Lane assignment problem using a genetic algorithm in the Automated Highway Systems

This paper deals with the lane assignment problem in the Automated Highway Systems (AHS). The purpose of lane assignment strategies is to increase throughput on multi-lane highways with many entry and exit points, based on the itineraries of vehicles using the highway (point of entry, time of entry and exit point) and the effects of maneuvers. Using partitioned lane assignment strategies, the lane assignment problem is formulated as an optimization problem to find the proper positions of partitions. Then the optimal problem is solved using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The proposed algorithm has been validated by comparing its solution with that of an all-cases algorithm for a simple case. Moreover, a traffic simulator with a realistic car-following model as well as lane change logic has been developed. The simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed genetic algorithm, compared with random assignment algorithms.     

Latent lifestyle and mode choice decisions when travelling short distances

In the quest for sustainable travel, short distances appear the most amenable to curbing the use of the automobile. Existing studies about short trips evaluate the potential of shifting from the automobile to sustainable travel options while considering the population as homogeneous in its preferences and its tendency to accept these alternative travel options as realistic. However, this assumption appears quite unrealistic and the current study offers a different perspective: the mode choices when travelling short distances are likely related to lifestyle decisions. Short trip chains of a representative sample of the Danish population in the Copenhagen Region were analysed, and more specifically a latent class choice model was estimated to uncover latent lifestyle groups and choice specific travel behaviour. Results show that four lifestyle groups are identified in the population: car oriented, bicycle oriented, public transport oriented and public transport averse. Each lifestyle group has specific perceptions of travel time (with extremely different rates of substitution between alternative travel modes), transfer penalties in public transport trip chains, weather influence (especially on active travel modes), and trip purpose effect on mode selection. Consequently, when thinking about measures to increase the appeal of sustainable travel options, decision-makers should look at specific individuals within the population and more sensitive individuals to comfort and level-of-service improvements across the lifestyle groups.     

Property protection,financial constraints and economic growth

The relationship between financial system, law framework or economic growth has attracted considerable attention for years. However, there are some questions still remaining unanswered: between tangible assets protection and intellectual property protection, which is more important? Between external financing and property rights protection, which does play a greater role for the economic development? According to the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium(DSGE) model with non-free market factors, we study the effectiveness of property protection and external financing, and try to answer these questions. The model fits the data well, and we find:(1) protection of intellectual property plays a more important role than that of tangible asset, in the promotion of economy;(2) relaxation of financial constraints on corporate is more effective in the short run, while the protection of intellectual property is more effectual in the long term.     

The vertical disintegration of ship management: choice criteria for third party selection and evaluation

An assessment of the rationale for the vertical disintegration of ship management suggests that there might be compelling economic benefits for the separation of ownership from management. In this context, as a means for developing effective marketing strategies, it is important for ship managers to know the criteria used by current and prospective clients for ship manager selection and evaluation. The aim of this paper is to empirically identify the dimensions for ship manager selection and performance evaluation and their relative importance and to discuss the implications for marketing emanating from such an assessment. The methodology adopted includes the collection of secondary and primary data, both from ship managers and their clients, using interviews and a mail survey. The results indicate the prevailing importance of certain dimensions in selection (e.g. technical ability, reputation, competency) and evaluation (responsiveness, trustworthiness, technical ability), whereas it also found that price alone is not perceived to be as important in ship manager selection. It is concluded that placing emphasis on such dimensions in the formulation of a marketing strategy will contribute towards the attraction and retention of clients, whereas cost-cutting measures to allow price reduction, as well as advertising, will be ineffective over the long term.     

Fuel Property Effects on Liquid and Vapor Penetrations of Evaporating Sprays

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of fuel properties on liquid and vapor penetrations in evaporating spray systems. A recently developed model, which can simultaneously account for the finite thermal conductivity, finite mass diffusivity and turbulence effects within atomizing multi-component liquid fuel sprays, is utilized for the numerical predictions. Two different multi-component fuels with different boiling temperatures, densities and other thermal properties are implemented in the KIVA-3V computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to study the evaporation behaviors. A six-component surrogate fuel is used to emulate the relevant volatility property of the real diesel fuel, and a second bi-component fuel is chosen to represent a low boiling-temperature fuel. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data, and the representative results are obtained. For a lower density and lower boiling temperature fuel, the liquid penetration length is shorter. However, the vapor penetration lengths are not affected by the fuel type in terms of fuel volatility. Available experimental data are used for validation and appraisal of the multi-component evaporation model.     

Flame propagation model for a rotary Atkinson cycle SI engine

The rotary Atkinson cycle engine includes two modes of combustion: combustion initiation and propagation in ignition chamber and then flame jet entrainment and propagation in expansion chamber. The turbulent flame propagation model is a predictive model for SI engines which could be developed for this type of combustion for the rotary Atkinson engine similar to the congenital engine with pre-chamber; in split combustion chamber SI engines, small amount of fuel is burned in pre-chamber while the fuel burned in ignition chamber of rotary Atkinson cycle is considerable. In this study a mathematical modeling of spherical flame propagation inside ignition chamber and new combined conical flame and spherical flame propagation model of a new two-stroke Atkinson cycle SI engine will be presented. The mathematical modeling is carried out using two-zone combustion analysis and the model also is validated against experimental tests and compared with previous study using non-predictive Weibe function model.     

A simple method to solve the network congestion for spitial architcture

Scheduling algorithm always plays an important role in the spatial architecture for the contradiction between the finite network bandwidth and the abundant execution resources. This article provides a simple method to solve the contention for network resource in one of the spatial architecture, i.e. the tera-op, reliable, intelligently adaptive processing system (TRIPS) processor. The method improves the performance of network by increasing the bypass bandwidth which can transmit the data in the internal of every execution unit, and converting the proportion of remote communication by the deep scheduling algorithm. The deeply optimized algorithm is realized to verify the validity of the method, and the performance increase 9% for floating point spec2000 benchmark is got.     

DC Motor Current Control Algorithm Using Proportional-Integral LQT with Disturbance Observer

This paper proposes a DC motor current control algorithm using a proportional-integral linear quadratic tracking (LQT) controller with a disturbance observer for the electronic stability control (ESC) brake system. Previously researched algorithms related to current control using disturbance rejection are robust control, adaptive control, LQT, or proportional-integral disturbance observer (PI-DOB); each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. The proposed algorithm uses a disturbance observer in order to improve disturbance rejection performance while avoiding the drawbacks of high gain property. Additionally, the proposed algorithm adds integral control in order to improve performance in the low frequency bands. In order to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, simulations and experiments are performed in the time and frequency domains to compare the proposed algorithm with different algorithms which are actually implemented into the ESC. The proposed algorithm shows good characteristics near the cut-off frequency, which can be confirmed clearly by the time domain results.     

Electrically Assisted Internal Combustion Engines: A Comparative Analysis

An electrically assisted internal combustion engine is obtained by combining a conventional engine and one or more electrical motors of considerably smaller size. A key feature of such an innovative vehicle hybridization approach is that the torque generated by electric machines is not transmitted to the wheels. The electric motors are, in fact, intended only to assist the internal combustion engine in low efficiency, low performance, or high polluting working conditions. They however, draw extra power and energy from the battery. This paper presents a tool to evaluate different possible solutions in terms of energy balance, efficiency, battery stress and battery ageing. The method, which is based on suitable mathematical models and specific analysis criteria is also exploited to compare eight different configurations of a C-segment vehicle, pointing out limits and capabilities of traditional 12?14 V systems.