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This paper aims to describe the mechanical aspects of unmanned Mothership Plane and Sensing Drones. The presented conceptual system shows the idea and possible way of designing different sizes and objective systems based on experience gained during the SAE Aero Design Competition.

The UAS is based on a SAE Aero Design Competition designed and manufactured Mothership Plane converted to a high endurance platform modified to launch up to six small copters. The process of designing and converting the Mothership is described. The methodology of selecting and planning either the structure or hardware of the drones is presented.

A key finding is that the presented conception of mothership plane deploying in flight a group of small sensing multirotors is achievable. Moreover, the modular build of the system provides the possibility to adapt currently existing unmanned aircrafts to be converted to the described mothership plane.

To conduct flight tests and to study encountered problems. Presentation of the unmanned aerial system (UAS) concept that can be used to scan an area and create 3D maps for Search and Rescue missions as well as agriculture applications.

The paper describes the conceptual approach to design a UAS consisting of the mothership plane and the sensing drones. The paper highlights the potential solutions gained by using such a UAS. The focus is to present a technology and system that can perform real time observations in widespread and difficult to reach areas.

The implementation of project-based learning (PBL) activities in the curricula of engineering students has become a consolidated method to improve their skills. The purpose of this paper is to share the experience acquired by the authors from a decennial case-study on a student team PBL activity focused on design and development of human-powered vehicles (HPVs). A review of the project evolution, boundary constraints and management choices could provide inspiration and suggestions to faculty staff that would like to set-up similar experiences for engineering students in their universities.

A student team was funded by the authors in 2008 to gather engineering students interested in design and construction of HPVs. In the past decade, the team has grown from 10 up to 60 students enrolled per year and stimulated to develop a range of HPV designs for sports and mobility. The project management evolved as a consequence to com ply with the growing ambitions of the group and complexity of the goals.

A thorough analysis of factors contributing to the success of the project led to identification of the key factors to increase student participation: persistence of the faculty staff is essential, attending competitions and challenges increases students’ recruitment and formal recognition of the activity through credits and the implementation of intermediate assessment steps increase the active participation rate. Bigger teams reduce the negative impact of recruits eventually abandoning the project in an early stage. Ambitious goals keep students motivated for longer periods and enable a virtuous circle by transferring enthusiasm and knowledge to new members.

The activity is analyzed starting from a subjective experience perspective and some of the findings/conclusions may be not applicable in a different context. However, such review can suggest strategies on the long-term period to create similar conditions elsewhere.

In the last part of the paper, it is pointed out how PBL projects can provide a fertile ground for innovation and lead to patents and development of new products aiming at the market.

This study contributes to provide an insight view of how a student team PBL activity can grow over a decade if guided by faculty staff.

Digital twin (DT) is an emerging technology that enables sophisticated interaction between physical objects and their virtual replicas. Although DT has recently gained significant attraction in both industry and academia, there is no systematic understanding of DT from its development history to its different concepts and applications in disparate disciplines. The majority of DT literature focuses on the conceptual development of DT frameworks for a specific implementation area. Hence, this paper provides a state-of-the-art review of DT history, different definitions and models, and six types of key enabling technologies. The review also provides a comprehensive survey of DT applications from two perspectives: (1) applications in four product-lifecycle phases, i.e. product design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance, and recycling and (2) applications in four categorized engineering fields, including aerospace engineering, tunneling and underground engineering, wind engineering and Internet of things (IoT) applications. DT frameworks, characteristic components, key technologies and specific applications are extracted for each DT category in this paper. A comprehensive survey of the DT references reveals the following findings: (1) The majority of existing DT models only involve one-way data transfer from physical entities to virtual models and (2) There is a lack of consideration of the environmental coupling, which results in the inaccurate representation of the virtual components in existing DT models. Thus, this paper highlights the role of environmental factor in DT enabling technologies and in categorized engineering applications. In addition, the review discusses the key challenges and provides future work for constructing DTs of complex engineering systems.

Increasing demand on rail transport speeds up the introduction of new technical systems to optimize the rail traffic and increase competitiveness. Remote control of trains is seen as a potential layer of resilience in railway operations. It allows for operating and controlling automated trains and communicating and coordinating with other stakeholders of the railway system. This paper aims to present the first results of a multi-phased simulator study on the development and optimization of remote train driving concepts from the operators’ point of view.

The presented concept was developed by benchmarking good practices. Two phases of iterative user tests were conducted to evaluate the user experience and preferences of the developed human-machine-interface concept. Basic training requirements were identified and evaluated.

Results indicate positive feedback on the overall system as a fallback solution. HMI elicited positive emotions regarding pleasure and dominance, but low arousal levels. Train drivers had more conservative views on the system compared to signalers and students. The training activities achieved increased awareness and understanding of the system for future operators. Inclusion of potential users in the development of future systems has the potential to improve user acceptance. The iterative user experiments were useful in obtaining some of the needs and preferences of different user groups.

Multi-phase user tests were conducted to identify and to evaluate the requirements and preferences of remote operators using a simplified HMI. Training analysis provides important aspects to consider for the training of future users.