred to as digitization of manufacturing) is characterized by cyber physical systems, automation, and data exchange. It is no longer a future trend and is being employed worldwide by manufacturing organizations, to gain benefits of improved performance, reduced inefficiencies, and lower costs, while improving flexibility. However, the implementation of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies is a difficult task and becomes even more challenging without any standardized approach. The barriers include, but are not limited to, lack of knowledge, inability to realistically quantify the return on investment, and lack of a skilled workforce. This study presents a systematic and content-centric literature review of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, to highlight their impact on the manufacturing industry. It also provides a strategic roadmap for the implementation of Industry 4.0, based on lean six sigma approaches. The basis of the roadmap is the design for six sigma approach for the development of a new process chain, followed by a continuous improvement plan. The reason for choosing lean six sigma is to provide manufacturers with a sense of familiarity, as they have been employing these principles for removing waste and reducing variability. Major reasons for the rejection of Industry 4.0 implementation methodologies by manufactures are fear of the unknown and resistance to change, whereas the use of lean six sigma can mitigate them. The strategic roadmap presented in this paper can offer a holistic view of phases that manufacturers should undertake and the challenges they might face in their journey toward Industry 4.0 transition

Digital twins for condition and fleet monitoring of aircraft: towards more-intelligent electrified aviation systems

The convergence of Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT), and Educational Technology (ET) has led to the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution. As a result, a new concept has emerged known as Digital Twins (DT), which is defined as "a virtual representation of various objects or systems that receive data from physical objects/systems to make changes and corrections”. In the aviation industry, numerous attempts have been made to utilize DT in the design, manufacturing, and condition monitoring of aircraft fleets. Among these research efforts, real-time, accurate, fast, and predictive condition monitoring methods play a crucial role in ensuring the safe and efficient performance of aircraft. Using DT for condition and fleet monitoring not only enhances the reliability and safety of aircraft but also reduces operational and maintenance costs. In this paper, the conducted studies on the applications of DT systems for condition monitoring of aircraft units and the aerospace sector are discussed and reviewed. The aim of this review paper is to analyse the current developments of DT systems in the aviation industry as well as explain the remaining challenges of DT systems. Then Finally, future trends of DT systems along with aircraft are presented. Among reviewed papers, most of them have used computational fluid dynamics, finite element methods, and artificial intelligence techniques for developing DT models for aircraft. At the same time, most of these analyses are dedicated to the failure and crack detection body of aircraft as well as engine fault detection. Life prediction is another popular application for using DT in aircraft units that could help the engineers predict the maintenance required for different parts of the aircraft. Finally, the application of DT in marine, power systems, and space programs has been also reviewed and the lessons learned from them have been translated to the aviation sector

Digital Agriculture and Intelligent Farming Business Using Information and Communication Technology: A Survey

Adopting new information and communication technology (ICT) as a solution to achieve food security becomes more urgent than before, particularly with the demographical explosion. In this survey, we analyze the literature in the last decade to examine the existing fog/edge computing architectures adapted for the smart farming domain and identify the most relevant challenges resulting from the integration of IoT and fog/edge computing platforms. On the other hand, we describe the status of Blockchain usage in intelligent farming as well as the most challenges this promising topic is facing. The relevant recommendations and researches needed in Blockchain topic to enhance intelligent farming sustainability are also highlighted. It is found through the examination that the adoption of ICT in the various farming processes helps to increase productivity with low efforts and costs. Several challenges are faced when implementing such solutions, they are mainly related to the technological development, energy consumption, and the complexity of the environments where the solutions are implemented. Despite these constraints, it is certain that shortly several farming businesses will heavily invest to introduce more intelligence into their management methods. Furthermore, the use of sophisticated deep learning and Blockchain algorithms may contribute to the resolution of many recent farming issues

The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions

The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed, including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture. Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions, and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users, scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution

Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях

В настоящем электронном сборнике «Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях. Технология» представлены работы молодых ученых по геодезии и картографии, химической технологии и машиностроению, информационным технологиям, строительству и радиотехнике. Предназначены для работников образования, науки и производства. Будут полезны студентам, магистрантам и аспирантам университетов.=In this Electronic collected materials “National and European dimension in research. Technology” works in the fields of geodesy, chemical technology, mechanical engineering, information technology, civil engineering, and radio-engineering are presented. It is intended for trainers, researchers and professionals. It can be useful for university graduate and post-graduate students

Naval Research Program 2019 Annual Report

NPS NRP Annual ReportThe Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Naval Research Program (NRP) is funded by the Chief of Naval Operations and supports research projects for the Navy and Marine Corps. The NPS NRP serves as a launch-point for new initiatives which posture naval forces to meet current and future operational warfighter challenges. NRP research projects are led by individual research teams that conduct research and through which NPS expertise is developed and maintained. The primary mechanism for obtaining NPS NRP support is through participation at NPS Naval Research Working Group (NRWG) meetings that bring together fleet topic sponsors, NPS faculty members, and students to discuss potential research topics and initiatives.Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Selected Papers from the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications

This Special Issue comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications, held on 15–30 November 2018, on sciforum.net, an online platform for hosting scholarly e-conferences and discussion groups. In this 5th edition of the electronic conference, contributors were invited to provide papers and presentations from the field of sensors and applications at large, resulting in a wide variety of excellent submissions and topic areas. Papers which attracted the most interest on the web or that provided a particularly innovative contribution were selected for publication in this collection. These peer-reviewed papers are published with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications. We hope this conference series will grow rapidly in the future and become recognized as a new way and venue by which to (electronically) present new developments related to the field of sensors and their applications