In recent years, there has been a strong activity in the so-called precision agriculture, particularly the monitoring aspect, not only to improve productivity, but also to meet demand of a growing population. At a large scale, precise monitoring of cultivated fields is a quite challenging task. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a survey on techniques, applied to precision agriculture monitoring, through the use of drones equipped with multispectral, thermal and visible cameras. For each application, the main limitations are highlighted and the parameters to be considered before to perform a flight are reported.

This review focuses on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in precision agriculture, and specifically, in precision viticulture (PV), and is intended to present a bibliometric analysis of their developments in the field. To this aim, a bibliometric analysis of research papers published in the last 15 years is presented based on the Scopus database. The analysis shows that the researchers from the United States, China, Italy and Spain lead the precision agriculture through UAV applications. In terms of employing UAVs in PV, researchers from Italy are fast extending their work followed by Spain and finally the United States. Additionally, the paper provides a comprehensive study on popular journals for academicians to submit their work, accessible funding organizations, popular nations, institutions, and authors conducting research on utilizing UAVs for precision agriculture. Finally, this study emphasizes the necessity of using UAVs in PV as well as future possibilities.

Studies have shown that real-time control (RTC) of pressure in water distribution networks (WDNs) can be very effective for leakage reduction. The aim of RTC is to regulate the pressure level over the WDN by guaranteeing a pressure that is nearly constant and as low as possible at the critical node. To this end, a pressure reducing valve (PRV) at the network inlet can be remotely controlled to ensure the optimal service level, regardless of upstream pressure and inflow. Field experiments in a district of Benevento, Italy are carried out to assess the suitability of the proposed approach. Results show that the system guarantees the required pressure at the critical node at all times. The controller is effective in optimizing pressure levels over the entire WDN by also reducing excessive pressure in the other nodes. Experiments show that the pressure control is effective in reducing leakage, as confirmed by the minimum night flow (MNF) measurements.

Different drivers are nowadays leading spacecraft toward an increased level of on-board autonomy. In this paper, we survey model-based techniques as a vehicle to implement highly autonomous on-board capabilities for spacecraft mission planning and execution. In this respect, spacecraft reconfiguration approaches based on Markovian Decision Process are explored, and then compared with other model-based alternatives. The integration of planning systems and dynamic reprogramming capabilities into the on-board software is presented. Finally, operational concepts for mission planning and execution in recent European space projects as well as the implementation of in-flight adaptive mission operations via on-board control procedures are also analyzed.

In this paper, we study the control of probabilistic Boolean control networks (PBCNs) by leveraging a model-free reinforcement learning (RL) technique. In particular, we propose a Q-learning (QL) based approach to address the feedback stabilization problem of PBCNs, and we design optimal state feedback controllers such that the PBCN is stabilized at a given equilibrium point. The optimal controllers are designed for both finite-time stability and asymptotic stability of PBCNs. In order to verify the convergence of the proposed QL algorithm, the obtained optimal policy is compared with the optimal solutions of model-based techniques, namely value iteration (VI) and semi-tensor product (STP) methods. Finally, some PBCN models of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are considered to verify the obtained results.

In recent years, the opportunity of coupling a pressure management strategy with power generation in water distribution networks (WDNs) has attracted increasing interest. Numerical simulations developed for a number of real cases showed attractive profits and capital payback periods. Although many micro- and pico-hydro plants currently are operating along supply water mains, installations in WDNs are quite uncommon because of the high variability of flow and pressure patterns. Aiming at robust and effective industrial-based solutions, a laboratory prototype was developed for hydropower generation in WDNs. A pump as turbine (PAT) was used for generation, although a traditional turbine could be used as well. A control strategy was developed and implemented for automatic setting of regulating valves, aimed at both ensuring adequate pressure over the network and maximizing electric power. Experiments showed that the valves, equipped with the automatic control system previously described, can automatic...