Applied System Innovation

In recent years, the adoption of innovative technologies in maritime transport and logistics systems has become a key aspect towards their development and growth, especially due to the complex and heterogeneous nature of the maritime environment. On the other hand, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are gaining importance in the shipping industry thanks to the huge number of distributed cameras and sensors in modern ships, cargoes and sea ports, which can be exploited to improve safety, costs and productivity. This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a maritime platform, which enables a wide range of 5G-based services in the context of logistics and maritime transportation. Its core is a Narrow Band (NB)-IoT framework used to run massive IoT services on top of a hybrid terrestrial–satellite network and feed a OneM2M platform with significant data on maritime transport to develop high-level and value-added logistic applications on top. Among the many different services that could be provided by the maritime platform, we focus on the cargo-ship container tracking use case through the Global Tracking System, which allows for continuous container monitoring all over the seas in a port-to-port service scenario. The results of the experimental tests illustrate the capacity of the platform in managing the high number of messages transmitted by the container tracking devices (i.e., more than 3000) and its efficiency in limiting the average maximum latency and packet loss below $5.5$ s and $0.9$%, respectively. Full article

Ambient temperature significantly affects the electrical and light parameters of LEDs, such as forward and reverse current, voltage drop LEDs and luminous flux. With an increase in temperature, the decrease in the intensity of LED radiation is explained by physical processes, including the phenomena of non-radiative recombination due to impurity levels, recombination on the surface, losses carriers in the barrier layers of heterostructures, etc. The increase in temperature is also significantly reduces the useful life of LEDs and the LED device in general. Drivers, which allows to stabilize the operating current with a change in the supply voltage of the device and, as the result is light flux. But in LEDs of various types, current stabilization does not lead to the stabilization of the light flux when the temperature regime of their operation changes. When changing ambient temperature in the range of +40…+60 °C, the luminous flux of LEDs is significant decreases even in the case when their current is kept constant, as we can see from documentation for most of LED types. An article analyzes the effect of temperature on electrical and light parameters LEDs with different types of drivers as part of LED lighting devices, such as LED lamps and LED spotlights, in order to offer possible constructive solutions for partial reduction or elimination of the decline problem luminous flux of LED devices under conditions of their operation at high temperatures. Full article

Over the last years, capabilities of robotic systems have quantitatively and qualitatively improved. But going beyond isolated robotic systems, the integration and interoperability of robotic capabilities in complex work processes remains a major challenge. This lack of tools to integrate robots needs to be addressed on technical, semantic and organizational level. In the ROBxTASK research project, we developed an approach to support cooperation between different types of users in order to enable domain experts, with no robotic know-how, to work with robot-assisted workflows. By engineering robotic skills at a useful and usable level of abstraction for experts in different domains, we aim to increase re-usability of these skills on two different levels, (robotic) device level, and on level of application specific workflows. The researched prototype consists of a web platform, which allows (a) engineers to register (robotic) devices and the implemented skills of the devices, (b) domain experts to use a graphical task design environment to create workflows across multiple robotic devices and lastly (c) robot co-workers to download and execute the workflow code in a local environment with digital twins or real robots. Additionally skills and workflows can be shared across organisations. Initial user studies have shown that the visual programming environment is accessible and the defined skill-set is easy to understand even for domain experts that are inexperienced in the field of robotics. Full article

Many modern vehicles collect inter-vehicle distance data from radar sensors as input to driver assistance systems. However, vehicle manufacturers often use proprietary algorithms to conceal the collected data, making them inaccessible to external individuals, such as researchers. Aftermarket sensors may circumvent this issue. This study investigated the use of low-cost radar sensors to determine inter-vehicle distances during real-world semi-automated truck platooning on two-way, two-lane rural roads. Radar data from the two follower trucks in a three-truck platoon were collected, synchronized and filtered. The sensors measured distance, relative velocity and signal-to-noise ratio. Dashboard camera footage was collected, coded and synchronized to the radar data, providing context about the driving situation, such as oncoming trucks, roundabouts and tunnels. The sensors had different configuration parameters, suggested by the supplier, to avoid signal interference. With parameters as chosen, sensor ranges, inferred from maximum distance measurements, were approximately 74 and 71 m. These values were almost on par with theoretical calculations. The sensors captured the preceding truck for 83–85% of the time where they had the preceding truck within range, and 95–96% of the time in tunnels. While roundabouts are problematic, the sensors are feasible for collecting inter-vehicle distance data during truck platooning. Full article

Smart technologies have been the subject of a growing interest for the past few years due to the growing market demand. They are believed to improve human life, existence, and companies’ performance. Considering the recent advances, X.0 concept has proven to be a mindset changing so that companies can now see that they can improve their competitiveness, ensure an innovative, sustainable and resilient environment, and smarten and develop their lean manufacturing tools. Nevertheless, if X.0 adoption is still not at its highest level, it is because of the relevant challenges and difficulties that occur during the implementation process. Within this scope, this paper aims, through a systematic literature review, to identify risks and opportunities of X.0 technologies to constitute a referential to be taken into consideration for a successful implementation. Results are validated by the modelling and simulation of an RFID system applied within the automotive industry, for which we identified risks and opportunities from one side and the system contribution in terms of smart Lean Manufacturing. From one hand, the value added of this paper, on the contrary of previous researches, is mainly regrouping risks and opportunities of most relevant digital technologies to conclude on those of X.0 revolution as a concept as described in following sections. From another hand, we were able to prove, through a real case study, that X.0 concept directly contribute in smartening and improving lean manufacturing principles. Full article

Growing obesity has been a worldwide issue for several decades. This is the outcome of common nutritional disorders which results in obese individuals who are prone to many diseases. Managing diet while simultaneously dealing with the obligations of a working adult can be difficult. This paper presents the design and development of a smartphone-based diet-tracking application, Smart Diet Diary, to assist obese people as well as patients to manage their dietary intake for a healthier life. The proposed system uses deep learning to recognize a food item and calculate its nutritional value in terms of calorie count. The dataset used comprises 16,000 images of food items belonging to 14 different categories to train a multi-label classifier. We applied a pre-trained faster R-CNN model for classification and achieved an overall accuracy of approximately 80.1% and an average calorie computation within 10% of the real calorie value. Full article

Society currently faces two crucial challenges: digital transition and energy transition. Educative innovation plays a key role in this challenging scenario, particularly engineering careers, where laboratory practices are as important as theoretical classes. This paper presents a standardized training platform supported by five European universities which include a remote laboratory experience. Each university is responsible for developing a training module under the guidance provided by the responsible entity (University of Huelva, Spain). For this purpose, the University of Huelva has implemented a remote laboratory based on a supercapacitor power bank. The rest of the universities have selected any other renewable source and have replicated the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. The result is a European network materialized on a homogenized platform where teachers and students can find all the teaching materials (theory and practice) to train and to be trained in renewable energy matters in the new digital era. Full article

Network control of autonomous robotic devices involves a vast number of secured data coding, verification, and identification procedures to provide reliable work of distant agents. Blockchain scheme provides here the model of the extended linked list for the verification of critical data, approved by quasi-random hash values assigned by external network nodes. And quantum lines are the source of high-quality quasi-random keys used as hash values. Discrete multiple-valued logic in such procedures is a simple and flexible tool to form the logic linked list, combining critical internal parameters of agents with data taken from external nodes. Such combination enlarges the set of possible schemes for data protection from illegal modifications and for data restoration. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new way of communicating that is changing the way things are monitored and controlled from a distance. Gradually, companies want to digitalize their production processes and implement control and monitoring systems on the shop floor. On the basis of the Industry 4.0 concept, internet features and database services have been incorporated into processes in order to reinvent manufacturing. This study proposes a proof-of-concept system for the management of additive manufacturing (AM) machines, where an internet integration of beacon technology in the manufacturing environment enables the rapid and intuitive interchange of production data retrieved from machines with mobile devices in various applications. Even though AM technologies can be used to customize the final product, they cannot be used to make a lot of 3D-printed jobs at once for commercial usage. Therefore, this research-based study aims to understand IoT technologies to improve the understanding and reliability of AM processes and 3D print smart materials in large quantities for manufacturers around the world. This study demonstrates the significance of the successful use of internet-based technologies in AM by examining its practical consequences in various fields. This paper gives an overview of IoT-based remote monitoring and control systems that could solve problems in AM, particularly in digital twin, human augmentation (HA), 3D bioprinters, 3D scanners, input parameters optimization, and electronics fields. IoT in AM makes production processes more efficient, reduces waste, and meets customer needs. Full article

Modern society is living at a time of revolutionary changes in all areas of human life. For example, the field of industrial manufacturing has greatly influenced the role of human beings during the past 30 years. Modern manufacturing systems are in a phase of transition, in accordance with the concept of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). A new manufacturing paradigm based on the principles of Industry 4.0 is presented by Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS). A basic building block of SMS is cyber-physical production systems (CPPS), which together with innovative-management principles of emergence, self-organization, learning, open innovation, collaboration and the networking of people and organizations are the key principles of Industry 4.0. The three key enablers of Industry 4.0, i.e., the connectivity, the digitization and the cybernation of work processes in manufacturing systems, have paved the way for a new industrial revolution, i.e., Industry 5.0 concept that is bringing about a new paradigm in the field of manufacturing systems, the so-called Adaptive Cognitive Manufacturing Systems (ACMS). A fundamental building block of ACMS is the new generation of manufacturing systems called Cognitive Cyber-Physical Production Systems (C-CPPS), which are based on CPPS concepts and incorporate cognitive technologies and artificial intelligence. This paper presents the revolutionary development of manufacturing and manufacturing systems through the industrial revolutions and the evolution of the role of humans in manufacturing systems towards Industry 5.0. Full article

The concept of Industry 4.0 has received enormous levels of attention since it was introduced in 2011 and continues to be a dominant management trend. However, during the last few years, Industry 5.0 has emerged as an alternative visionary management concept. Although Industry 5.0 builds on and is related to its predecessor, it provides a different vision of the future of industry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to carry out an in-depth examination of these two related management concepts, using management fashion theory as an interpretive framework and lens. Viewing Industry 4.0 and 5.0 from this vantage point involves analyzing and tracing the involvement activities of the suppliers of the two concepts as well as gauging the concepts’ demand-side impact. Generally, the comparative analysis of the cases of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 indicates that, while the growth and popularity of Industry 4.0 appear to have plateaued, it remains at a high level. Although Industry 5.0 is growing in popularity and is gaining followers and supporters, it is still a much more marginal concept and movement. This study contributes to the management fashion literature by showing how two highly related but competing management concept movements coevolve. Furthermore, the two cases provide novel insights into the trajectories and lifecycles of fashionable management concepts, in particular, the early phase where actors are actively attempting to generate credibility and legitimacy and drum up support and enthusiasm for their preferred ideas. Full article

The use of data warehouses combined with online analytical processing (OLAP) platforms has become popular in Taiwan’s insurance market. However, most schools do not have an insurance data warehouse and OLAP platform for student learning in Taiwan. The researched courses are insurance information system courses for two university classes. Based on the teacher’s experience and innovativeness, those courses are integrated using the guided project-based learning approach. Students need to build a customer micro-database, analyze customer figures through pivot analysis charts, and plan marketing campaigns. The study finds a project-based learning approach is helpful to enhance students’ OLAP analysis abilities. Secondly, the research finds that the flexibility for students to choose the topic of their project is one of the key success factors. Thirdly, the evaluation share of the student’s learning scores is important for the completion of the project. Fourthly, the courses are accompanied with satisfaction questionnaires to monitor the learning results and analyze the learning satisfaction for students among course A, course B, and the college average. Those students in the two classes both have higher satisfaction scores than the college average, but there are still differences between the classes after the t-test. Full article

One of the most important factors that influence people’s daily lives and their well-being at work is the so-called “worker safety”. Different literature works demonstrated the positive effects on worker mood and well-being brought by the awareness of being in a safe environment and, consequently, less prone to accidents. Every working environment should guarantee safety protection to employees and operators both in normal operations and extraordinary duties (e.g., maintenance operations), however, the industrial domain is the one that is more exposed to risks for workers. Different technologies already accomplished such requirements in “normal” operations, nonetheless, the literature still lacks solutions to also monitor and guide operators during exceptional and dangerous operations (e.g., maintenance). The combination of IoT and Industry 4.0 can guide the research toward the resolution of the maintenance-related exposed problems. This paper proposes an IoT-aware architecture for the industrial domain to support maintenance operators. It was designed to guide them step by step while real-time monitoring plant, machinery, and other employees working in the same area. During the maintenance procedure, the operator is guided in the proper execution of every single step required by maintenance and an autonomous IoT system monitors the status of the different parts of the plants and machinery to, then, authorize and show, the next steps foreseen in the maintenance process. To test the feasibility and usefulness of the proposed system, a prototype was developed and functionally tested through the exploitation of a machinery simulator and a real lathe machine. Full article

Sustainability assessment methods have gained the attention between urban planners and policymakers since they promote a comprehensive view of the cities. Intelligent solutions, enabled by advances in information technologies, can accelerate progress in achieving sustainability goals. In this context, City Information Modelling (CIM) emerges as a tool to facilitate urban sustainability assessment implementation. Accordingly, the main question aimed to address in this article is whether conventional sustainability assessment tools can be adapted to the CIM framework. In this regard, this study extracts the most consensual list of indicators from four sustainability assessment methods: BREEAM-C, LEED-ND, SNTool, and SBTool^PT Urban, to identify a clear set of key sustainability priorities. The selected sustainability assessment methods are pioneering and often used for performance assessment at the urban scale. Furthermore, the indicators extracted from the assessment methods are measurable and can present accurate results. The study analyses the potential of the selected indicators to be calculated in CIM. The final product of the article is identifying the indicators that are adaptable to be used in the CIM approach. Full article

This article presents an experimental approach to fatigue testing of cableway gondolas, carried out in accordance with the EN 13796-3 standard. Due to the limitations of the aforementioned regulations and the lack of clarity in their content, when designing and conducting fatigue tests of gondolas, there is a need to find solutions that meet the normative requirements, while ensuring the cost-effectiveness of the tests. The work presents the method of loading, receiving the degrees of freedom, the methodology of gondola strength verification and additional suggestions allowing for the satisfactory preparation of a plan of fatigue tests and their implementation. The paper shows problems and ways to solve it, what may occur during cableway gondolas fatigue test design. In addition, the work contains an extensive description and methodology for conducting research verifying the elastic and permanent deformation of the structure, using digital image correlation (DIC). The results obtained by using this method make it possible to unambiguously determine the degree of structure deformation while maintaining high accuracy and repeatability of measurements at many points of the structure. Following the presented tests, it was possible to correctly carry out fatigue tests of the nacelle in a satisfactory time (about 8 weeks), perform 5 million load cycles and verify the integrity of the structure. The presented results show the effectiveness of the adopted design assumptions and indicate the process that guarantees the correctness of the conducted fatigue tests. The prepared study may be the basis for further full-scale fatigue tests. The research object is a 6-seater gondola designed by TRANSSYSTEM S.A. Full article

The exploitation of renewable energy sources in the building sector is a challenging aspect of achieving sustainability. The incorporation of a proper storage unit is a vital issue for managing properly renewable electricity production and so to avoid the use of grid electricity. The present investigation examines a zero-energy residential building that uses photovoltaics for covering all its energy needs (heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and appliances-lighting needs). The building uses a reversible heat pump and an electrical heater, so there is not any need for fuel. The novel aspect of the present analysis lies in the utilization of hydrogen as the storage technology in a power-to-hydrogen-to-power design. The residual electricity production from the photovoltaics feeds an electrolyzer for hydrogen production which is stored in the proper tank under high pressure. When there is a need for electricity, and the photovoltaics are not enough, the hydrogen is used in a fuel cell for producing the needed electricity. The present work examines a building of 400 m² floor area in Athens with total yearly electrical demand of 23,656 kWh. It was found that the use of 203 m² of photovoltaics with a hydrogen storage capacity of 34 m³ can make the building autonomous for the year period. Full article

Although several prior studies have outlined and examined models associated with knowledge and innovation in different fields, the literature lacks any solid insights combining the Triple Helix model and the Spinner Innovation model and ascertaining their relevance to innovation. This article correspondingly presents an unprecedented alternative based on two innovation models, analyzing and structuring a process to innovate in different economic sectors. In doing so, this paper seeks to explore how this integration between Spinner Innovation and Triple Helix models could have a significant influence to improve system innovation. We collected data from the Scopus database spanning the period between 2012 and 2021 to study the integration of the models. The analysis identifies how these models differ but are nevertheless of complementary importance for developing regional and national economies through combining the “helices”, the “fidgets” and the framework integrating both models and their components to system innovation. Full article

The estimation of power curve is the central task for efficient operation and prediction of wind power generation. It is often the case, however, that the actual data exhibit a great deal of variations in power output with respect to wind speed, and thus the power curve estimation necessitates the detection and proper treatment of outliers. This study proposes a novel procedure for outlier detection and elimination for estimating power curves of wind farms by employing clustering algorithms of vector quantization and density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise. Testing different parametric models of power output curve, the proposed methodology is demonstrated for obtaining power curves of individual wind turbines in a Korean wind farm. It is asserted that the outlier elimination procedure for power curve modeling outlined in this study can be highly efficient at the presence of noises. Full article

High hygiene standards were established during the COVID-19 epidemic, and their adherence was closely monitored. They included the need to regularly wash one’s hands and the requirement to cover person’s upper airways or keep at least a two-meter space between individuals. The ITS (Information Technology Systems) community made a big contribution to this by developing methods and applications for the ongoing observation of people and the environment. Our major objective was to create a low-cost, straightforward system for tracking and assessing the danger of spreading COVID-19 in a space.The proposed system collects data from various low-cost environmental sensors such as temperature, humidity, CO${}_2$, the number of people, the dynamics of speech, and the cleanliness of the environment with a significant connection to elements of wearable electronics and then evaluate the level of contamination and possible risks and, in the event of a high level of risk, alerts the person to take actions that can reduce or eliminate favourable conditions for the spread of the virus. The system was created at the Laboratory of industrial control systems of the University of Žilina, Slovakia. The experiment demonstrates the ability and feasibility to control the number of people in a space depending on particular symptoms like fever, coughing, and hand hygiene. On the other hand, the laboratory’s temperature, humidity, and air quality should be controlled to reduce the spread of illness. Full article