Background: The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of environmental correlates that are associated with route choice during active transportation to school (ATS) by comparing characteristics of actual walking and cycling routes between home and school with the shortest possible route to school. Methods: Children (n = 184; 86 boys, 98 girls; age range: 8–12 years) from seven schools in suburban municipalities in the Netherlands participated in the study. Actual walking and cycling routes to school were measured with a GPS-device that children wore during an entire school week. Measurements were conducted in the period April–June 2014. Route characteristics for both actual and shortest routes between home and school were determined for a buffer of 25 m from the routes and divided into four categories: Land use (residential, commercial, recreational, traffic areas), Aesthetics (presence of greenery/natural water ways along route), Traffic (safety measures such as traffic lights, zebra crossings, speed bumps) and Type of street (pedestrian, cycling, residential streets, arterial roads). Comparison of characteristics of shortest and actual routes was performed with conditional logistic regression models. Results: Median distance of the actual walking routes was 390.1 m, whereas median distance of actual cycling routes was 673.9 m. Actual walking and cycling routes were not significantly longer than the shortest possible routes. Children mainly traveled through residential areas on their way to school (>80 % of the route). Traffic lights were found to be positively associated with route choice during ATS. Zebra crossings were less often present along the actual routes (walking: OR = 0.17, 95 % CI = 0.05–0.58; cycling: OR = 0.31, 95 % CI = 0.14–0.67), and streets with a high occurrence of accidents were less often used during cycling to school (OR = 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.43–0.76). Moreover, percentage of visible surface water along the actual route was higher compared to the shortest routes (walking: OR = 1.04, 95 % CI = 1.01–1.07; cycling: OR = 1.03, 95 % CI = 1.01–1.05). Discussion: This study showed a novel approach to examine built environmental exposure during active transport to school. Most of the results of the study suggest that children avoid to walk or cycle along busy roads on their way to school. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-016-0373-y
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Twirre is a new architecture for mini-UAV platforms designed for autonomous flight in both GPS-enabled and GPS-deprived applications. The architecture consists of low-cost hardware and software components. High-level control software enables autonomous operation. Exchanging or upgrading hardware components is straightforward and the architecture is an excellent starting point for building low-cost autonomous mini-UAVs for a variety of applications. Experiments with an implementation of the architecture are in development, and preliminary results demonstrate accurate indoor navigation
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The decomposition of a body is influenced by burial conditions, making it crucial to understand the impact of different conditions for accurate grave detection. Geophysical techniques using drones have gained popularity in locating clandestine graves, offering non-invasive methods for detecting surface and subsurface irregularities. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is an effective technology for identifying potential grave locations without disturbance. This research aimed to prototype a drone system integrating GPR to assist in grave localization and to develop software for data management. Initial experiments compared GPR with other technologies, demonstrating its valuable applicability. It is suitable for various decomposition stages and soil types, although certain soil compositions have limitations. The research used the DJI M600 Pro drone and a drone-based GPR system enhanced by the real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) for precision and autonomy. Tests with simulated graves and cadavers validated the system’s performance, evaluating optimal altitude, speed, and obstacle avoidance techniques. Furthermore, global and local planning algorithms ensured efficient and obstacle-free flight paths. The results highlighted the potential of the drone-based GPR system in locating clandestine graves while minimizing disturbance, contributing to the development of effective tools for forensic investigations and crime scene analysis.
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