On the Automation of Ports and Logistics Chains in the Adriatic Region

Recently, automation is gaining an even more important role in the port and maritime industry. In particular, several technological innovations are changing both the freight and passenger transport sector. The introduction of these technologies in port terminals (smart ports) require involved stakeholders to adapt their asset and organisations in order to improve the economic competi-tiveness in global markets. The geographical context where new technologies are put in place can also influence their deployment and foreseen impacts. Hence, in order to take the proper decisions at a strategic level and maximize the positive effects in a selected scenario, a feasibility analysis is essential. In the present study, this challenge is addressed for the Adriatic region by proposing a proce-dure for evaluating and selecting the most promising innovations. Several rele-vant stakeholders from the selected area are inquired to assess the relevance and deployment difficulties for a set of new technologies dealing with automation in port areas. Then, the impacts on technical operation and labour market are as-sessed, thus, providing valuable information to support the regional organisations in facing the change and deploying procedures to be potentially replicated in other geographical areas

Dual modality multiphoton-OCT flexible endomicroscope with an integrated electromagnetic z-actuator for optical field-of-view switching and a piezo-fiber-scanner for image acquisition

A miniature endomicroscope is presented that combines a large field-of-view (up to 1.7 mm) for OCT-imaging and a high-resolution mode with 360 μm field-of-view (NA = 0.5) for multi-photon fluorescence or OCT imaging. The 4.7x magnification variation is achieved by the axial positioning of an inner micro-optical lens group using an integrated electro-magnetic z-actuator. A reverse fiber-optic piezotube-scanner with minimized length is employed for the image acquisition by resonant spiral scanning. With the probe diameter of 2.7 mm and a rigid length of about 60 mm, the approach may pave the way to clinical applications of these two modalities in a single probe. © COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only