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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of different Additive Manufacturing (AM) orientations on the structural behavior of topologically optimized wings for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), which might enable lightweight and low cost, yet complex, wing structural designs.

Based on an aerodynamic load, a two dimensional NACA0012 airfoil is topologically optimized considering PolyLatic Acid (PLA), several volume fractions and different manufacturing orientations. Then, the resulting topologies are post-processed to allow for manufacturing and extrude to three dimensional wing geometries with constant cross-sections. These wings are then manufactured using Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology and their dynamic structural behavior analyzed by means of Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) in the linear elastic region.

Volume fraction increase is observed to improve the structural performance without increasing the manufacturing time. Despite manufacturing the wing from the leading edge to the trailing edge can reduce manufacturing time using FDM technology, it is found to be more difficult to build.

This research is a contribution toward the design and built of lightweight and low cost wings for UAS.

Information and communication technologies brought a new paradigm that allows policymakers to ground their actions on real-time events. Smart cities were initially conceived as a technological vision separate from urban planning. As a result, projects were rarely connected between departments, objectives were not aligned with strategic goals and there was a lack of citizen participation. This study aims to propose a framework to guide and support the design and implementation of a smart city.

Interviews with eight policymakers and one secretary of state are conducted to explore current decision-making processes, specifically, to understand if and how smart city strategies are designed and who their main contributors are. Based on these findings, an inductive thematic analysis of existing literature studies to inspire the steps of the proposed framework is performed. Finally, these steps are discussed in a focus group with nine smart city experts to characterize the guidelines comprehensively.

Policymakers confirmed the lack of a standard method and approach to orient their smart city strategies. Results describe a flexible, participatory framework that envisions 12 steps divided into 4 phases with dedicated guidelines.

This paper integrates the plan-do-check-act cycle approach into the thinking for urban planning design. In addition, it raises the need to reflect on the definition of a country’s strategic plan and the alignment and execution of cities’ roadmaps.