Currently, there is a growing consensus that the use of more sustainable urban freight transportation has the potential to offer major energy and efficiency benefits which can be achieved through the appropriate combination of cargo bikes and the integration of drones into the urban logistics system. This study presents the results of a stepwise regression analysis that examines the role, benefits, and impact of electric vehicles such as e-bikes, cargo bikes, and drones for intermodal freight transportation in five Greek cities to support the green logistics paradigm. The results show that between routes of almost equal length, the most bicycle-friendly routes, such as routes along pedestrian areas or residential streets, should be avoided, as they reduce delivery speed and increase delivery costs in terms of energy and time expenditure. In addition, priority roads, which usually have higher traffic speeds and more trucks, are preferred by cyclists due to the quality of the road surface, even though the feeling of safety is lower on such roads. Finally, regarding drones, energy consumption is relatively low in the 0–5 mph and 6–10 mph wind speed ranges, indicating efficient energy use. In the 11–15 mph and 16–20 mph wind speed ranges, energy efficiency is significantly lower than the battery capacity, indicating that the cargo drone exhibits excessive energy consumption under these conditions.

Keywords: Focus Stacking, 3D reconstruction, small artifacts The 3D digitisation of small artefacts is a very complicated procedure because of their complex morphological feature structures, concavities, rich decorations, high frequency of colour changes in texture, increased accuracy requirements etc. Image-based methods present a low cost, fast and effective alternative because laser scanning does not meet the accuracy requirements in general. A shallow Depth of Field (DoF) affects the image-based 3D reconstruction and especially the point matching procedure. This is visible not only in the total number of corresponding points but also in the resolution of the produced 3D model. The extension of the DoF is a very important task that should be incorporated in the data collection to attain a better quality of the image set and a better 3D model. An extension of the DoF can be achieved with many methods and especially with the use of the focus stacking technique. In this paper, the focus stacking technique was tested in a real-world experiment to digitise a museum artefact in 3D. The experiment conditions include the use of a full frame camera equipped with a normal lens (50mm), with the camera being placed close to the object. The artefact has already been digitised with a structured light system and that model served as the reference model in which 3D models were compared and the results were presented.

This paper presents a holistic guiding methodology for the development of a geospatial tool to be used for the documentation, planning, smart management and dissemination of a country’s network of historic hiking trails. To deal with the challenges and to ensure the sustainability of a historic site, geospatial documentation merging authoritative and crowdsourced data and a WebGIS-based spatial analysis is necessary. Geospatial data collection should include professional field surveys, professional and crowdsourced photographic documentation and video recording of the existing historic walking/hiking trails. A geodatabase, structured using relational model technology, including vector spatial entities (feature classes), mosaics (raster) and tabulated data (geodatabase tables), should be developed on a commercial or open platform; in this case, the ArcGIS Pro is used. Entities with embedded descriptive information and metadata for the technical, legal, historical, and administrative context may then be created. An object-oriented data model is needed to connect spatial and descriptive information. Spatial and descriptive queries or correlations between attribute fields of spatial entities must be enabled for specialized information retrieval by either experts or users. Next, a web GIS application to present the developed geodatabase in a visually appealing and informative way is created. It should integrate 2D maps with built-in tools and should support advanced functionalities, such as: (i) pop-ups that display brief information and images about specific spots along the trails; (ii) dynamic visualization of the vertical profile of each trail; (iii) multimedia information about landmarks, natural features and scenic viewpoints. Finally, the tool includes a feedback service and continuous efficiency monitoring and assessment, and enables adjustments, if and where needed. The tool is tested and used for 10 historical walking/hiking trails of the archaeological and Holy Site of Meteora, Central Greece. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The network, with a total length of 35 km, leads to six monasteries, still active since the 12th century, passing by gigantic rocks and beautiful natural landscapes. The site is famous globally and the greater area is continuously overcrowded with visitors. The tool is anticipated to be used for the documentation and management of the whole walking/hiking historic trail network of Greece in the future.

The detailed and thorough documentation of monuments is a rather complex process that requires the application of the best available state of the art techniques in order to preserve, restore, promote and make cultural heritage accessible to the public. This paper presents the 3D Geometric Documentation of a part of the medieval fortress of Chios, focussing in particular on the practical challenges which the object presented. The case study is a part of the fortified construction, consisting of a bastion, a watch tower on top of this bastion and a significant part of its walls with a surface of about 1053 m² in total. The goal of the survey was to produce an accurate 3D detailed textured model and a series of coloured orthophotos and 2D vector drawings. The documentation methods employed included close-range automated photogrammetry and image-based modelling, terrestrial laser scanning and topographic surveys, an ideal combination of methods.

Cargo drones are a cutting-edge solution that is becoming increasingly popular as flight times extend and regulatory frameworks evolve to accommodate new delivery methods. The aim of this paper was to comprehensively understand cargo drone dynamics and guide their effective deployment in Greece. A 5 kg payload quadrotor with versatile loading mechanisms, including a cable-suspended system and an ultra-light box, was manufactured and tested in five Greek cities. A comprehensive performance evaluation and analysis of flight range, energy consumption, altitude-related data accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and environmental were conducted. Based on hands-on experimentation and real-world data collection, the study proposes a novel data-driven methodology for strategically locating charging stations and addressing uncertainties like weather conditions and battery discharge during flights. Results indicate significant operational cost savings (89.44%) and a maximum emissions reduction (77.42%) compared to conventional transportation. The proposed strategic placement of charging stations led to substantial reductions in travel distance (41.03%) and energy consumption (56.73%) across five case studies in Greek cities.

Keywords: Virtual Museum; 3D models; amphora; stamped handles; Stoa of Attalos Digital technologies for representing cultural heritage assets of any size are already maturing. Technological progress has greatly enhanced the art of virtual representation and, as a consequence, it is all the more appealing to the general public and especially to younger generations. The game industry has played a significant role towards this end and has led to the development of edutainment applications. The digital workflow implemented for developing such an application is presented in this paper. A virtual museum has been designed and developed, with the intention to convey the history of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean area, focusing on the Aegean Sea and five productive cities-ports, during a period of more than 500 years. Image based modeling methodology was preferred to ensure accuracy and reliability. The setup in the museum environment, the difficulties encountered and the solutions adopted are discussed, while processing of the images and the production and finishing of the 3D models are described in detail. The virtual museum and edutainment application, MEDWINET, has been designed and developed with the intention to convey the essential information of the wine production and trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. The user is able to examine the 3D models of the amphorae, while learning about their production and use for trade during the centuries. The application has been evaluated and the results are also discussed.