The inspection and monitoring of industrial sites, structures, and infrastructure are important issues for their sustainability and further maintenance. Although these tasks are repetitive and time consuming, and some of these environments may be characterized by dust, humidity, or absence of natural light, classical approach relies on large human activities. Automatic or robotic solutions can be considered useful tools for inspection because they can be effective in exploring dangerous or inaccessible sites, at relatively low-cost and reducing the time required for the relief. The development of a paradigmatic system called Inspection Robotic System (IRS) is the main objective of this paper to demonstrate the feasibility of mechatronic solutions for inspection of industrial sites. The development of such systems will be exploited in the form of a tool kit to be flexible and installed on a mobile system, in order to be used for inspection and monitoring, possibly introducing high efficiency, quality and repetitiveness in the related sector. The interoperability of sensors with wireless communication may form a smart sensors tool kit and a smart sensor network with powerful functions to be effectively used for inspection purposes. Moreover, it may constitute a solution for a broad range of scenarios spacing from industrial sites, brownfields, historical sites or sites dangerous or difficult to access by operators. First experimental tests are reported to show the engineering feasibility of the system and interoperability of the mobile hybrid robot equipped with sensors that allow real-time multiple acquisition and storage.

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Sit-to-stand can be considered the most common daily-life activity and it can be defined as a change of posture, in which the base of support is transferred from the seat to the feet. It requires both voluntary movement of different body segments that contribute to the equilibrium and control during an important displacement of the Centre Of Gravity of the body. This activity can be considered of crucial importance for elderly and people with reduced mobility to achieve minimal independence in daily-life at home. In this study, we present and compare three design solutions for the support mechanisms to be used in assisting mechatronic devices. The reported solutions and considerations are supported by experimental activity, which was carried out during trials to track and record trajectories and the orientation of the trunk of the body during the sit-to-stand.

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