Effect of number of wheels on high speed UGV traversability: Online terrain assessment approach

This paper addresses the problem of determining the maximum allowable speed (V _max ) of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) traversing off-road heterogeneous rough/complex terrain. The maximum speed is calculated based on online terrain assessment and the vehicle’s characteristics; this speed achieves the high speed navigation without exceeding a predefined allowable range of transmitted force and moments (i.e., moments in the roll and pitch directions) to the vehicle’s frame. The proposed system enables UGV’s to change their speed autonomously and transit between terrains with different characteristics (e.g., pavement, rocky) safely. This paper proposes a computationally inexpensive approach to process acquired data and assess the terrain roughness. The proposed Roughness Index (RI) is used to represent the terrain roughness on a scale from 0.0 (highly rough to be traversed by a particular vehicle) to 1.0 (perfectly flat/smooth surface). A general vehicle model (workable for any vehicle size and wheel configuration) is presented in this paper. A closed form expression of the maximum allowable vehicle speed is developed. Simulation results obtained on real vehicles (e.g., military tank LEOPARD I) show the effect of increasing the number of wheels to improve the capability of a ground vehicle to traverse rough terrains at high speeds. In addition, the proposed terrain assessment system is a key module in UGVs navigation systems enabling them to be truly autonomous by providing the navigation system with the necessary information for path and speed planning.     

Energy efficiency optimization of electric vehicle driven by in-wheel motors

Electric vehicle is considered to be the solution for energy and environment crisis, but it’s still not competitive enough with conventional vehicles because of the limited energy density and high cost of the power battery. So the energy efficiency is of the most importance for the control of electric vehicles. This paper looks into the energy efficiency optimization problem of electric vehicle driven by four in-wheel motors by developing a comprehensive energy efficiency model of the permanent magnet synchronous motor including the inverter. The calculated efficiency agrees with the measured data quite well. Based on the power loss analysis, the conclusion is drawn that in all driving or braking conditions the total torque requirement should be distributed evenly to all the motors in order to maximize the energy efficiency for electric vehicles driven by permanent magnet synchronous in-wheel motors. Vehicle test results show that the energy efficiency of the evenly distributed torque control is higher than the control strategy proposed by control allocation in literature.     

Robust design optimization of suspension system considering steering pull reduction

This paper presents robust design optimization method to reduce steering pull phenomenon. One of the biggest causes of steering pull phenomenon is tolerance of suspension system such as hard point, spring, damper and bush. Therefore, the relationship between suspension systems and steering pull phenomenon has as nonlinear characteristics. But, it can be very difficult to evaluate the analytical design sensitivity. Thus, it is impossible to directly apply a well-developed optimization algorithm based on gradient information. To avoid these difficulty, this study uses sequential approximation optimization process based on a meta-model. The robust design process has 28 random design variables with tolerance. For efficient design process, the sample variances for the design goals are approximated from meta-models. The proposed approach required only 62 evaluations until it converged. Optimal design reduced the drift by 80% and its deviation by 38.7%, respectively. This result proves that the suggested design method of suspension system is effective and useful.     

Nonlinear dynamic modeling of an electro-pneumatic pressure converter for VGT pneumatic actuator

This paper presents a detailed physical model of an electro-pneumatic system, used to control Variable Geometry Turbochargers (VGT). The VGT actuator system consists of two parts, a diaphragm based pneumatic actuator and a solenoid based Electro-pneumatic Pressure Converter (EPC). The proposed model copes with the pressure dynamics inside the pneumatic actuator, with special focus on the EPC. The dynamics of both parts have been modeled separately and combined into one model by parameterizing the effective flow area and the air mass flow through the pneumatic actuator. The variations in volume, temperature and air mass flow rate have been taken into account. The model so obtained serves mainly for studying the effect of actuator dynamics on the global engine system. For control purposes, the detailed model is simplified to reduce the calculation load. Both models are validated using experimental data obtained from an engine test bench.     

Objective evaluation of door-closing sound quality based on physiological acoustics

This paper presents a new method to objectively quantify the sound quality of doors closing in premium passenger cars. In previous works, psychoacoustic parameters have been used for objective quantification. However, these parameters do not agree well with subsequent subjective assessments. Therefore, the correlation between the psychoacoustic parameters and the subjective rating of door closing sounds in sampled cars is low, and it is not sufficient to use psychoacoustic parameters as an objective metric to quantify the quality of door-closing sounds. In this paper, a new method is proposed to objectively quantify the sound quality based on physiological acoustics and statistical signal processing. A gammatone filter is used as a pre-processing method in models of the auditory system and kurtosis, which is the fourth-order moment of the temporal signal and is used to extract quantitative information about the quality of door-closing sounds. The new metric obtained from the proposed method is highly correlated to subjective ratings and has been successfully applied to the quantification of door-closing sound quality.     

初应力状态下夹芯复合材料曲梁面板的局部振动的理论分析

在船舶领域,以复合材料层合面板及泡沫芯材组成的夹芯复合材料板梁结构已大量应用在游艇及复合材料高速艇上.文章研究了受初始静载荷作用下夹芯复合材料曲梁的面板的局部自由振动问题,并给出一种相应的理论分析方法.文中通过将芯材简化为Winkler弹性地基,将面板简化为一复合材料曲梁,从而使所研究问题蜕化为有初始静载荷作用下弹性地基上任意曲梁的固有振动问题.在局部振动位移是基于初始静载平衡位置并与初始位移相比是小量的假定的基础上,根据能量原理推导出面板的运动方程.研究的结果表明,该面板的局部振动不只取决于面板的弯曲刚度和长度,以及芯材的弹性刚度,也在很大程度上取决于梁的曲率及面板所受到的初始轴向压力.     

Design and development of a stated choice experiment for interdependent agents: accounting for interactions between buyers and sellers of urban freight services

Stated choice experiments have proven to be a powerful tool in eliciting preferences across a broad range of choice settings. This paper outlines the elements of a group-based experiment designed for interdependent urban freight stakeholders, along with the procedure to administer the questionnaire sequentially. The focus is on the design of a computer-assisted personal survey instrument and the value in disseminating the details of a new approach to design and collect stated choice data for interacting agents. The paper also discusses how to specify a reference alternative, and then how to recruit appropriate real-market or representative decision-making group members to participate in a subsequent phase of the survey, which incorporates the reference alternative and contextual information from an initial phase. The empirical strategy, set out in some detail, provides a new framework within which to understand more fully the role that specific attributes, such as variable user charges, influencing freight distribution chains might play, and who in the supply chain is affected by specific attributes in terms of willingness to pay for the gains in distribution efficiency.

Entry barriers in seaports

The different types of entry barrier in seaports are analysed and the policies and practices to reduce them are discussed in this paper. In most seaports, economic, regulatory, and geographical entry barriers are substantial and increasing in complexity as ports become embedded in supply chains and multilayered networks with multiple entry-levels. Various entry barriers in seaports are identified through an overview of the relevant literature and their presence is confirmed by empirical data describing them. The case is then made for lowering these barriers. This would be desirable from an economic point of view, since lower barriers strengthen the contestability of markets and increase the level of intra-port competition. The latter might yield substantial benefits, such as fostering specialization and preventing the abuse of market power. Finally, low entry barriers would facilitate the faster implementation of new technologies and business models. In the third part of the analysis, policies and practices designed to reduce entry barriers are examined. The implications are discussed of current national and supranational (EU) policy initiatives aimed to liberalize service provision in seaports. Other (de)regulatory policies that could contribute to the reduction of entry barriers are analysed.     

A real-time multi-vehicle simulator for longitudinal controller design

This paper presents a new multi-vehicle simulator for platoon simulation. The main new feature of the developed simulator is a network structure for the real-time simulation of multiple vehicles, each with a detailed powertrain and engine model. It has a small initial delay, which is determined by the number of connected PCs, but the actual simulation is performed and displayed in real-time after this initial and one-time delay. Several longitudinal controllers, including a PID controller with gain scheduling, an adaptive controller, and a fuzzy controller, are also implemented in the simulator. Various system parameters can be modified interactively in the simulator screen, which is very useful for simulating a platoon of heterogeneous vehicles, in which vehicles with different dynamics and different longitudinal controllers may be involved. The simulator provides an excellent tool to develop vehicle longitudinal controllers and to study platoon behaviors. The developed simulator is also effective in testing the effects of nonlinearities neglected in the controller design phase, such as actuator delays and gear shifting schedule.     

Modeling and control strategy development for fuel cell hybrid vehicles

Using MATLAB/Simulink, we constructed a comprehensive simulation model for the fuel cell hybrid vehicle (FCHV) power train in parallel with a power control strategy that uses a logic threshold approach implemented with a hybrid control unit (HCU). The simulation implements power flow and power distribution under different vehicle operating modes using the accelerator and decelerator pedal positions deduced from the driving schedule as primary inputs. The HCU control strategy also incorporates regenerative braking and recharging for recovery of battery capacity. Using the D-optimality method for selection of the optimal experiment values, three control threshold variables for the HCU are selected to maximize the hydrogen fuel economy under certain driving cycles. The proposed method provides the optimal configuration of the FCHV model, which has the capability of achieving the requested drive power while also meeting the vehicle driving schedule and recovery needs of the state of charge (SOC) battery, with lower fuel consumption levels.