Mobile ad hoc network testbed using mobile robot technology

MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network) researchers have shown increased interest in using mobile robot technology for their testbed platforms. Thus, the main motivation of this paper is to review various robot-based MANET testbeds that have been developed in previously reported research. Additionally, suggestions to heighten mobility mechanisms by using mobile robots to be more practical, easy and inexpensive are also included in this paper, as we unveils ToMRobot, a low-cost MANET robot created from an ordinary remote control car that is capable of performing a real system MANET testbed with the addition of only a few low-cost electronic components. Despite greatly reduced costs, the ToMRobot does not sacrifice any of the necessary MANET basic structures and will still be easily customizable and upgradeable through the use of open hardware technology like Cubieboard2 and Arduino, as its robot controller. This paper will also include guidelines to enable technically limited MANET researchers to design and develop the ToMRobot. It is hoped that this paper achieves its two pronged objectives namely (i) to facilitate other MANET researchers by providing them with a source of reference that eases their decision making for selecting the best and most suitable MANET mobile robots for real mobility in their MANET testbeds (ii) to provide MANET researchers with a prospect of building their own MANET robots that can be applied in their own MANET testbed in the future

Supporting stakeholder analysis within iczm process in small and medium-sized mediterranean coastal cities with the use of Q-method

Stakeholder engagement is considered essential in Integrated Coastal Zone Management. In this context, detailed stakeholder analysis can provide a useful support for decision-making. Such an analysis can be particularly useful when there may be capacity limits in terms of stakeholders and loose institutional structures, such as in the case of small and medium-sized coastal cities. This analysis utilizes the Q-method as a basic tool for stakeholder analysis within the context of ICZM in small and medium sized cities. The method is applied in Kavala and Heraklion (a small and a medium-size city) in Greece, where local stakeholders involved in waterfront activities and related decision making were asked to sort statements evaluating the socio-economic, spatial and environmental role of urban waterfront in their city. The results of the analysis were useful in the sense of identifying potential complementarities and synergies among groups of stakeholders on the basis of their perceptions towards the waterfront by using Q-method. This approach provides o more than a typical mapping of the cooperation channels among stakeholders and institutions. Finally, the method proved to be notably effective in small samples of stakeholders that usually participate in the decision-making process in small and medium sized cities. © 2019, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services,cademy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania. All rights reserved

The challenge of incorporating smart city activities in medium-size cities: The case of Greece

A major challenge affecting the potential of a smart city project in achieving local community expectations is the extent to which local communities are involved not only in the planning, but also in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases (or, to put it differently, in the co-production process). There is a need for a 'co-smartisation' process to evolve. The present paper provides a general analytical and policy framework for this co-smartisation process to be implemented successfully. Attention is given to medium-size cities as the risks associated with smart city projects in such cities are higher due to such factors as limited operational, managerial and cooperation capacity. Trikala and Heraklion, two Greek medium-size cities, are used as case studies in order to illustrate potential strategies for consolidating the participation of local communities in smart projects at the medium-size city level in the southern European regional context. Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Revealing the potential of maritime transport for ‘Blue Economy’ in the Adriatic-Ionian Region

Maritime transport is amongst the most important drivers of change in the state of coastal and marine environment of the Mediterranean Sea. Recent studies on Maritime Spatial Planning and Blue Growth and economy reveal the significance of maritime transport both in socioeconomic and environmental terms. The objective of the present paper is to estimate the importance of maritime transport for the economy, society and environment of the region and assess the legal and policy framework under which maritime transport is developed and regulated. The analysis focuses on the Adriatic-Ionian Region (AIR). The paper builds upon existing policy and value estimation methodologies in order to develop an integrated assessment tool which can lead to a comparative evaluation of maritime transport against other drivers of the region. The effectiveness of the policy and legal framework in addressing the needs of maritime transport is then analyzed and assessed through the use of specific indicators. The integrated socio-economic and environmental analysis revealed that maritime transport is the second most important factor of change in the AIR following coastal and maritime tourism. Additionally, the analysis of the legal and policy framework led to the conclusion that a more effective integration of planning and strategic documents should be achieved. Maritime transport has often been addressed by important policy initiatives such as the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) and the Barcelona Convention for the protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal region of the Mediterranean. The results of the present paper constitute a useful input for the broader European initiative to reveal maritime potential and establish a development framework of the so called “Blue Economy”. © 2017 World Conference on Transport Research Societ

The challenge of incorporating smart city activities in medium-size cities: The case of Greece

A major challenge affecting the potential of a smart city project in achieving local community expectations is the extent to which local communities are involved not only in the planning, but also in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases (or, to put it differently, in the co-production process). There is a need for a ‘co-smartisation’ process to evolve. The present paper provides a general analytical and policy framework for this co-smartisation process to be implemented successfully. Attention is given to medium-size cities as the risks associated with smart city projects in such cities are higher due to such factors as limited operational, managerial and cooperation capacity. Trikala and Heraklion, two Greek medium-size cities, are used as case studies in order to illustrate potential strategies for consolidating the participation of local communities in smart projects at the medium-size city level in the southern European regional context. Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Enabling sensing and mobility on wireless testbeds

The inherent inability of simulation models to adequately express factors such as wireless signal propagation etc., can lead to incomplete evaluation of wireless protocols and applications. Thus, testing of proposed schemes under real-life settings has become the de facto validation process. More specifically, in the context of testing scenarios that include mobility, evaluation in real environments becomes a prerequisite. Networking testbeds have recently extended their capabilities by providing the researchers with the ability to include mobile nodes in their experiments as well. Towards this direction, we have developed a prototype mobile node in NITOS, which features a mounted camera and wireless interfaces that enable remote access and control. The proposed mobility framework is also accompanied by a graphical user interface that allows the experimenter to observe the node's behavior remotely. © 2012 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

Describing the essential ingredients for an open, general-purpose, shared and both large-scale and sustainable experimental facility (OpenLab)

[No abstract available

The EXPRESS SDN experiment in the OpenLab large scale shared experimental Facility

In this paper we describe the design and implementation of an experiments dealing with SDN for Wireless Mesh Networks over the OpenLab Facility. The experiment is called EXPRESS: 'EXPerimenting and Researching Evolutions of Software-defined networking over federated test-bedS'. EXPRESS aims at designing and evaluating a resilient SDN system able to operate in fragmented and intermittently connected networks as needed in a Wireless Mesh Networking environment. The experimental dimension of EXPRESS is to deploy the designed SDN infrastructure over a federation of three testbeds (PlanetLab, NITOS and w-iLab.t) from the OpenLab federation. The experiments consist in the evaluation of a designed solution for the selection of the SDN controller by the Wireless Mesh Routers in intermittently connected networks. The experiment is executed through the OMF framework (cOntrol and Management Framework). OMF provides the ability to describe the distributed experiment spanning over different physical testbeds. Following the experiment description, the OMF framework realizes the configuration of the resources (in our case the Wireless Mesh Routers) and their interconnection, runs the experiment and collects the results. © 2014 IEEE