Cities in transformation.Computational urban planning through big data analytics.

Future scenarios foresee a city as a fragmented and uneven system in relation to rapidly evolving environmental, economic and social phenomena. The traditional urban planning tools, based on a theoretical-predictive appro-ach, adapt poorly. We need to rethink how to govern the transformations of a city, which can be described by models of urban metabolism. City Sensing has changed the way a city is explored and used. With the transition from di-gitisation to datafication, through a computational approach, one can process georeferenced datasets within algorithms in order to achieve a higher quality of the project. This process exploits data provided by public administrations, companies and citizens taking part in inclusive and adaptive urban planning.Keywords: City Sensing; Datafication; Big Data Analytics; Computational Urban Planning; Adaptive and Inclusive Urban Planning

A Moon Base with Active Radiation Shielding

When dealing with human long duration missions beyond low Earth orbit the danger due to radiation must be carefully accounted for. This is even more important when dealing with missions aimed to the constructions of outposts on the Moon and on Mars, aimed to the colonization of these bodies. The possibility of screening the human beings from radiation by building thick wall habitats, possibly using the locally available regolith through additive manufacturing technologies, is very interesting, but has an intrinsic drawback: the buildings must have windows as small as possible, or no windows at all, which a ects the psychological health of the colonists (claustrophobia), to decrease their ability to assess distances when outside the outpost (di culties in performing EVA) and may be particularly bad in case one of the activities of the outpost is tourism. Another problem is the construction of greenhouses, which should allow the light from the Sun to enter for powering the plants' biological mechanisms. A partial solution to this drawback is virtual windows: large screens attached to the walls, showing images coming from cameras located on the outside of the walls. But the image on a screen is two-dimensional and it is still to evaluate how much the above mentioned problems are mitigated by 2-D images. For the greenhouse the solution may be an extensive use of arti cial lighting, mostly using LEDS, but this requires the presence of very powerful electric generators. The proposal of this paper is to study an expandable and modular settlement, made of elements as transparent as possible due to the presence of large windows that allow the view of lunar landscape and celestial vault, as to mitigate psychologically e ects derived from long stay away from planet Earth. To make this solution possible, the settlement needs to be protected from the dangerous cosmic radiation using magnetic elds (active radiation shielding). Arti cial magnetic elds can be generated by a number of high voltage electric cables arranged in a toroidal geometry around the inhabited environment. This cables are able to generate an external magnetic eld of su cient intensity, to protect the habitat from cosmic radiation and, at the same time, an almost null magnetic eld inside the settlements, as to avoid any damage for the inhabitants. In particular, a future moon base can be built within a large size toroid of electric cables

Thermal design and analysis of a nanosatellite in low earth orbit

In this paper, we present the process and the results of the thermal analysis applied to a nanosatellite developed at Politecnico di Torino. First, main mission parameters and the spacecraft design are presented, in order to fix the boundary conditions and the thermal environment used for the analysis. Then, the thermal model built to solve the thermal balance problem is described into details, and the numerical simulation code is presented. Finally, results are given and discussed in depth. The tool developed provides excellent modelling capabilities and temperature distributions have been validated through commercial software. The analysis has been used to refine the spacecraft configuration and to set the requirements applicable to the thermal control system of the satellite. The results showed that a basically passive control is sufficient to maintain most spacecraft's components within their temperature range when appropriate thermal coatings and/or tapes are provided. However, heaters to warm up batteries are recommended to survive coldest conditions

A Modular Lunar Hotel

The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative modular lunar hotel/outpost that can be assembled using the load capacity of future rockets Space X is at present developing and presumably will be opera- tional by 2025. In particular, the design is based on the Space X' Starship, that will have the capability to land large and heavy payloads on the Moon. The lunar building is essentially made of four cylindrical modules assembled around one central distribution and service hub. These four modules, intended for housing, have a geodesic dome with large windows to observe the lunar environment surrounding the outpost. The entry point to the base is in the lower part of the central module, which is the only part of the building touching the ground and rests on four adjustable legs. The central module will be used for vertical connections and services as well as for hydroponic laboratories and greenhouses in which to grow the food the settlers will eat. The whole structure will be about 15m high and will be protected from cosmic radiation by a magnetic eld generated by a number of electric cables laid on a spherical structure made of in atable high pressure tubes. The modules can be made of light material since the protection form radiation is supplied by the magnetic eld, and need only a thermal insulating layer, which can be fairly light. The whole structure can thus be carried from Earth without the need of manufacturing it on site. As an added advantage, large windows can be present, mainly in the a top domes/observatories, which will be the characteristic elements of the installation. The cylindrical modules have a diameter of 6m, suitable to be transported in the cargo hold of the Starship. To reach an height of 15m, they are made in sections and then assembled on site. The modules will be lowered from the hold of the Starship by means of the crane with which each spaceship is equipped. Before starting the assembly of the modules, self-propelled cranes and vehicles will be carried to the Moon so that the construction site of the hotel/outpost can be relatively distant from the landing area. These construction machines will then remain available for other construction projects on the Moon. A total of about 10 launches are expected to be required to carry to the Moon all parts needed to build the facility

GNSS-based dam monitoring: The application of a statistical approach for time series analysis to a case study

Dams are one of the most important engineering works of the current human society, and it is crucial to monitor and obtain analytical data to log their conditions, predict their behavior and, eventually, receive early warnings for planning interventions and maintenance activities. In this context, GNSS-based point displacement monitoring is nowadays a consolidated technique that is able to provide daily millimeter level accuracy, even with less sophisticated and less expensive single-frequency equipment. If properly designed, daily records of such monitoring systems produce time series that, when long enough, allow for an accurate reconstruction of the geometrical deformation of the structure, thus guiding semi-automatic early warning systems. This paper focuses on the procedure for the GNSS time series processing with a statistical approach. In particular, real-world times series collected from a dam monitoring test case are processed as an example of data filtering. A remove–restore technique based on a collocation approach is applied here. Basically, it consists of an initial deterministic modeling by polynomials and periodical components through least squares adjustment and Fourier transform, respectively, followed by a stochastic modeling based on empirical covariance estimation and a collocation approach. Filtered time series are interpreted by autoregressive models based on environmental factors such as air or water temperature and reservoir water level. Spatial analysis is finally performed by computing correlations between displacements of the monitored points, as well as by visualizing the overall structure deformation in time. Results positively validate the proposed data processing workflow, providing useful hints for the implementation of automatic early warning systems in the framework of structural monitoring based on continuous displacement measurements

Modular Lunar Hotel

The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative modular lunar hotel or outpost that can be assembled using the load capacity of future rockets Space X is at present developing and presumably will be opera- tional by 2025. In particular, the design is based on the Space X Starship, that will have the capability to land large and heavy payloads on the Moon. The lunar building is essentially made of four cylindrical modules assembled around one central distribution and service hub. These four modules, intended for housing, have a geodesic dome with large windows to observe the lunar environment surrounding the outpost. The entry point to the base is in the lower part of the central module, which is the only part of the building touching the ground and rests on four adjustable legs. The central module will be used for vertical connections and services as well as for hydroponic laboratories and greenhouses in which to grow the food the settlers will eat. The whole structure will be about 15m high and will be protected from cosmic radiation by a magnetic eld generated by a number of electric cables laid on a spherical structure made of in a table high pressure tubes. The modules can be made of light materials since the protection from radiation is supplied by the magnetic eld, and need only a thermal insulating layer, which can be fairly light. The whole structure can thus be carried from Earth without the need of manufacturing it on site. As an added advantage, large windows can be present, mainly in the a top domes/observatories, which will be the characteristic elements of the installation. The cylindrical modules have a diameter of 6m, suitable to be transported in the cargo hold of the Starship. To reach an height of 15m, they are made in sections and then assembled on site. The modules will be lowered from the hold of the Starship by means of the crane with which each spaceship is equipped. Before starting the assembly of the modules, self-propelled cranes and vehicles will be carried to the Moon so that the construction site of the hotel/outpost can be relatively distant from the landing area. These construction machines will then remain available for other construction projects on the Moon. A total of about 10 launches are expected to be required to carry to the Moon all parts needed to build the facility

Il progetto biomimetico. Eteronomia ed autopoiesi nell’integrazione tra tecnologia e biologia

L’applicazione del pensiero sistemico alla risoluzione della complessità nel progetto biomimetico consente di pervenire all’integrazione tecnologica tra sistemi biologici ed artificiali, realizzando un organismo edilizio autopoietico. L’emulazione della Natura nel progetto esige la contaminazione e l’ibridazione dei saperi. Le soluzioni di tipo meccanico o quelle legate alle proprietà dei materiali non sono le sole a cui l’architettura adattiva può fare ricorso nel replicare i processi naturali. Si illustrano esperienze che applicano, sia alla scala del manufatto architettonico sia alla scala urbana, strategie adattive autopoietiche del mondo naturale mediante l’integrazione tra tecnologia e biologia, al fine di mettere in luce il nesso tra progetto biomimetico ed eteronomia disciplinare

Procedures and Methodologies to Assembly and Mounting the constructive system called “Panel for Building”

The paper describes the progress of the research that was introduced in a previous article titled “Panel for Building: a new typology of platform frame”. In this phase of the research, the goal is to deine the best technological solution for the assembly of the individual layers of the panel, concentrating in particular on the structural section. In parallel with the previous objective, the research analyzes the construction of Panel for Building on site, with reference to the foundation node and the connections between the panels