Reliable route guidance: A case study from Chicago

Reliable route guidance can be obtained by solving the reliable a priori shortest path problem, which finds paths that maximize the probability of arriving on time. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits and applicability of such route guidance using a case study. An adaptive discretization scheme is first proposed to improve the efficiency in computing convolution, a time-consuming step used in the reliable routing algorithm to obtain path travel time distributions. Methods to construct link travel time distributions from real data in the case study are then discussed. Particularly, the travel time distributions on arterial streets are estimated from linear regression models calibrated from expressway data. Numerical experiments demonstrate that optimal paths are substantially affected by the reliability requirement in rush hours, and that reliable route guidance could generate up to 5-15% of travel time savings. The study also verifies that existing algorithms can solve large-scale problems within a reasonable amount of time.     

铁路私有化席卷非洲大陆

非洲铁路实施特许权转让已经有10多年的历史。加拿大CPCS Transcom公司曾帮助非洲9个国家铁实施了路私有化改造。今天的经验来自历史的教训。     

Design analysis and comparison between standard and rotary porting systems for IC engine

Many porting systems for internal combustion engines have been tried and tested over the years, however the basic spring actuated poppet valve system has prevailed over the last century. In the goal to lower engine output parasitic losses, a simple rotary valve porting system design is proposed and analyzed. The proposed design concept takes into consideration and combines all the prominent advantages of many ealier mutlitiple design variations over the past century. The inherent primary advantage of such a rotary porting system is the elimination of reciprocating components, thus lowering vibration, and removal of highly stiff springs which contribute to considerable system power loss. Comparable sized 3-D representations of both systems are constructed in CAD (Computer Aided Design) software in order to run mechanical and fluid simulations to validate the efficiency advantage of a rotary valve porting system. Using Pro/Engineer Mechanism Dynamics module, the minimum torque required to actuate both systems at 2000 rpm and 3000 rpm is determined. Fluid simulations are performed using a commercial software CFDesign V10. Volumetric flow rates are compared during the intake stroke as well as turbulence intensity factors which characterizes a systems ability to properly mix the Air/Fuel mixture and the combustion efficiency. Some possible improvement on the rotary geometry is suggested.     

电子地图零距离升级服务

经过2006年以来市场导入和培育，“导航”已经成为有车人士不再陌生的字眼，导航产品也拥有了数百万的用户群。随着用户逐步熟悉这个产品，“导航电子地图升级”成为越来越多用户关注的服务项目。     

A new roadway lighting measurement system

Past studies have shown that the level of roadway lighting is an important factor for nighttime roadway safety. To evaluate roadway lighting systems and maintain their functionality, it is essential to perform field lighting measurements. Currently, field measurements of roadway lighting systems are often conducted by handheld light meters using a short sample section. The evaluation of an entire corridor or a longer section is difficult when using the traditional manual measurement methods. This paper addresses this difficulty by developing a new lighting measurement system that can be used to collect massive amounts of lighting level data in an efficient, safe, and effective manner. The system consists of a light meter, a distance measurement instrument (DMI), a computer, software, and an electronic converter circuit to connect the computer and other hardware. Software was developed for the communication link between the computer and the light meter, and to record both the distance and illuminance data. The system was calibrated and validated with the field data. The new system will not only reduce future data collection costs, but also improve safety for field data collection personnel. The system has been approved for use to collect illuminance data on Florida state roads greater than or equal to 250-miles in length.     

铁路货车防盗系统设计

针对铁路运输的货物在途中被盗现象，提出了货车、集装箱防盗系统的设计原理，给出了系统硬件结构示意图和软件设计框图并对其在 Ｔ Ｍ Ｉ Ｓ中的使用前景进行了展望。     

A New Control Approach for Platoon Operations during Vehicle Exit/Entry

A new platoon control concept is introduced, called Back Control, in which the controller of a given vehicle utilizes state information from the lead, preceding, and following vehicles, as well as the vehicle itself. Simulations are carried out on two non-steady state platoon operations - vehicle exit and vehicle entry from a platoon. A previously developed longitudinal controller is utilized as a reference to the proposed Back controller and a ride quality index is used to assess passenger comfort in these simulations. It is shown that the Back controller has advantages over the reference controller in these two operations and that it is therefore worth examining as a candidate controller of vehicular platoons, especially in non-nominal operations.     

A summary of the formation and seasonal progression of the Northeast Water Polynya

A summary of the seasonal development of the Northeast Water Polynya ice cover characteristics is presented. This is based primarily on satellite remote sensing observations, with some in situ measurements, including both new and published data.     

Wheel Vibrations and Transient Tire Forces

This paper presents a survey of the state-of-the-art in predicting the wheel vibrations in a complex dynamic vehicle suspension system and their influence on the forces transduced in a high frequency area from the tire to the vehicle's body. Secondly it presents also the transient evolution of tire models used for prediction and understanding high frequency movements in the tire's contact area, producing the guiding forces and torques during vehicle handling.     

Vibration Control of a Passenger Vehicle Utilizing a Semi-Active ER Engine Mount

This paper presents vibration control of a passenger vehicle using an electronically controllable electro-rheological (ER) engine mount. A mixed-mode ER engine mount operating under the flow and shear modes is devised and manufactured. After establishing the dynamic model of the proposed ER engine mount, both field-dependent displacement transmissibility and dynamic stiffness of the ER engine mount are empirically evaluated. The ER engine mount is then incorporated with a full-vehicle model in order to investigate vibration control performance at the driver's seat position. The governing equation of motion of the full-vehicle model is formulated by considering engine excitation force, followed by designing a skyhook controller to attenuate unwanted vibration. The controller is implemented through a hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS), and control responses such as acceleration level at idle speed are evaluated in the frequency and time domains.