Convergence Analysis of Path Planning of Multi-UAVs Using Max-Min Ant Colony Optimization Approach.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) seem to be the most efficient way of achieving the intended aerial tasks, according to recent improvements. Various researchers from across the world have studied a variety of UAV formations and path planning methodologies. However, when unexpected obstacles arise during a collective flight, path planning might get complicated. The study needs to employ hybrid algorithms of bio-inspired computations to address path planning issues with more stability and speed. In this article, two hybrid models of Ant Colony Optimization were compared with respect to convergence time, i.e., the Max-Min Ant Colony Optimization approach in conjunction with the Differential Evolution and Cauchy mutation operators. Each algorithm was run on a UAV and traveled a predetermined path to evaluate its approach. In terms of the route taken and convergence time, the simulation results suggest that the MMACO-DE technique outperforms the MMACO-CM approach.

Social media mining for smart cities and smart villages research.

The imperative of well-being and improved quality of life in smart cities context can only be attained if the smart services, so central to the concept of smart cities, correspond with the needs, expectations and skills of cities' inhabitants. Considering that social media generate and/or open real-time entry points to vast amounts of data pertinent to well-being and quality of life, such as citizens' expectations, opinions, as well as to recent developments related to regulatory frameworks, debates, political decisions and policymaking, the big question is how to exploit the potential inherent in social media and use it to enhance the value added smart cities generate. Social mining is traditionally understood as the process of representing, analyzing, and extracting actionable patterns and trends from raw social media data. In the context of smart cities, this special issue focuses on how social media data, also potentially combined with other data, can be used to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services, and thereby contribute more efficiently to citizens' well-being and quality of life.