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The review discusses the possibilities of different driving mechanisms and sensors of spherical robots, and a special kind of mobile robots is introduced and discussed. The sensors discussed can expand robots’ sensing capabilities which are typically very limited. Most spherical robots have holonomic characteristics and protect the inner environment using a shell. Today, there are a diversity of driving mechanisms. Therefore, this article provides a review of all of them and identifies their basic properties. Accordingly, many spherical robots have only inner sensors for moving, balancing, driving, etc. However, a few of them are also equipped with sensors that can measure environmental properties. Therefore, in this paper, we propose the possibility of using such sensors as cameras, LiDARs, thermocouples, and gas sensors, which can be used for special purposes underground, for example, in mines, underground tunnels, or road tunnels. After combining all components are combined, it is possible to design a special type of spherical robot designed for underground exploration, such as accidents in mines or road tunnels.

Smart and automated maintenance could make the system and its parts more sustainable by extending their lifecycle, failure detection, smart control of the equipment, and precise detection and reaction to unexpected circumstances. This article focuses on the analysis of data, particularly on logs captured in several Czech tunnel systems. The objective of the analysis is to find useful information in the logs for predicting upcoming situations, and furthermore, to check the possibilities of predictive diagnostics and to design the process of predictive maintenance. The main goal of the article is to summarize the possibilities of optimizing system maintenance that are based on data analysis as well as expert analysis based on the experience with the equipment in the tunnel. The results, findings, and conclusions could primarily be used in the tunnels; secondarily, these principles could be applied in telematics and lead to the optimization and improvement of system sustainability.

Many modern vehicles today are equipped with an on-board e-call system that can send information about the number of passengers in the event of an accident. However, in case of fire or other major danger in a road tunnel, it is very important for rescue services to know not only the number of passengers in a given vehicle that has an accident and called help via e-call but how many people are in the tunnel in total. This paper deals with the issue of passenger detection and counting using the TPH3008-S Thermal camera and the VIVOTEK IP7361 IP Cameras noninvasively, i.e., the cameras are placed outside the vehicle. These cameras have their limitations; therefore, we investigated how to improve conditions and how to make detection better for future work. The main goal of this article is to summarize the achieved results and possibilities of improvement of the proposed system by adding other sensors and systems that would improve the final score of passenger detection. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach has to be modified and we have to add additional sensors or change methods to achieve more promising results. The results, findings and conclusions might be later used in tunnels and highways and also be applied in telematics and lead to better, safer road transport and improvement of existing tunnel systems sustainability by utilizing resources in a smarter way.

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