Automatic Understanding and Mapping of Regions in Cities Using Google Street View Images

The use of semantic representations to achieve place understanding has been widely studied using indoor information. This kind of data can then be used for navigation, localization, and place identification using mobile devices. Nevertheless, applying this approach to outdoor data involves certain non-trivial procedures, such as gathering the information. This problem can be solved by using map APIs which allow images to be taken from the dataset captured to add to the map of a city. In this paper, we seek to leverage such APIs that collect images of city streets to generate a semantic representation of the city, built using a clustering algorithm and semantic descriptors. The main contribution of this work is to provide a new approach to generate a map with semantic information for each area of the city. The proposed method can automatically assign a semantic label for the cluster on the map. This method can be useful in smart cities and autonomous driving approaches due to the categorization of the zones in a city. The results show the robustness of the proposed pipeline and the advantages of using Google Street View images, semantic descriptors, and machine learning algorithms to generate semantic maps of outdoor places. These maps properly encode the zones existing in the selected city and are able to provide new zones between current ones.This work has been supported by the Spanish Grant PID2019-104818RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. José Carlos Rangel and Edmanuel Cruz were supported by the Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SNI) of SENACYT, Panama

Strategic framework for unmanned aerial systems integration in public organisations in the Dominican Republic disaster management context

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102088 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.In the Caribbean region, there is a significant yearly number of natural events incidents. The impact of those events has affected the well-being, social and economic structures of the countries in this region. The investment in disaster management strategies is a fundamental decision to the region for improving capabilities, understanding the liabilities, dealing with the disaster stages, and integrating systems and tools to obtain greater results in resilience strategies. Therefore, information technology and robotics have played an effective role bringing innovation to the traditional approaches by improving the capabilities of personnel and serves as a catalyst to rapid data collection tools for effective decision-making during disastrous situation, as has been the case of the Dominican Republic. The organic adoption process of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has represented a large step forward regarding this matter. Examples of the adoption process occurs based on their flexibility in their regulatory context, funding investments in testing the applications of UAS, such as surveying, delivering medical samples and spray disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are only some mature applications that address a future-proofing concept as well as the integration into a typical institutional workflow. Therefore, this paper aims to be an introductory guide for decision and policymakers, educators and technicians to reduce the scepticism, lack of knowledge and know-how in the adoption of reliable, practical and effective tools by providing a combination of theories from socio-technical systems (socio-technical change impact model (SCI)) and organizational level (technology-organizational-environmental) frameworks of the UAS adoption process for natural events, tasks and critical roles in disaster management taking into account the Dominican Republic context. Qualitative cases of studies were evaluated from nine (9) professionals related to disaster management in the Dominican Republic, and a semi-structured interview were used to approach the adoption process of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) in these organisations

A digital twin uses classification system for urban planning & city infrastructure management

Recently, the concept of Digital Twin [DT] has pervaded the field of urban planning and city infrastructure management. This paper first affirms that the knowledge created by virtue of DT real-world implementation, through undertaking various DT pilot projects, case studies and proof-of-concept initiatives, comprises the ‘know-how’ and genuine practical experience upon which the DT research and practices can further develop and mature. It then argues that this type of knowledge is poorly captured and mostly left neither realized nor fully utilized. This significantly hinders the rate by which DT practices within the urban and built environments evolve. While acknowledging the benefits of the ongoing work by many DT researchers, including enumeration, categorization and detailing of multiple DT use cases, such endeavours arguably suffer from three profound weaknesses causing the inefficient sharing and transfer of DT ‘know-how’ knowledge amongst DT stakeholders. The three limitations are: (a) lack of DT standard terminology constituting a common DT language; (b) lack of standard and clear methods to enable documenting DT projects and making the ‘know-how’ explicit to the rest of the DT market; and (c) the lack of an established and adequate DT use cases classifications system to guide DT practitioners in searching for and retrieving the previously accomplished DT case studies that are most relevant to their interests and context. Correspondingly, three solutions are proposed constituting a three-pronged DT Uses Classification System [DTUCS]: prong-A (i.e. Standardize-to-Publish); prong-B (i.e. Detail-to-Prove); and prong-C (i.e. Classify-to-Reach). DTUCS is developed using a meta-methodology encapsulating a systematic literature review and three distinct sub-methodologies. The paper concludes with an overview of the implications of DTUCS along with recommendations on how it can be further validated and improved

A framework for adoption of drones in the Dominican Republic construction industry

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.There is a severe problem in developing countries in whether or not adopt technologies for facilitating daily tasks. It is happening mostly in sectors with low skills employees as the construction industry. The adoption of technologies in developing countries is a challenge that affect health, economy, and consciousness advancement. Furthermore, the scepticism in the what, how, and why the effectiveness of certain technologies, as drones, difficult the cost-benefit of the decision-making process for organisations in developing countries. This cost-benefit decision, involved in the cases of UAS applications, covers the regulatory and practical implications that are barriers in developed countries. But, in developing one, seems to have another set of barriers that should be investigate in-depth. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop an ontology for public, private, and non-profit organisations that explain the epistemological implications in the implementation of Unmanned Aerial Systems for the Construction Industry in the Dominican Republic. The study approaches an iterative strategy of interviewing 24 participants in a semi-structured format. Then, the Nvivo 2020 software was used to identify cases utilising ground theory coding, thematic and content analysis. Later, the root cause reasons and challenges of implementing UAS were identified utilising Interpretative Structured Method (ISM) and their sub analyses. 5 Cases of studies were presented (real estate, construction, infrastructure, urban development, and disaster management) to illustrate the drone operations. The findings reveal that a hybrid management adoption approach have been the most suitable with drones in the country. The root cause of drone implementation and its barriers were cost reduction and reactive cultural respectively. Strategic and operational ontologies for UAS skill programs, understanding of UAS outcomes, and Building Information Modelling integration were developed in order to focus efforts on developing drones for cargo, assisting humans, and digitalisation. Mandates are recommended for policy makers as drones for digitalisation initiates digital workflows towards BIM. Other scenarios should be considering scenarios where autonomous aerial operations affect safety in future operations. Furthermore, recommendations on legal and standards should be updated in order to allow UAS outcomes as law acceptable. Further works are recommended in decentralised systems, artificial intelligence, and drone applications.Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology

A digital twin body of knowledge: the structure of a new paradigm for urban management

Rising global trends like increasing world population, rapid urbanisation, and escalating complexity are posing immense challenges to urban sustainability and well-being. Last month, the world’s population, according to the United Nations, has reached 8 billion for the first time. Also, the United Nations expects that the percentage of the world’s population living in cities and urban areas will increase from 55% in 2022 to 68% by 2050. Moreover, the escalating urban complexity further exacerbates the situation. The evolution of an extremely complex urban system of systems, including vastly interconnected urban dynamics and networks, eventually leads to the emergence of unexpected events with undesirable consequences. Therefore, increasing attention is being directed towards Sustainable Urban Development [SUD] and establishing a new paradigm in Urban Management [UM]. The discipline of UM is concerned with the planning for and implementation of interventions into the complex urban environment in such ways that lead to the emergence of better conditions for people and nature. On the one hand, achieving this aim, towards the realisation of SUD, has proven to be far from being a straightforward task. On the other hand, the recently emerging concept of Digital Twin [DT] has presented itself as an enabler of a revolution within the discipline of UM. A DT is based on the idea of connecting a physical system in the physical world to its virtual representation in the cyber world via bidirectional communication, with or without human-in-the-loop to make better decisions and unlock value. Implementing this concept to support UM research and practices has arguably given birth to a new paradigm, namely Digital Twins for Urban Management [DT for UM]. However, for a new paradigm to grow and mature, its cultural system – comprising theories, ideational projects, and methods – needs to be well-structured, systematised, and unified. The critical examination of the literature pertaining to DT for UM, conducted at three different levels of analysis (i.e.: philosophical, methodological, and methodical), showed lack of consistency, coherence, and uniformity. Philosophical worldviews adopted across this new paradigm are wildly heterogenous, incommensurable, and result in oxymoronic theoretical positions when integrated in face of multifaceted real-world wicked urban problems. The existing cultural system shows absence of systematic methodology that can offer clear guidelines to implementation of DT. Moreover, at the most concrete and practical level, DT-based methods and tools are ad-hoc and lack standardisation needed for discipline members to communicate in an unambiguous common language. Hence, the aim of this research is to systematise and unify the new paradigm DT for UM in order to foster its growth and maturity. To this end, this research developed a theoretical artefact, namely the Digital Twin Body of Knowledge [DTBOK], using Design Science Research methodology. It constitutes a new cultural system for the new paradigm DT for UM that addresses the existing gaps. DTBOK is made of the following three key elements: Philosophical element: Built upon the philosophy of Critical Realism, which is an intrinsically pluralistic philosophy that enables pluralistic and practically adequate interventions without falling into theoretical contradictions or inconsistencies. Methodological element: namely, the Data-Driven Multi-Method methodology [DM2] is formulated to provide a systematic procedure to guide DT-based interventions and bridge the abstract philosophical element and the concrete methodical element described below. Methodical element: namely, the Digital Twin Uses and Classification System [DTUCS] is created in the form of a three-pronged structure. Prong-A provides a framework that aids in classifying DTs and DT use cases according to a set of standard features. Prong-B is a taxonomy of DT uses or functions that DT can plausibly execute, all put in standard terms. Prong-C draws on the Unified Modelling Language [UML] to model and document DT use case scenarios. The contributions of DTBOK are manifold. On the one hand, DTBOK directly contributes to practice by offering a standard common language that can be used to define DT use cases at the outset of a project, specify required DT features and DT uses, and support clear and unambiguous communications across DT market. It also supplies practitioners with a systematic methodology that guides them through a DT-based intervention. DTBOK’s contribution to theory, on the other hand, involves initiating a philosophical debate that is absent from the DT for UM literature. It explores the philosophical assumptions and worldviews shaping and influencing the DT practices within this nascent paradigm. Built upon the intrinsically pluralistic philosophy of critical realism and by pragmatizing its abstract principles, DTBOK protects researchers and practitioners from adopting an atheoretical or a theoretically inconsistent position while performing in a pluralistic manner, integrating, and combining different DT approaches and methods. The benefits DTBOK brings about by linking theory and practice are manifold. It augments practitioners’ reflexivity, where it provides rigorous grounds based on which practical implementation can be explained, justified, or criticised. Moreover, drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of the various DT methods and approaches, ranging from quantitative and tech-driven to qualitative and humanistic approaches, helps in undertaking genuinely pluralistic interventions in the face of complex and multi-dimensional real-world problems. Using an evaluation-specific methodology, the following three types of research were used to evaluate DTBOK: Abstract research: to evaluate the philosophical unifiability of DTBOK’s philosophical element. Focus group discussions were carried out to assess how well the philosophical element of DTBOK can consistently unite the distinct worldviews within the paradigm DT for UM. Intensive research: employing action research to evaluate DTBOK as one whole artefact, including all of its three elements, in terms of its overall adequacy and usability