Drowsy behavior detection based on driving information

Drowsy behavior is more likely to occur in sleep-deprived drivers. Individuals’ drowsy behavior detection technology should be developed to prevent drowsiness related crashes. Driving information such as acceleration, steering angle and velocity, and physiological signals of drivers such as electroencephalogram (EEG), and eye tracking are adopted in present drowsy behavior detection technologies. However, it is difficult to measure physiological signal, and eye tracking requires complex experiment equipment. As a result, driving information is adopted for drowsy driving detection. In order to achieve this purpose, driving experiment is performed for obtaining driving information through driving simulator. Moreover, this paper investigates effects of using different input parameter combinations, which is consisted of lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration, and steering angles with different time window sizes (i.e. 4 s, 10 s, 20 s, 30 s, 60 s), on drowsy driving detection using random forest algorithm. 20 s-size datasets using parameter combination of accelerations in lateral and longitudinal directions, compared to the other combination cases of driving information such as steering angles combined with lateral and longitudinal acceleration, steering angles only, longitudinal acceleration only, and lateral acceleration only, is considered the most effective information for drivers’ drowsy behavior detection. Moreover, comparing to ANN algorithm, RF algorithm performs better on processing complex input data for drowsy behavior detection. The results, which reveal high accuracy 84.8 % on drowsy driving behavior detection, can be applied on condition of operating real vehicles.     

Robust flight-to-gate assignment using flight presence probabilities

In this paper we present a novel method to improve the robustness of solutions to the Flight-to-Gate Assignment Problem (FGAP), with the aim to reduce the need for gate re-planning due to unpredicted flight schedule disturbances in the daily operations at an airport. We propose an approach in which the deterministic gate constraints are replaced by stochastic gate constraints that incorporate the inherent stochastic flight delays in such a way so as to ensure that the expected gate conflict probability of two flights assigned to the same gate at the same time does not exceed a user-specified value. The novel approach is integrated into an existing multiple time slot FGAP model that relies on a binary integer programming formulation and is tested using real-life data pertaining to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The results confirm that the proposed approach holds out great promise to improve the robustness of the FGAP solutions.     

后桥钢板激光-MIG复合焊接优化研究

研究了两种后桥桥壳用低合金钢板在激光-MIG复合焊接中,接头形状、接头间隙及MIG参数变化(大、中、小MIG参数)对焊缝形状及焊缝喉厚的影响.研究结果表明,MIG参数应设置成大、中MIG参数水平,以保证在一定的接头间隙下有充足的焊接材料填入间隙而形成部分焊透的焊缝,使焊缝喉厚满足焊接强度要求;过高的MIG输入能量和过多的焊料(丝)填入将导致焊缝横截面积增大,但对焊缝喉厚的影响不是很明显;当MIG参数设置成小MIG参数水平时,0.5 mm的接头间隙或切角面为3 mm×2 mm时,对获得较大的焊缝喉厚有利.     

The effects of regulatory reform on the US inter‐city bus industry

Transport regulation in the USA has undergone radical reforms over the past decade. This paper looks specifically at the comparatively neglected topic of the 1982 Bus Regulatory Reform Act which liberalized the regulations governing US inter‐city bus transport.

The Act represented a significant reform of the 1935 legislation which had formed the basis of regulation for nearly fifty years. It liberalized entry and fare controls and gave power to the Interstate Commerce Commission to override State decisions. The paper details the changes, examines their rationale and assesses the impact they have exerted on the US inter‐urban bus industry. The general conclusion is that overall the Act has been beneficial in improving the economic efficiency of carriers although some minor reservations must be retained regarding its adverse effects on smaller towns and rural areas.     

Comparison of two injection systems in an HSDI diesel engine using split injection and different injector nozzles

The demand for reduced pollutant emissions has motivated various technological advances in passenger car diesel engines. This paper presents a study comparing two fuel injection systems and analyzing their combustion noise and pollutant emissions. The abilities of different injection strategies to meet strict regulations were evaluated. The difficult task of maintaining a constant specific fuel consumption while trying to reduce pollutant emissions was the aim of this study. The engine being tested was a 0.287-liter single-cylinder engine equipped with a common-rail injection system. A solenoid and a piezoelectric injector were tested in the engine. The engine was operated under low load conditions using two injection events, high EGR rates, no swirl, three injection pressures and eight different dwell times. Four injector nozzles with approximately the same fuel injection rate were tested using the solenoid injection system (10 and 12 orifice configuration) and piezoelectric system (6 and 12 orifice design). The injection system had a significant influence on pollutant emissions and combustion noise. The piezoelectric injector presented the best characteristics for future studies since it allows for shorter injection durations and greater precision, which means smaller fuel mass deliveries with faster responses.     

新开发的轮对设计方法

轮对设计在车轮磨耗方面正面临着严格的新规范 ,以降低外形车削的要求 ,并减轻质量 ,以减少对轨道的侵蚀 ,且在可靠性、运行安全性和寿命周期成本都没有不利影响的情况下 ,实现所有要求。与此同时 ,由于车辆有既在小半径曲线 ,又在高速线路上运行的趋向 ,在普通线路上提高了运行速度 ,以及由于低级维护而使线路质量和车辆质量有所降低 ,所以轮对的运行作用正在变化。为此 ,开发了一整套程序 ,以便为高速列车设计振动小、噪声低、寿命周期成本最佳的轮对 ,也为城市轨道车辆设计新型的使用铝制轮毂、钢制车轴和轮辋的轻型混合车轮。该程序以采…     

Estimating the inefficiency in the Norwegian bus industry from stochastic cost frontier models

A stochastic cost frontier function based on data from 170 of the 175 Norwegian subsidized bus companies is estimated under two alternative presumptions regarding the distribution of the inefficency among the bus operators. When the inefficiency is assumed to be half-normally distributed, the average inefficiency in the industry is estimated to be 13.7 per cent. This calculated value is nearly halved (7.2 per cent) when the exponential distribution is applied, while the ranking of the companies according to inefficiency is unchanged. By regressing the estimated inefficiency values for each company on some exogenous variables describing its ownership structure and the subsidy policy which it faces, it is seen that inefficiency of the companies which negotiate with the public authorities over the subsidy amounts is slightly higher than the inefficiency of the companies which face a subsidy policy based on cost norms. Our analysis gives, however, no significant differences in the efficiency between privately owned bus companies and publicly owned bus operators, and shows only minor economies of scale.     

高速铁路车辆车轴的疲劳设计方法

从19世纪早期铁路运营开始,车轴的疲劳设计就是工程设计人员在材料的疲劳研究方面的一个难点。为了保证高速铁路系统的安全,一些杰出的研究人员进行了大量的投资和试验,并且在材料、制造、热处理和设计方法等方面取得了很大进步。比较欧洲和日本在高速铁路车辆车轴疲劳设计上的原理,认为在新干线车辆和TGV,ICE之间存在一些区别。疲劳强度的危险部位主要是容易受到磨损和疲劳损伤的压装配合部位,如轮座、齿轮座和制动盘座等部位。在欧洲,车轴压装部位采用大直径使危险部位平滑;在日本采用高频硬化的方法提高压装部位的疲劳强度,同时在车轴的压装部位附近设置了应力释放槽。多年来,新干线的车轴经过磁粉探伤没有发现疲劳磨损裂纹,这表明高速铁路车轴的安全性多年的改进是成功的。     

Sequential optimization approach for the multi‐class user equilibrium problem in a continuous transportation system

We consider a city region with several facilities that are competing for customers of different classes. Within the city region, the road network is dense, and can be represented as a continuum. Customers are continuously distributed over space, and they choose a facility by considering both the transportation cost and market externalities. More importantly, the model takes into account the different transportation cost functions and market externalities to which different customer classes are subjected. A logit‐type distribution of demand is specified to model the decision‐making process of users' facility choice. We develop a sequential optimization approach to decompose the complex multi‐class and multi‐facility problem into a series of smaller single‐class and single‐facility sub‐problems. An efficient solution algorithm is then proposed to solve the resultant problem. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential applicability of the proposed methodology.     

Primary productivity of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Area and the Southern Ocean

A major objective of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (Palmer LTER) project is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the various components of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Phytoplankton production plays a key role in this so-called high nutrient, low chlorophyll environment, and factors that regulate production include those that control cell growth (light, temperature, and nutrients) and those that control cell accumulation rate and hence population growth (water column stability, grazing, and sinking). Sea ice mediates several of these factors and frequently conditions the water column for a spring bloom which is characterized by a pulse of production restricted in both time and space. This study models the spatial and temporal variability of primary production within the Palmer LTER area west of the Antarctic Peninsula and discusses this production in the context of historical data for the Southern Ocean. Primary production for the Southern Ocean and the Palmer LTER area have been computed using both light-pigment production models [Smith, R.C., Bidigare, R.R., Prézelin, B.B., Baker, K.S., Brooks, J.M., 1987. Optical characterization of primary productivity across a coastal front. Mar. Biol. (96), 575–591; Bidigare, R.R., Smith, R.C., Baker, K.S., Marra, J., 1987. Oceanic primary production estimates from measurements of spectral irradiance and pigment concentrations. Global Biogeochem. Cycles (1), 171–186; Morel, A., Berthon, J.F., 1989. Surface pigments, algal biomass profiles and potential production of the euphotic layer—relationships reinvestigated in view of remote-sensing applications. Limnol. Oceanogr. (34), 1545–1562] and an ice edge production model [Nelson, D.M., Smith, W.O., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the western Ross Sea ice edge: II. Mesoscale cycling of nitrogen and silicon. Deep-Sea Res. (33), 1389–1412; Wilson, D.L., Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the Western Ross Sea ice edge: I. primary productivity and species-specific production. Deep-Sea Res., 33, 1375–1387; Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Importance of ice edge phytoplankton production in the Southern Ocean. BioScience (36), 251–257]. Chlorophyll concentrations, total photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and sea ice concentrations were derived from satellite data. These same parameters, in addition to hydrodynamic conditions, have also been determined from shipboard and Palmer Station observations during the LTER program. Model results are compared, sensitivity studies evaluated, and productivity of the Palmer LTER region is discussed in terms of its space time distribution, seasonal and interannual variability, and overall contribution to the marine ecology of the Southern Ocean.