The validity of using activity type to structure tour-based scheduling models

A unique set of activity scheduling data is utilized in this paper to provide much needed empirical analysis of the sequence in which activities are planned in everyday life. This is used to assess the validity of the assumption that activities are planned in accordance to a fixed hierarchy of activity types: mandatory activities first (work/school), followed by joint maintenance, joint discretionary, allocated maintenance, and individual discretionary activities. Such an assumption is typical of current generation activity and tour-based travel demand models. However, the empirical results clearly do not support such assumptions. For instance, fewer than 50% of mandatory activities were actually planned first in related out-of-home tours; remaining activity types also did not take any particular precedence in the planning sequence. Given this, a search was made for the more salient attributes of activities (beyond activity type) that would better predict how they are planned within tours. Several ordered response choice models for different tour sizes were developed for this purpose, predicting the choice order of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. planned activity in the tour as a function of activity type, activity characteristics (duration, frequency, travel time, and involved persons), and individual characteristics. Activity duration played the most significant role in the models compared to any other single variable, wherein longer duration activities tended to be planned much earlier in tours. This strongly suggests that the amount of time-use, rather than the nature of the event as indicated by activity type, is a primary driver of within-tour planning order and offers potential for a much improved and valid fit.     

Optimal design and benefits of a short turning strategy for a bus corridor

We develop a short turning model using demand information from station to station within a single bus line-single period setting, aimed at increasing the service frequency on the more loaded sections to deal with spatial concentration of demand considering both operators’ and users’ costs. We find analytical expressions for optimal values of the design variables, namely frequencies (inside and outside the short cycle), capacity of vehicles and the position of the short turn limit stations. These expressions are used to analyze the influence of different parameters in the final solution. The design variables and the corresponding cost components for operators and users (waiting and in-vehicle times) are compared against an optimized normal operation scheme (single frequency). Applications on actual transit corridors exhibiting different demand profiles are conducted, calculating the optimal values for the design variables and the resulting benefits for each case. Results show the typical demand configurations that are better served using a short turn strategy.     

An SNN Ontology Based Environment Monitoring Method for Intelligent Irrigation System

In order to realize high precision of environment parameters detection in irrigation applications, a sensor and sensor network (SSN) ontology based data fusion method is proposed. An SSN sub-ontology for soilstate monitoring is revised, which includes the sensing devices hierarchies and measurement properties selection according to the detection feature interests. As for sensor data processing, a tuning data method by data pool filtering and clustering is adopted, as well as a useful data fusion method for multi-sensor system. The testing results show that both the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are higher after related filtering and clustering process, which enables a thorough monitoring for intelligent irrigation systems and can be extended into environment monitoring and control applications.     

Discretization Algorithm Based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Its Application in Attributes Reduction for Fault Data

In order to increase the fault diagnosis efficiency and make the fault data mining be realized, the decision table containing numerical attributes must be discretized for further calculations. The discernibility matrix-based reduction method depends on whether the numerical attributes can be properly discretized or not. So a discretization algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed. Moreover, hybrid weights are adopted in the process of particles evolution. Comparative calculations for certain equipment are completed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm has better performance than other popular algorithms such as class-attribute interdependence maximization (CAIM) discretization method and entropy-based discretization method.     

Inspection-Based Policy Considering Human Errors for Three-Stage Delay Time Degradation Systems

A periodic inspection policy for a single component system based on a three-stage failure process is proposed, and two different kinds of failures covering “hard” and “human” are considered in the proposed policy. The system is periodically inspected and inspections are perfect so that they can identify the intended defect. If the severe defect is detected by an inspection, an immediate repair is needed. However, once the system is identified to be in the minor defective state, there are two options. The first is to do nothing till the arrival of identifying the severe defect or hard failure, and the second is to repair immediately. Repair for any defect can renew the system with a limited probability such that the system may fail after repair due to human errors, which is common in many industrial applications. Two models are constructed by minimizing the expected cost per unit time and compared. We provide a numerical example to demonstrate the proposed model.     

Reliability Analysis of Systems with Common Cause Failure Based on Stress-Strength Interference Model

Many mechanical systems have the characteristics of multiple failure modes and complex failure mechanisms. On the basis of stress-strength interference (SSI) model, this paper takes the mechanical system with common cause failure (CCF) as the research object. The relationship between the stress distribution and the strength distribution is studied, and the failures of components are independent of each other under the deterministic stress. Then, the concept of conditional reliability is introduced to build the system reliability models under the action of one-stress and multi-stress for both series and parallel systems. Finally, the corresponding properties of the proposed methods are discussed to show their advantages.     

A New Fusion Chemical Reaction Optimization Algorithm Based on Random Molecules for Multi-Rotor UAV Path Planning in Transmission Line Inspection

A fusion chemical reaction optimization algorithm based on random molecules (RMCRO) is proposed to meet the special demand of power transmission line inspection. This new algorithm improves the shortcomings of chemical reaction algorithm by merging the idea of repellent-attractant rule and accelerates convergence by using difference algorithm. The molecules in this algorithm avoid obstacles and search optimal path of transmission line inspection by using sensors on multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The option of optimal path is based on potential energy of molecules and cost function without repeated parameter adjustment and complicated computation. By compared with an improved particle swarm optimization (IMPSO) in different circumstances of simulation, it can be concluded that the new algorithm presented not only can obtain more optimal path and avoid to trap in local minimum, but also can keep related sensors in a more stable status.     

Economic Dispatch of Islanded Microgrid Considering a Cooperative Strategy Between Diesel Generator and Battery Energy Storage System

For the impact of intermittent resources’ high penetration on the economic dispatch of islanded microgrid, a new economic dispatch method is presented to minimize the overall generating cost for islanded microgrid, considering a cooperative strategy between diesel generator (hereinafter referred to as DE) and battery energy storage system (BESS). The optimum economic operation range of DE and the optimal set-point between DE and BESS are presented in the cooperative dispatch strategy, in which BESS is used fully to enable DE in a lower cost and higher efficient way. The results are analyzed under various operation conditions and also prove the validity of the proposed method.     

Reliability Analysis of Aero-Engine Main Fuel System Based on GO Methodology

To improve the reliability of an aero-engine main fuel system, the quantitative and qualitative reliability analysis of the system is conducted based on goal oriented (GO) methodology. The quantitative reliability analysis results and the minimum cut sets of the fuel system are obtained, respectively. These results are compared with the results of the FTA (Fault Tree Analysis) method, and the comparison result shows GO method is rational and applicable. Therefore, it is feasible to apply the GO method in the reliability analysis of an aero-engine main fuel system.     

Relative Attitude Dynamics and Control of Spacecraft Formation Flying Considering Flexible Panels

As a key technology for orbital applications, researches on spacecraft formation flying (SFF) attract more attention. However, most of existing researches about dynamics and control of SFF focus on rigid spacecrafts without considering the effect of flexible attachments (such as flexible panels). In this paper, relative attitude dynamics and active control of SFF for a flexible spacecraft (follower spacecraft) and a rigid spacecraft (target spacecraft) are investigated. Firstly, a dynamic model of the flexible spacecraft is established by the principle of angular momentum. Then, the equation of relative attitude dynamics between the flexible spacecraft and the rigid spacecraft is derived by the quaternion to represent the attitude relation of the two spacecrafts. Finally, an attitude feedback controller is designed for the SFF system, and its stability is proved by the Lyapunov stability theory. Simulation results indicate that the panel flexibility has an obvious influence on the dynamic behaviour of the system, the designed controller can effectively control the attitude of the two spacecrafts to achieve synchronization, and the elastic vibration of the panels may be suppressed simultaneously.