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This paper aims to analyze the application of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) for remote oil spill sensing.

This paper is an analysis of RPA strong points.

To increase the accuracy and eliminate potentially false contamination detection, which can be caused by external factors, an oil thickness measurement algorithm is used with the help of the multispectral imaging that provides high accuracy and is versatile for any areas of water and various meteorological and atmospheric conditions.

SWOT analysis of implementation of RPA for remote sensing of oil spills.

The use of RPA will improve the remote sensing of oil spills.

The concept of oil spills monitoring needs to be developed for quality data collection, oil pollution control and emergency response.

The research covers the development of a method and design of a device intended for taking samples and determining the presence of oil contamination in an aquatorium area; the procedure includes taking a sample from the water surface, preparing it for transportation and delivering the sample to a designated location by using the RPA. The objective is to carry out the analysis of remote oil spill sensing using RPA. The RPA provides a reliable sensing of oil pollution with significant advantages over other existing methods. The objective is to analyze the use of RPA employing all of their strong points. In this paper, technical aspects of sensors are analyzed, as well as their advantages and limitations.

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the interdisciplinary literature on drones in last-mile delivery (LMD) to extrapolate pertinent insights from and into the logistics management field.

Rooting their analytical categories in the LMD literature, the authors performed a deductive, theory refinement SLR on 307 interdisciplinary journal articles published during 2015–2022 to integrate this emergent phenomenon into the field.

The authors derived the potentials, challenges and solutions of drone deliveries in relation to 12 LMD criteria dispersed across four stakeholder groups: senders, receivers, regulators and societies. Relationships between these criteria were also identified.

This review contributes to logistics management by offering a current, nuanced and multifaceted discussion of drones' potential to improve the LMD process together with the challenges and solutions involved.

The authors provide logistics managers with a holistic roadmap to help them make informed decisions about adopting drones in their delivery systems. Regulators and society members also gain insights into the prospects, requirements and repercussions of drone deliveries.

This is one of the first SLRs on drone applications in LMD from a logistics management perspective.

This paper aims to present the main results achieved in the frame of the TIVANO national-funded project which may anticipate, in a stepped approach, the evolution and the design of the enabling technologies needed for a hybrid/electric medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform persistent intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) military operations.

Different architectures of hybrid-propulsion system are analyzed pointing out their operating modes to select the more suitable architecture for the reference aircraft. The selected architecture is further analyzed together with its electric power plant branch focusing on electric system architecture and the selected electric machine. A final comparison between the hybrid and standard propulsion is given at aircraft level.

The use of hybrid propulsion may lead to a reduction of the total aircraft mass and an increase in safety level. However, this result comes together with a reduced performance in climb phase.

This study can be used as a reference for similar studies and it provides a detailed description of propulsion operating modes, power management, electric system and machine architecture.

This study presents a novel application of hybrid propulsion focusing on a three tons class MALE UAV for ISR missions. It provides new operating modes of the propulsion system and a detailed electric architecture of its powertrain branch and machine. Some considerations on noise emissions and infra-red traceability of this propulsion, at aircraft level.

In the aerial transportation area, fuel costs are critical to the economic viability of companies, and so urgent measures should be adopted to avoid any unnecessary increase in operational costs. In particular, this paper addresses the case of missed approach manouevres, showing that it is still possible to optimize the usual procedure.

The costs involved in a standard procedure following a missed approach are analysed through a simulation model, and they are compared with the improvements achieved with a fast reinjection scheme proposed in a prior work.

Experimental results show that, for a standard A320 aircraft, fuel savings ranging from 55% to 90% can be achieved through the reinjection method.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first study in the literature addressing the fuel savings benefits obtained by applying a reinjection technique for missed approach manoeuvres.

This study aims to explore the need for highly technological complexes for control and monitoring, as well as, new concepts and methodologies for maritime resource exploration and exploitation, which are in great demand nowadays.

This paper provides an analysis of demand, means of creation and development of the methodology and infrastructure for global monitoring, pollution control and supervision of smart systems for activities in exploration, future resource exploitation in deep-water and coastal areas based on Smarthub architecture, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), Continuous Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support (CALS) and Blockchain technologies.

Observational, experimental, simulation, derivational, hybrid descriptive and analytical models, as well as, surrogate models were created, analyzed and implemented for assigned tasks realization. Concept of distributed system for marine environmental monitoring, control and supervising as pilot technology in the context of Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3–5 was designed and evaluated.

The activities described in this article should be realized in the design and development of a complex, reliable, robust and sustainable monitoring and inspection system for the control and evaluation of the impact and risk assessment of the exploration and future exploitation of maritime resources.

The Black Sea region has become as an important energy transit route for Caspian and Russian oil and natural gas to western markets. Since 1996 the quantity of oil exported from the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits and the number of transiting tankers has doubled and will continue to expand. However, these are also two waterways where the risk of either an accidental or intentional disaster is significant bringing serious repercussions for energy supply security. This paper will analyze measures taken by Black Sea coastal States to provide for secure ports and shipping against accidental and intentional disasters. The paper will examine the role of technology, such as satellite based VTS providers in the Black Sea, implementation of the ISPS Code, the role of the relatively new BlackSeaFor in providing both port and navigational security. The paper will further make recommendations for further improvements for enhancement of security emergency response planning. In addition, the paper will examine current security measures taken by the Turkish Administration for oil transportation through the Turkish Straits.

Climate change is occurring around us and impacting on our daily lives, meaning that we have to deal with our cities in a different way. There is also increasing awareness of the need for daily contact with green spaces and the natural environment in order to live a happy, productive and meaningful life.

This reflective essay tells the narrative of how urbanisation has been disconnecting humans from nature. Non-sustainable, non-resilient patterns of urbanisation, along with the neglect of inner-city areas, have resulted in fragmentation and urban decline, led to a loss of biodiversity, and caused the deterioration of ecosystems and their services. Urban regeneration projects allow us to “repair” and restore some of this damage whilst enhancing urban resilience. Connecting existing and enhanced ecosystems, and re-establishing ecosystems both within cities and at the peri-urban fringe is vital for strengthening ecosystem resilience and building adaptive capacity for coping with the effects of climate change.

Cities worldwide need to look for suitable solutions to increase the resilience of their urban spaces in the face of climate change. This essay explores how this can be achieved through the integration of nature-based solutions, the re-greening of neighbourhoods and by correctly attributing value to natural capital. Transforming existing cities and neighbourhoods in this way will enable ecosystems to contribute their services towards healthier and more liveable cities.

This study investigates the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance caused by dolphin-watching boats on the local spinner dolphin population in Lovina, Bali. It proposes recommendations for developing sustainable destination practices that influence boatmen and tourists to minimise the negative impacts of tourism activities on the dolphins.

Data was collected on boat-dolphin distances, boatmen's behaviour, dolphin behaviour, and underwater noise levels using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a hydrophone. The triple-bottom-line framework was applied to analyse the findings and propose recommendations for developing sustainable destination practices.

The study reveals a consistent breach of national and international guidelines, with boats approaching dolphins at distances well below the recommended minimum. Undesirable boatmen’s behaviours and signs of distress and avoidance in dolphins were frequently observed. The findings highlight the need for stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable practices that influence boatmen and tourists to minimise their impact on the dolphins.

This study provides novel insights into the anthropogenic disturbance caused by dolphin-watching boats in Lovina, Bali. It proposes actionable recommendations for developing sustainable destination practices that influence boatmen and tourists. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge on sustainable wildlife tourism management.

Tandem wing aircrafts belong to an unconventional configurations group, and this type of design is characterised by a strong aerodynamic coupling, which results in lower induced drag. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a certain trend in the wingspan impact on aircraft dynamic stability can be identified. The secondary goal was to compare the response to control of flaps placed on a front and rear wing.

The aerodynamic data and control derivatives were obtained from the computational fluid dynamics computations performed by the MGAERO software. The equations of aircraft longitudinal motion in a state space form were used. The equations were built based on the aerodynamic coefficients, stability and control derivatives. The analysis of the dynamic stability was done in the MATLAB by solving the eigenvalue problem. The response to control was computed by the step response method using MATLAB.

The results of this study showed that because of a strong aerodynamic coupling, a nonlinear relation between the wing size and aircraft dynamic stability proprieties was observed. In the case of the flap deflection, stronger oscillation was observed for the front flap.

Results of dynamic stability of aircraft in the tandem wing configuration can be found in the literature, but those studies show outcomes of a single configuration, while this paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the impact of wingspan on aircraft dynamic stability. The results reveal that because of a strong aerodynamic coupling, the relation between the span factor and dynamic stability is nonlinear. Also, it has been demonstrated that the configuration of two wings with the same span is not the optimal one from the aerodynamic point of view.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the robot trends of the next generation.

This paper is divided into two sections: the key modern technology on which Europe's robotics industry has built its foundation is described. Then, the next key megatrends were analyzed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are technologies of major importance for the development of humanity. This time is mature for the evolution of industrial and service robots. The perception of robot use has changed from threading to aiding. The cost of mass production of technological devices is decreasing, while a rich set of enabling technologies is under development. Soft mechanisms, 5G and AI have enabled us to address a wide range of new problems. Ethics should guide human behavior in addressing this newly available powerful technology in the right direction.

The paper describes the impact of new technology, such as AI and soft robotics. The world of work must react quickly to these epochal changes to enjoy their full benefits.