Scientific publications

See the scientific impact of our work. Discover the scientific papers supported by COP-PILOT

The monitoring of oxygen in food packaging during storage and transportation is crucial in food quality surveillance, warning users regarding food spoiling, happening through compound oxidation and aerobic microorganism proliferation. In this overall scenario, we report the development of a
flexible, cost-effective, and Bluetooth-assisted electrochemical sensor for oxygen detection in food packaging. The device encompasses three layers, namely a zinc sheet as an anode, a conductive silver
ink printed on an oriented polypropylene sheet serving as a cathode, and a deep eutectic solvent deposited on a paper-based substrate sandwiched between both electrodes. The sensing tool provided a wide linear range for oxygen detection up to 20.9 O 2 % v/v with good intra-electrode
repeatability (RSD % = 0.02 %). Finally, the developed device was integrated with a 3D printed holder and tested for oxygen detection in packages containing mushrooms, tomatoes, and broccoli samples,
obtaining a good correlation with the reference method. This study opens noticeable possibilities for employing paper-based metal-air batteries in the detection of specific target analytes, by integrating
paper substrate and metal-based batteries delivering smart and self-powered instruments as reliable and accurate analytical tools.

The study carried out in this paper provides valuable insight into the use of Bluetooth-based and wireless sensing platforms. Specifically, this technology will be utilized in the framework of the COP-PILOT project to develop a Bluetooth-assisted electrochemical sensor for plant health monitoring.
Furthermore, with the investigation performed during this work, we dealt with the agrifood field, and specifically with the monitoring of parameters related to vegetables, laying the groundwork for the development of a wearable electrochemical sensor for monitoring (anti)nutrients in plants. This is strictly related to the COP-PILOT project, following the Use Cases, and to fulfill the Expected Outcomes related to Cluster 3A.

This is an open access article under the CC BY license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Publication
Authors

Achref Chebil, Vincenzo Mazzaracchio, Leonardo Duranti, Ludovica Gullo, Fabiana Arduini

In 2023, the World Economic Forum selected wearable plant sensors as one of the Top 10 Emerging Technologies, demonstrating that these smart analytical tools will be relevant in the next generation of agrifood practices. Considering the robustness, accuracy, and miniaturisation of electrochemical (bio)sensing tools, electrochemical-based plant sensors could be suitable devices to address the requirements for their advanced applications in the agrifood sector. This review deals with electrochemical (bio)sensors for monitoring  agrochemicals , phytohormones, growth precursors, and stress biomarkers, using wearable and implantable configurations. The design and type of biocomponent and/or nanomaterial(s) used are reported, highlighting the analytical performances obtained on plants. The ongoing application of these analytical tools is discussed, and the future applications combined with Internet of Thing and Artificial Intelligence are envisioned, with the overriding aim to give an overall scenario related to plant electrochemical (bio)sensors for the next technologies in the agrifood sector.

This review paper focuses on the state-of-the-art in wearable and implantable electrochemical biosensors for monitoring plant health, including agrochemicals, phytohormones, and stress biomarkers. The insights from this research are crucial for one of COP-PILOT’s key objectives in Cluster 3A, which is to develop a wearable electrochemical sensor for monitoring antinutrients in leaves. The study provides essential knowledge for the development of our sensing device, including its implementation and integration with our cluster partners, enabling us to create a reliable and innovative analytical tool for plant health monitoring.

This is an open access article under the CC BY license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Authors

Narjiss Seddaoui, Fabiana Arduini

Increasing demands for low latency, cost efficiency, and digital sovereignty are driving organisations beyond centralised cloud models towards decentralised and hybrid computing environments. The Edge-to-Cloud computing continuum aims to unify edge and cloud infrastructures into a seamless execution environment, but achieving this remains complex in practice.ColonyOS is an open-source, ready-to-use meta-operating system that coordinates distributed workloads across diverse computing environments. ColonyOS separates coordination from execution using declarative, intent-based function specifications and a lightweight, broker-based architecture that provides OS-like abstractions. This paper outlines key properties of a meta-operating system and describes how these are realised in ColonyOS. The paper also presents practical experiences from two industrial deployments: real-time seismic monitoring at RockSigma AB and integration with EuroHPC supercomputers. These use cases demonstrate ColonyOS’s capabilities in enabling resilient workload management and hybrid orchestration across HPC and Kubernetes environments. A referenced study on carbon-aware scheduling further illustrates how ColonyOS supports time-shifting of non-urgent workloads to reduce environmental impact. The paper concludes with a discussion of ColonyOS’s architecture and future research directions.

Authors

Johan Kristiansson; Ulf Bodin; Carl Borngrund; Jerker Delsing; Jesper Martinsson

The paper focuses on developing an analytical platform that combines sample treatment with an electrochemical biosensor to measure phytic acid in spinach leaves. It strictly aligns with the COP-PILOT project (Cluster 3A), providing insights into creating a sensor to quantify a nutritional marker for assessing crop health and quality (Use Cases #3A). Additionally, the use of a wireless portable system enables integration with IoT technology for real-time environmental and crop health monitoring.

Publication
Authors

Ludovica Gullo, Igor Gabriel Silva Oliveira, Achref Chebil, Luca Fiore, Silvia Maria Martelli, Willyam Róger Padilha Barros, Fabiana Arduini

Abstract—Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have the potential to revolutionize industries by enabling advanced analytics and autonomous decision-making. To support resource-intensive applications, there is often a need to dynamically allocate additional compute resources. The Edge-Cloud Continuum enables allocation and deployment of workloads across platforms, including IoT devices, edge clusters, and cloud environments. However, the growing computational demands of these systems can unfortunately result in increased energy consumption and higher carbon emissions.
This paper investigates the development of a carbon-aware scheduler for the Edge-Cloud Continuum, designed to optimize workload placement by balancing energy consumption, temporal variations in carbon intensity, and resource availability. Key contributions of the paper include a spatiotemporal scheduling algorithm, a discrete-event simulator capable of replaying realistic workloads from the MIT SuperCloud dataset, and a comprehensive empirical evaluation.
Findings from the paper show substantial reductions in carbon emissions by prioritizing renewable energy sources and time shifting workloads to periods of lower carbon intensity. However, when clusters operate under high utilization, time-shifting can inadvertently result in significantly higher emissions. In such scenarios, simpler greedy algorithms can be more effective.

Authors

Johan Kristiansson, Jerker Delsing, Thomas Ohlson Timoudas

Cloud-native computing has transformed modern application development, deployment, and management by enabling scalability and flexibility. However, the increasing complexity of workloads and the dynamic resource demands challenge traditional scheduling and resource provisioning techniques, often leading to inefficiencies. This paper explores AI-driven approaches to optimizing cloud-native scheduling and resource provisioning. By leveraging machine learning, deep reinforcement learning, and predictive analytics, AI enhances decision-making, automates scaling, and improves workload distribution. We present a comprehensive review of recent AI techniques applied to container orchestration and Kubernetes-based scheduling, analysing their impact on cost
reduction, performance optimization, and resource efficiency. Additionally, we discuss key challenges
such as model interpretability, real-time adaptability, and integration with existing cloud and edge infrastructures. Ultimately, this paper provides insights into the future of intelligent cloud and edge resource management, emphasizing the necessity of AI-augmented strategies to meet the growing demands of next-generation applications.

The paper provides a comprehensive survey of how artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated into cloud-native systems, highlighting its role in enhancing automation, scalability, and decision-making in complex distributed environments. This paper helps COP-PILOT gain insight into current trends, key challenges, and emerging research directions for applying AI to optimise cloud-native, multi-domain architectures.

Authors

Tomás Dias, Luís Ferreira, Diogo Fevereiro, Luis Rosa