Abstract
This paper analyses distinct methods to represent a polygon through circle covering, which satisfy specific requirements, that impact primarily the feasibility and the quality of the layout of final solution. The trade-off between the quality of the polygonal representation and its derived number of circles is also discussed, showing the impact on the resolution of the problem, in terms of computational efficiency. The approach used to tackle the Nesting problem in strip packing uses a Non-Linear Programming model. Addressing these problems allows to tackle real world problems with continuous rotations. © IFAC.

Abstract
While Cluster-Tree network topologies look promising for WSN applications with timeliness and energy-efficiency requirements, we are yet to witness its adoption in commercial and academic solutions. One of the arguments that hinder the use of these topologies concerns the lack of flexibility in adapting to changes in the network, such as in traffic flows. This paper presents a solution to enable these networks with the ability to self-adapt their clusters' duty-cycle and scheduling, to provide increased quality of service to multiple traffic flows. Importantly, our approach enables a network to change its cluster scheduling without requiring long inaccessibility times or the re-association of the nodes. We show how to apply our methodology to the case of IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee cluster-tree WSNs without significant changes to the protocol. Finally, we analyze and demonstrate the validity of our methodology through a comprehensive simulation and experimental validation using commercially available technology on a Structural Health Monitoring application scenario.

Abstract
In the event of a large crisis (think about typhoon Haiyan or the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan), a primordial task of the rescue services is the search for human survivors on the incident site. This is a complex and dangerous task, which often leads to loss of lives among the human crisis managers themselves. The introduction of unmanned search and rescue devices can offer a valuable tool to save human lives and to speed up the search and rescue process. In this context, the EU-FP7-ICARUS project [1] concentrates on the development of unmanned search and rescue technologies for detecting, locating and rescuing humans. The complex nature and difficult operating conditions of search and rescue operations pose heavy constraints on the mechanical design of the unmanned platforms. In this paper, we discuss the different user requirements which have an impact of the design of the mechanical systems (air, ground and marine robots). We show how these user requirements are obtained, how they are validated, how they lead to design specifications for operational prototypes which are tested in realistic operational conditions and we show how the final mechanical design specifications are derived from these different steps. An important aspect of all these design steps which is emphasized in this paper is to always keep the end-users in the loop in order to come to realistic requirements and specifications, ensuring the practical deployability [2] of the developed platforms. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

Abstract
In this work we show numerically the potential of using a metamaterial constituted by ordered arrays of silver nanowires as a sensor for refractive index changes of a surrounding dielectric medium. The results show a strong dependence of the reflectance spectrum on the refractive index of the dielectric medium.

Abstract
Autonomous vehicles are becoming a reality that in the next future will most probably start populating everyday roads. Such vehicles can, on the one hand, increase safety through automated driving, and, on the other, be a means of transportation also for people with disabilities who cannot move alone on commercial cars. Within this class of vehicles, mechanical layouts that allow an actuator redundancy coupled with electric propulsion appear particularly interesting, as they make it possible to design motion controller that can optimally blend multiple objectives, both dynamic, safety and driver-oriented. This paper considers such setting and concentrates on the design of a path-following algorithm with minimum-time features, with the aim of combining performance and energy-oriented optimization of the vehicle motion. The effectiveness of the approach is assessed by means of simulation tests carried out on the CarSim vehicle simulation environment. © IFAC.

Abstract
Drivers routing decisions can be influenced to minimize environmental impacts by using, for instance, dynamic and intelligent road pricing schemes. However, some previous research studies have shown that often different pollutants can dictate different traffic assignment strategies which makes necessary to assign weights to these pollutants so they become comparable. In this chapter, a tool for traffic assignment taking into account eco-routing purposes is presented. The main goal of this work is to identify the best traffic volume distribution that allows a minimization of environmental costs for a given corridor with predetermined different alternative routes. To achieve this, an integrated numerical computing platform was developed by integrating microscopic traffic and emission models. The optimization tool employs non-linear techniques to perform different traffic assignment methods: User Equilibrium (UE), System Optimum (SO) and System Equitable (SE). For each method, different strategies can be assessed considering: (i) individual pollutants and traffic performance criteria; and (ii) all pollutants simultaneously. For the latter case, three different optimization approaches can be assessed based on: (i) economic costs of pollutants once released into the air; (ii) human health impacts according to the Eco-Indicator 99; and (iii) real time atmospheric pollutant concentration levels. The model was applied to a simple network, simulating three levels of traffic demand and three different strategies for traffic assignment. The system is developed in Microsoft Excel and offers a user friendly access to optimization algorithms by including a dynamic user interface. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.