Haptic steering support for driving near the vehicle’s handling limits; skid-pad case

Current vehicle dynamic control systems from simple yaw control to high-end active steering support systems are designed to primarily actuate on the vehicle itself, rather than stimulate the driver to adapt his/her inputs for better vehicle control. The driver though dictates the vehicle’s motion, and centralizing him/her in the control loop is hypothesized to promote safety and driving pleasure. Exploring the above statement, the goal of this study is to develop and evaluate a haptic steering support when driving near the vehicle’s handling limits (Haptic Support Near the Limits; HSNL). The support aims to promote the driver’s perception of the vehicle’s behaviour and handling capacity (the vehicle’s internal model) by providing haptic (torque) cues on the steering wheel. The HSNL has been evaluated in (a) driving simulator tests and (b) tests with a vehicle (Opel Astra G/B) equipped with a variable steering feedback torque system. Drivers attempted to achieve maximum velocity while trying to retain control in a circular skid-pad. In the simulator (a) 25 subjects drove a vehicle model parameterised as the Astra on a dry skid-pad while in (b) 17 subjects drove the real Astra on a wet skid-pad. Both the driving simulator and the real vehicle tests led to the conclusion that the HSNL assisted subjects to drive closer to the designated path while achieving effectively the same speed. With the HSNL the drivers operated the tires in smaller slip angles and hence avoided saturation of the front wheels’ lateral forces and excessive understeer. Finally, the HSNL reduced their mental and physical demand.     

Examining the influence of firm performance on business risk-taking and the mediation effect of scale of operations in the container terminal industry

Container shipping and its related service sectors help accelerate globalization of the world economy. This industry has been experiencing rapid growth, prompting container terminal operators to increase their handling capacity in response. Providing container terminal services requires substantial capital investment in physical assets such as cargo handling facilities and information systems. On the other hand, operating container terminals is a long-term investment that typically spans several business cycles. Hence prudent asset management using appropriate tools is critical for container terminal operators to sustain their businesses. Generally, due to risk-adverseness, investors are unwilling to take more risk in their investment unless they can reap a higher return. Contrary to this argument, this study finds no direct influence of better firm performance as a proxy of higher return on business risk-taking by container terminal operators. Instead, scale of operations is positively associated with business risk-taking, suggesting that container terminal operators with a larger scale of operations are willing to take more business risk.     

Numerical study on active wave devouring propulsion

The possibility of extracting energy from gravity waves for marine propulsion was numerically studied by a two-dimensional oscillating hydrofoil in this study. The commercially available computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT was used for the unstructured grid based on the Reynolds-average Navier?CStokes equation. The free surface waves and motion of the flapping foil were implemented by customizing the FLUENT solver using a user-defined function technique. In addition, dynamic mesh technology and post processing capabilities were fully utilized. The validation of the model was carried out using experimental data for an oscillation hydrofoil under the waves. The results of the simulation were investigated in detail in order to explain the increase of propeller efficiency in gravity waves. Eight design parameters were identified and it was found that some of them greatly affected the performance of wave energy extraction by the active oscillating hydrofoil. Finally, the overall results suggested that when the design parameters are correctly maintained, the present approach can increase the performance of the oscillating hydrofoil by absorbing energy from sea waves.     

沥青搅拌设备燃烧系统的使用维护及故障排查研究

随着我国公路建设的快速发展，越来越多的施工技术应用于公路的建设中，因此施工设备面临着很大的挑战。针对施工中沥青搅拌设备燃烧系统发生的开启风门较大、设备内部阀芯被杂质或者油品堵塞以及无法点火等问题进行了细致的探讨，分析故障排查方法，以保障路面施工不受影响。     

The Geometrical Contact between Track and Wheelset

In previous publications the author has described a so-called first-order theory for the motion of a railway vehicle wheelset on a tangent track. In the present report the geometrical aspect of this theory is further evaluated and a method for solving the constraint equations between the coordinates of the wheelset is indicated.     

Analysing Demand for Suburban Trips: A Mixed RP/SP Model with Latent Variables and Interaction Effects

We analyse mode choice behaviour for suburban trips in the Grand Canary island using mixed revealed preference (RP)/stated preference (SP) information. The SP choice experiment allowed for interactions among the main policy variables: travel cost, travel time and frequency, and also to test the influence of latent variables such as comfort. It also led to discuss additional requirements on the size and sign of the estimated model parameters, to assess model quality when interactions are present. The RP survey produced data on actual trip behaviour and was used to adapt the SP choice experiment. During the specification searches we detected the presence of income effect and were able to derive willingness-to-pay measures, such as the subjective value of time, which varied among individuals. We also studied the systematic heterogeneity in individual tastes through the specification of models allowing for interactions between level-of-service and socio-economic variables. We concluded examining the sensitivity of travellers’ behaviour to various policy scenarios. In particular, it seems that contrary to political opinion, in a crowded island policies penalising the use of the private car seem to have a far greater impact in terms of bus patronage than policies implying direct improvements to the public transport service.     

塑性收缩裂缝和断板的探讨及施工控制

塑性收缩裂缝和断板是水泥混凝土路面滑模施工所要解决的难点 ,这些病害受众多因素的影响 ,找清原因 ,措施得当是解决问题的关键。通过试验研究及泰化高速公路、青威一级公路的实践 ,总结了一系列成功的经验 ,对控制滑模施工出现的塑性收缩裂缝和断板具有很强的可操作性     

影响地方高等级公路建设质量管理的主要因素及其对策

影响地方高等级公路质量管理的主要因素是建设资金短缺，施工队伍素质差，地方行政干预大，管理制度不落实，不按基本建设程序办事等。采取分期建设，实行公开招标落实施工队伍，主要材料由业主购买并控制耗量，重要构件在专业化工厂定制或由专业化工厂在现场制作安装，砌石砂浆集中拌制等措施，可以控制好地方高等级公路建设质量。     

Dynamic Estimation of Road Bank Angle

Road bank angles have a direct influence on vehicle dynamics and lateral acceleration measurement. A vehicle stability control system that knows road bank angle has an advantageous capability in achieving desired control sensitivities for maneuvers on ice and snow, among all surfaces, while avoiding false/nuisance activation on a banked road. Since neither lateral velocity nor road bank angle are directly measurable in current vehicle systems due to economical reasons, the major challenge is to differentiate the bias induced by road bank disturbances from actual effect of vehicle lateral dynamics in current measurements. This paper proposes a method of road bank estimation and provides theoretical background for the decoupling effort of lateral dynamics and road disturbances involved in bank estimation.     

基于CORBA与RMI／EJB的异构分布对象系统的集成

本文系统地分析了分布式计算模型CORBVA，Java RMI的体系结构及组件模型EJB的现状和发展趋势的基础上，对CORBA与RMI／EJB的集成进行研究，并将其应用于大庆站信息系统的开发。