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20 pages, 3480 KiB

Open AccessArticle

System Architecture Design of IoT-Based Smart Cities

by Bedir Tekinerdogan, Ömer Köksal and Turgay Çelik

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 4173; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074173 - 24 Mar 2023

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 8370

Abstract

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) networks into smart cities is crucial to enhance the efficiency of city operations and services. Designing a smart city architecture that can adapt to the constantly changing functional and quality requirements of city services is essential. [...] Read more.

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) networks into smart cities is crucial to enhance the efficiency of city operations and services. Designing a smart city architecture that can adapt to the constantly changing functional and quality requirements of city services is essential. However, critical decisions must be made during this process, such as selecting communication protocols, ensuring security and safety, optimizing time performance, and processing data capacity. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a systematic approach to guide the system architecture design of IoT-based smart cities. The approach starts with feature-driven domain analysis to model smart city requirements, followed by the design of a reference architecture for IoT-based smart cities. The architecture is modeled using selected architectural views, while considering key stakeholders and their concerns. Additionally, this paper presents valuable insights into lessons learned and challenges encountered during the process of creating IoT-based smart cities. This information can assist practitioners in developing such smart cities and pave the way for future research in this field. By following this proposed approach, smart city architects can design a robust and adaptable system architecture that can meet the evolving needs of smart city services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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27 pages, 6624 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Air to Water Generator Integrated System Real Application: A Study Case in a Worker Village in United Arab Emirates

by Lucia Cattani, Paolo Cattani and Anna Magrini

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3094; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053094 - 27 Feb 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4753

Abstract

The water crisis is currently affecting billions of people. To mitigate the issue, unconventional water sources should be taken into account. Among them, atmosphere is a promising possibility, but it is still considered a novel source, and more studies, based on real results [...] Read more.

The water crisis is currently affecting billions of people. To mitigate the issue, unconventional water sources should be taken into account. Among them, atmosphere is a promising possibility, but it is still considered a novel source, and more studies, based on real results concerning the behaviour of the Atmospheric/Air-to Water Generator (AWG) systems, also known as Atmospheric Water Harvesting (AWH) systems, are needed to prove the water extraction sustainability. The current research work describes the real application of an integrated AWG system, based on a thermodynamic reverse cycle, designed to extract water from air and take advantage of the other useful effects of the cycle at the same time. The integrated machine was placed in Dubai, in a worker village, and tested. The machine is able to provide, at the same time, with the same energy consumption, water, heating and cooling energy. On the basis of onsite measurements, calculations about the efficiencies, using the Water Energy Transformation (WET), plastic savings, due to bottled water avoidance, and economic sustainability were carried out. The work answers to research questions concerning the potentiality of integrated systems in Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) plants revamping, the economic sustainability of water extraction from air and the lack of tests on real AWG machines of thousand-litre production capability (large size). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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12 pages, 1793 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does the Driver Understand the Warning? Comprehension of the Request to Intervene

by Aleksandra Rodak, Mikołaj Kruszewski and Błażej Sztandera

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 9451; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199451 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1870

Abstract

Understanding the information conveyed by symbols is extremely important from the point of view of road safety. The symbols used on road signs and integrated into the vehicle must be clear and legible. This is especially important given the lack of regulations and [...] Read more.

Understanding the information conveyed by symbols is extremely important from the point of view of road safety. The symbols used on road signs and integrated into the vehicle must be clear and legible. This is especially important given the lack of regulations and standardization in the field of modern driving automation systems. Manufacturers are allowed to choose the way of informing the driver about the need to intervene in a situation when the vehicle is unable to continue driving in automated mode. The authors proposed to assess the comprehension of the information displayed by several different icons used to inform the driver about the need to take control. For this purpose, they used the adapted ISO 9186 Comprehension Test. The research was carried out on two different groups of drivers—passenger car drivers and professional bus drivers. A total of nine different pictograms were tested. The results indicate that drivers associate the red color with information about danger. The same icon in different colors may have a different effect on drivers, often leading to wrong responses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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29 pages, 1871 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Generating Activity-Based Mobility Plans from Trip-Based Models and Mobility Surveys

by Lennart Adenaw and Quirin Bachmeier

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8456; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178456 - 24 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2943

Abstract

Manifold applications in transportation system engineering rely on accurate modeling of human mobility demand. This demand is often represented by so-called mobility plans. Distinguished by their levels of aggregation, activity-based and trip-based models are the most prominent types of demand models in the [...] Read more.

Manifold applications in transportation system engineering rely on accurate modeling of human mobility demand. This demand is often represented by so-called mobility plans. Distinguished by their levels of aggregation, activity-based and trip-based models are the most prominent types of demand models in the literature. Macroscopic trip-based models are widely available but do not model mobility at the person level. In contrast, activity-based approaches simulate mobility microscopically but are complex and thus rarely available. The goal of this article is to present, apply, and validate an approach to generate activity-based mobility plans which microscopically reproduce real-world mobility demand but circumvent the complexity of activity-based approaches. To achieve this, existing trip-based models and mobility surveys are employed. Application results for car mobility in the city of Munich show that the obtained mobility plans are realistic on both a microscopic and a macroscopic level with regard to time, space, and activities. The presented approach can thus be considered appropriate for generating activity-based mobility plans whenever the development of a full-scale activity-based demand model is infeasible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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19 pages, 10273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Eco-Driving Controller Based on Intelligent Connected Vehicles for Sustainable Transportation

by Pangwei Wang, Rongsheng Ye, Juan Zhang and Tianren Wang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4533; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094533 - 29 Apr 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2068

Abstract

The rapid increase in the number of vehicles has brought significant challenges to energy conservation and environmental sustainability. To solve these problems, various frameworks and models based on intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) have been identified for road capacity improvement and fuel consumption reduction. [...] Read more.

The rapid increase in the number of vehicles has brought significant challenges to energy conservation and environmental sustainability. To solve these problems, various frameworks and models based on intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) have been identified for road capacity improvement and fuel consumption reduction. In this paper, an eco-driving controller with ICVs was first proposed by combining vehicular dynamics with wireless communication technologies, where the nodes that can implement perception and control in a simulated complex traffic environment have been deployed. Then, the information of the surrounding environment, including the preceding vehicles, was obtained through a wireless communication module based on the technology of vehicle to everything (V2X). Besides, the advanced model predictive control (MPC) strategy was integrated into the ICV controller with the objectives of minimizing the driving spacing and improving environmental sustainability. Finally, a co-simulation platform for ICVs based on a robot operating system (ROS) and PreScan software was constructed, and the dynamic characteristics of the controller were verified in three aspects, including car-following behaviors, fuel efficiency improvement, and carbon dioxide emission reduction. The proposed controller showed that it can reduce fuel consumption by 3.71% and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.42%, in the scenarios of a preceding vehicle with constant velocity, and by 6.77% and 7.91%, respectively, in a preceding vehicle with variable velocity scenario. The demonstrated experimental results show that the proposed controller can effectively reduce fuel consumption and emissions during car-following. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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30 pages, 22586 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multicriteria Route Planning for In-Operation Mass Transit under Urban Data

by Fandel Lin and Hsun-Ping Hsieh

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(6), 3127; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12063127 - 18 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2492

Abstract

Multicriteria route planning is a crucial transportation planning issue under the field of GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) with broad applications. A searching algorithm is proposed to solve the multicriteria route planning problem with spatial urban information and constraints such an existing transit [...] Read more.

Multicriteria route planning is a crucial transportation planning issue under the field of GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) with broad applications. A searching algorithm is proposed to solve the multicriteria route planning problem with spatial urban information and constraints such an existing transit network in operation, certain vertices to be visited in the path, total number of vertices been visited, and length or range for the path. Evaluation of two in-operation mass-transit systems from Chicago and Tainan show that our method can retrieve solutions in a Pareto-optimal sense over comparative methods between profit under queried constraints (the expected passenger flow to be maximized, referring to the social welfare for the public) and cost for construction as well as maintenance (the cost of route to be minimized, referring to the sustainability for the government) with reasonable runtime over comparative methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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Review

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25 pages, 4071 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Digital Twin Technology for Electric and Autonomous Vehicles

by Wasim A. Ali, Maria Pia Fanti, Michele Roccotelli and Luigi Ranieri

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 5871; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13105871 - 10 May 2023

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 8264

Abstract

In the era of technological transformation, mobility and transportation systems are becoming more intelligent and greener. Thanks to powerful technologies and tools, electric and autonomous vehicles are spreading worldwide, substituting internal combustion engine vehicles and revolutionizing the way to drive. In this context, [...] Read more.

In the era of technological transformation, mobility and transportation systems are becoming more intelligent and greener. Thanks to powerful technologies and tools, electric and autonomous vehicles are spreading worldwide, substituting internal combustion engine vehicles and revolutionizing the way to drive. In this context, this paper is an extended version of the paper “Digital Twin in Intelligent Transportation Systems: a Review published in 2020 7th International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies (CoDIT)”. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature from the last five years on the use of digital twin (DT) technology for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs), focusing on electric and autonomous vehicles. In particular, with respect to the previous work, the focus has been expanded to include DT integration with other cutting-edge technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and 5G for ITS. Moreover, this paper presents a broad perspective on challenges in EV applications, including tracking, monitoring, battery and charge management, connectivity, security, and privacy. In addition, this paper discusses how DT can be used to effectively address the current issues in electric vehicle services, such as tracking, monitoring, battery and charge management, connectivity, security, and privacy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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29 pages, 1527 KiB

Open AccessReview

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) for Intrusion Detection and Mitigation in Intelligent Connected Vehicles: A Review

by Cosmas Ifeanyi Nwakanma, Love Allen Chijioke Ahakonye, Judith Nkechinyere Njoku, Jacinta Chioma Odirichukwu, Stanley Adiele Okolie, Chinebuli Uzondu, Christiana Chidimma Ndubuisi Nweke and Dong-Seong Kim

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 1252; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031252 - 17 Jan 2023

Cited by 75 | Viewed by 12313

Abstract

The potential for an intelligent transportation system (ITS) has been made possible by the growth of the Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in the integration of IoT and ITS—known as the Internet of vehicles (IoV). To achieve the goal [...] Read more.

The potential for an intelligent transportation system (ITS) has been made possible by the growth of the Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in the integration of IoT and ITS—known as the Internet of vehicles (IoV). To achieve the goal of automatic driving and efficient mobility, IoV is now combined with modern communication technologies (such as 5G) to achieve intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs). However, IoV is challenged with security risks in the following five (5) domains: ICV security, intelligent device security, service platform security, V2X communication security, and data security. Numerous AI models have been developed to mitigate the impact of intrusion threats on ICVs. On the other hand, the rise in explainable AI (XAI) results from the requirement to inject confidence, transparency, and repeatability into the development of AI for the security of ICV and to provide a safe ITS. As a result, the scope of this review covered the XAI models used in ICV intrusion detection systems (IDSs), their taxonomies, and outstanding research problems. The results of the study show that XAI though in its infancy of application to ICV, is a promising research direction in the quest for improving the network efficiency of ICVs. The paper further reveals that XAI increased transparency will foster its acceptability in the automobile industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Smart Cities: Smart Grids, Buildings and Mobility Systems)

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