Experimental Results in Multi-UAV Coordination for Disaster Management and Civil Security Applications

This paper describes a multi-UAV distributed decisional architecture developed in the framework of the AWARE Project together with a set of tests with real Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to validate this approach in disaster management and civil security applications. The paper presents the different components of the AWARE platform and the scenario in which the multi-UAV missions were carried out. The missions described in this paper include surveillance with multiple UAVs, sensor deployment and fire threat confirmation. In order to avoid redundancies, instead of describing the operation of the full architecture for every mission, only non-overlapping aspects are highlighted in each one. Key issues in multi-UAV systems such as distributed task allocation, conflict resolution and plan refining are solved in the execution of the missions.     

Aspects of quality related to the consumption and production of lamb meat. Consumers versus producers

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the different evaluations made by the agents at either end of the lamb meat chain, i.e. producers and consumers, in relation to the parameters that consumers use when purchasing lamb meat and the factors that affect the production of quality lamb meat. In addition, consumer segments that can be targeted for action by the different agents in the chain were examined. The study was carried out in Aragón, a region in north east Spain that is a producer and consumer of lamb meat. 371 surveys were carried out on purchasers of lamb meat and 49 surveys on sheep farmers. Bivariant analyses and a cluster analysis were performed. The results suggest that there are certain congruencies and divergences between producers and consumers. Also, a segment of consumers for whom the hygiene and sanitary conditions on the farm, animal welfare and the environment are of great importance were found.     

Methods for modelling the ultimate strength of orthotropic plate with a central hole under uniaxial tension

The stress state in plates with circular holes made of orthotropic homogeneous material has no singularities and it can be exactly determined. The numerical stress distribution calculation by the finite element method will be compared with those obtained by the analytical equations developed by several authors. The goal of this work is to validate the finite element method, in conjunction with in-plane and out of plane failure criteria, in order to calculate not only the stress distribution for orthotropic plates with circular holes but also to determine their ultimate strength.The tool used has been a user subroutine (UMAT) specially developed for this work that implements the features of the commercial FE program (ABAQUS). The code performs an implicit analysis of the stress-state with progressive damage modelling.Finally, both of them, numerical and analytical method, will be checked with experimental tests by means of strain gauges.     

Extraction and analysis of ceramides from internal wool lipids

This study sought to obtain internal wool lipid extracts rich in ceramides from different wool types. Extraction methods, i.e., Soxhlet extraction with different organic solvents and supercritical fluid extraction with CO₂ using several polarity modifiers such as MeOH or EtOH, were optimized. The internal wool lipid content varied from 0.2 to 1.9% (based on wool weight) with a ceramide content ranging from 15 to 30% (based on extract weight). The Spanish and Russian Merino wool extracts were the richest in ceramide compounds. TLC-FID was used to quantify the different internal wool lipid extracts. A new experimental protocol that enabled us to identify most of the different ceramide types is presented. These internal wool lipid extracts, especially the ones with a high ceramide content, may be regarded as an alternative source of animal ceramides, which could be of value in the cosmetic and dermopharmaceutical industries.     

Factors that affect and motivate the purchase of quality-labelled beef in Spain

The aim of the present study was to identify the factors that affect and motivate the purchase of quality-labelled beef in Spain. For this purpose a total of 364 surveys were carried out on buyers of beef in three Spanish cities. The sample was divided into three groups of buyers according to the frequency with which they buy beef with a quality label. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the differences between groups. The results showed the importance of the production region as a quality aspect. In general terms, variables such as income level and lifestyles would seem to be the variables that enable us to discriminate between quality-labelled beef buyers and non-buyers, whereas beef purchasing habits, a greater appreciation of production systems and attitudes towards quality-labelled beef, are the variables that may explain the differences that exist between regular and occasional quality-labelled beef buyers.     

Solubilization of phosphatidylcholine unilamellar liposomes caused by alkyl glucosides

Solubilizing alterations caused by a series of alkyl glucosides (alkyl chain lengths ranging from C₈ to C₁₂) in phosphatidylcholine (PC) unilamellar liposomes were investigated. Surfactant-to-phospholipid molar ratios (Re) and bilayer/aqueous phase partition coefficients (K) were determined by monitoring changes in static light scattering (SLS) of the system during solubilization. At the two interaction levels investigated (surfactant concentrations producing SLS values of 100 and 0% for each surfactant/PC system studied) the free surfactant concentration for each surfactant was always comparable to its critical micelle concentration (CMC). This indicates that liposome solubilization was mainly ruled by mixed micelle formation. A rise in CMC (or decrease in the surfactant alkyl chain length) resulted in an increase in the ability of these surfactants to saturate or solubilize PC liposomes and, inversely, in an abrupt decrease in their affinity with these bilayer structures. The overall balance of these opposite tendencies shows that the octyl glucoside had the highest ability to saturate and solubilize liposomes (lowest Re values), whereas the dodecyl glucoside exhibited the highest degree of partitioning into liposomes or affinity with bilayer structures (highest K values). From a practical viewpoint, the use of nonyl glucoside reduced approximately 2.5 times the concentration needed to saturate and solubilize 1.0 mM PC liposomes with respect to that needed using the conventional octyl glucoside.     

Polymerization by phase transfer catalysis

Summary The hydrolysis of bisphenol A polythiocarbonate is studied under phase transfer conditions, and occurs principally in the organic phase, influenced by the catalysts according to their structure.For part 6, see the preceding paper     

The flow rate of granular materials through an orifice

The flow rate of grains through large orifices is known to be dependent on its diameter to a 5/2 power law. This relationship has been checked for big outlet sizes, whereas an empirical fitting parameter is needed to reproduce the behavior for small openings. In this work, we provide experimental data and numerical simulations covering a wide span of outlet sizes, both in three- and two-dimensions. This allows us to show that the laws that are usually employed are satisfactory only if a small range of openings is considered. We propose a new law for the mass flow rate of grains that correctly reproduces the data for all the orifice sizes, including the behaviors for very large and very small outlet sizes.     

A distributed architecture for a robotic platform with aerial sensor transportation and self‐deployment capabilities

This paper presents the architecture developed in the framework of the AWARE project for the autonomous distributed cooperation between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), wireless sensor/actuator networks, and ground camera networks. One of the main goals was the demonstration of useful actuation capabilities involving multiple ground and aerial robots in the context of civil applications. A novel characteristic is the demonstration in field experiments of the transportation and deployment of the same load with single/multiple autonomous aerial vehicles. The architecture is endowed with different modules that solve the usual problems that arise during the execution of multipurpose missions, such as task allocation, conflict resolution, task decomposition, and sensor data fusion. The approach had to satisfy two main requirements: robustness for operation in disaster management scenarios and easy integration of different autonomous vehicles. The former specification led to a distributed design, and the latter was tackled by imposing several requirements on the execution capabilities of the vehicles to be integrated in the platform. The full approach was validated in field experiments with different autonomous helicopters equipped with heterogeneous devices onboard, such as visual/infrared cameras and instruments to transport loads and to deploy sensors. Four different missions are presented in this paper: sensor deployment and fire confirmation with UAVs, surveillance with multiple UAVs, tracking of firemen with ground and aerial sensors/cameras, and load transportation with multiple UAVs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.