• Rural Digital Europe
• Fraunhofer-ePrints close

At the 10th Thermospheric Ionospheric GEospheric Research (TIGER/COSPAR) symposium held in Moscow in 2014 the achievements from the start of TIGER in 1998 were summarized. During that period, great progress was made in measuring, understanding, and modeling the highly variable UV-Soft X-ray (XUV) solar spectral irradiance (SSI), and its effects on the upper atmosphere. However, after more than 50 years of work the radiometric accuracy of SSI observation is still an issue and requires further improvement. Based on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) data from the SOLAR/SolACES, and SDO/EVE instruments, we present a combined data set for the spectral range from 16.5 to 105.5 nm covering a period of 3.5 years from 2011 through mid of 2014. This data set is used in ionospheric modeling of the global total electron content (TEC), and in validating EUV SSI modeling. For further investigations the period of 3.5 years is being extended to about 12 years by including data from SOHO/SEM and TIMED/SEE instruments. Similarly, UV data are used in modeling activities. After summarizing the results, concepts are proposed for future real-time SSI measurements with in-flight calibration as experienced with the ISS SOLAR payload, for the development of a space weather camera for observing and investigating space weather phenomena in real-time, and for providing data sets for SSI and climate modeling. Other planned topics are the investigation of the relationship between solar EUV/UV and visible/near-infrared emissions, the impact of X-rays on the upper atmosphere, the development of solar EUV/UV indices for different applications, and establishing a shared TIGER data system for EUV/UV SSI data distribution and real-time streaming, also taking into account the achievements of the FP7 SOLID (First European SOLar Irradiance Data Exploitation) project. - For further progress it is imperative that coordinating activities in this special field of solar-terrestrial relations and solar physics is emphasized. International audience

In this work, we present a remote sensing system based on active infrared laser illumination for detection of explosive substances. The spectroscopy system comprises two tunable quantum cascade laser sources covering a total tuning range of 300 cm (-1) from 7.7 µm to 10 µm. A high performance mercury-cadmium-telluride infrared camera is used to collect the diffusely backscattered light. The resulting measurement data forms a hyperspectral image, where each pixel vector contains the bachscattering spectrum of a specific location in the scene. The image spectra are tested for contamination with target spectra including PETN, RDX, TNT and ammonium nitrate using the well-known adaptive matched subspace algorithm.

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) applications have been slowly making their path in the industry. Although the required hardware and the methods for the planning and development of collaborative robotic applications are mostly already developed, some industrial branches still struggle to implement HRC. This is the case in motorcycle production, where, unlike car production, the assembly line has been optimized for manual work. Based on the use case described above, this paper identifies new requirements of HRC for automated screwing assembly operations in flexible production environments. In order to compensate deviations in the position of the tool relative to the workpiece, a screwing strategy based on force control is proposed. Parameter sensitivity is considered and supported experimentally with a screwing task performed by a cobot, where a method for contact detection between the nutrunner and the screw head is analyzed. This paper brings a guideline for experts from the manufacturing system engineering to implement HRC in highly dynamic assembly environments.

When wastes are recycled, soil limit values should constitute an essential regulatory instrument for the establishment of admissible levels of pollutant inputs into soils. For the purpose of precautionary soil protection, inputs of unavoidable pollutants should correspond to the amount of output that can be regarded as harmless, at the lowest possible level. Such a level can be characterised by soil background values. Additional effect-related considerations are taken into account in order to derive soil precautionary values. This paper presents the conceptional framework of an approach for soil protection regarding application of waste to land. When wastes are recycled, soil limit values should constitute an essential regulatory instrument for the establishment of admissible levels of pollutant inputs into soils. For the purpose of precautionary soil protection, inputs of unavoidable pollutants should correspond to the amount of output that can be regarded as harmless, at the lowest possible level. Such a level can be characterised by soil background values. Additional effect-related considerations are taken into account in order to derive soil precautionary values. This paper presents the conceptional framework of an approach for soil protection regarding application of waste to land.

Since around 2011 pilot projects to innovate land tenure documentation are being implemented in various countries in the global south in order to address the shortcomings of formal land registration. A longer-term question, underlying the present study, is how these innovations relate in the longer run to existing institutional arrangements of land governance in the respective context of implementation. Guided by this more general question, we discuss in this paper first the characteristics for 6 of these approaches. And second, we discuss four closely related challenges identified through a thematic analysis from interview transcripts with representatives of the initiatives. Regarding characteristics, we find a basic commonality of the initiatives is the general approach to tenure documentation through community based digital data capture, in many cases via mobile applications, and the acknowledgment of the plurality of land tenure regimes, which are often not accounted for in statutory land tenure registration laws and/or administrative procedures and practices. Looking at the initiatives in more detail a number of differences become apparent in terms of financing mechanisms and organizational characteristics, as well as application domains. We identify four challenges in the process of implementation. One is the need to strike a balance between inclusion of diverse land tenures, on one hand, and necessary adjustments to existing institutional norms and regulations in land governance. A second pertains to questions of purpose and longer-term goals as implementation requires a fair amount of flexibility in practice. The third challenge relates to the question of the legitimacy of both collected digital data and the paper documents that are being issued. And finally, on the side of digital data production, a longer-term challenge pertains to finding an good balance between transparency and openness, on one hand, and protection of people's land data, on the other. Based on these challenges, we discuss directions for future implementation, evaluation and research.

Within this paper, the authors explain their transdisciplinary vision of nutrient recovery for sustainable urban plant cultivation in Germany from different but complementary perspectives (SUSKULT vision). Nowadays, the demand for fresh, healthy, locally and sustainably produced food in German urban areas is constantly increasing. At the same time, current agricultural systems contribute significantly to exceeding the planetary boundaries. The disruption of the phosphorus and nitrogen cycles in particular stands out from the manifold effects of modern food production on the Earth system. One central issue that will have to be faced in the future is how increased yields in agriculture will be achieved with high-energy requirements in fertilizer production and pollution of water and soil by phosphorus and reactive nitrogen. City region food systems (CRFS) can be a solution to overcome these issues. Nevertheless, to ensure sustainable CRFS, innovative technologies and methods need to be developed, including nutrient and energy recovery and adapted horticultural cultivation methods that fit complex urban dynamics. Such new strategies need to be integrated in long-term social and political transformation processes to enhance acceptance of food produced by recyclates. The joint contribution of experts from the wastewater, horticultural, and political sciences, together with industrial and societal sector actors, is critical to reach these objectives. The overarching goal of SUSKULT’s vision is the establishment of the field of urban circular agricultural production as an innovative sector of the bio-based economy in Germany.

An integrated manufacturing system planning and off-line programming concept is presented. A realized system for planning and explicit programming of a robotized assembly cell is explained in detail.

This paper describes a feasibility study for the use of robotics in offshore oil and gas exploration and production facilities. One application for robotics with potential to reduce operational expenditure and health, safety and environment exposure is a Mobile Universal Service Robot. The implementation of a first demonstrator and its evaluation in a real world field test is described afterwards. Assisted tele-operation as well as the capability to manipulate process equipment were two requests raised by offshore professionals during this field test. Finally this paper describes approaches of the ImRoNet project to achieve these requests.

In this paper we outline the euRathlon 2015 and the ERL Emergency 2017 Grand Challenge robotics competitions, and the results and lessons learned from euRathlon 2015. Staged at Piombino, Italy in September 2015, euRathlon 2015 was the world's first multi-domain (air, land and sea) multi-robot search and rescue competition. In a mock disaster scenario inspired by the 2011 Fukushima NPP accident the euRathlon 2015 Grand Challenge required teams of robots to cooperate to map the area, and missing workers and stem a leak. The second edition of the competition will be held also in Piombino in September 2017, under the name of ERL Emergency and as part of the new European Robotics League initiative.

AbstractTomographic techniques are a valuable analytical tool as they deliver 3D spatial information on a given specimen. Both computed tomography with high spatial resolution and quantitative volume image analysis have made enormous progress during the last decade. In particular for materials and natural science applications the combination of high-resolution three-dimensional imaging and the subsequent image analysis exploiting the fully preserved spatial structural information yield new and exciting insights.In this paper, field-tested and up-to-date methods for tomographic imaging of microstructures, for processing and for quantitatively analysing three-dimensional images are reviewed. By selected applications from materials research, we shall underline the importance of volume image analysis as a crucial step in order to go beyond the images: it allows determination of spatial cross-correlations between different constituents of a specimen, investigation of orientations or derivation of statistically relevant information such as object size distributions. The core part of this work consists, besides the exemple application scenarios, in the processing chain, the tools and methods used.