Dynamic stability metrics for the container loading problem

The Container Loading Problem (CLP) literature has traditionally evaluated the dynamic stability of cargo by applying two metrics to box arrangements: the mean number of boxes supporting the items excluding those placed directly on the floor (M1) and the percentage of boxes with insufficient lateral support (M2). However, these metrics, that aim to be proxies for cargo stability during transportation, fail to translate real-world cargo conditions of dynamic stability.In this paper two new performance indicators are proposed to evaluate the dynamic stability of cargo arrangements: the number of fallen boxes (NFB) and the number of boxes within the Damage Boundary Curve fragility test (NB_DBC). Using 1500 solutions for well-known problem instances found in the literature, these new performance indicators are evaluated using a physics simulation tool (StableCargo), replacing the real-world transportation by a truck with a simulation of the dynamic behaviour of container loading arrangements.Two new dynamic stability metrics that can be integrated within any container loading algorithm are also proposed. The metrics are analytical models of the proposed stability performance indicators, computed by multiple linear regression. Pearson’s r correlation coefficient was used as an evaluation parameter for the performance of the models. The extensive computational results show that the proposed metrics are better proxies for dynamic stability in the CLP than the previous widely used metrics.     

Experimental and empirical investigations of traffic flow instability

Traffic instability is an important but undesirable feature of traffic flow. This paper reports our experimental and empirical studies on traffic flow instability. We have carried out a large scale experiment to study the car-following behavior in a 51-car-platoon. The experiment has reproduced the phenomena and confirmed the findings in our previous 25-car-platoon experiment, i.e., standard deviation of vehicle speeds increases in a concave way along the platoon. Based on our experimental results, we argue that traffic speed rather than vehicle spacing (or density) might be a better indicator of traffic instability, because vehicles can have different spacing under the same speed. For these drivers, there exists a critical speed between 30 km/h and 40 km/h, above which the standard deviation of car velocity is almost saturated (flat) along the 51-car-platoon, indicating that the traffic flow is likely to be stable. In contrast, below this critical speed, traffic flow is unstable and can lead to the formation of traffic jams. Traffic data from the Nanjing Airport Highway support the experimental observation of existence of a critical speed. Based on these findings, we propose an alternative mechanism of traffic instability: the competition between stochastic factors and the so-called speed adaptation effect, which can better explain the concave growth of speed standard deviation in traffic flow.     

Fractional-order-based ACC/CACC algorithm for improving string stability

Traffic flow optimization and driver comfort enhancement are the main contributions of an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system. If communication links are added, more safety and shorter gaps can be reached performing a Cooperative-ACC (CACC). Although shortening the inter-vehicular distances directly improves traffic flow, it can cause string unstable behavior. This paper presents fractional-order-based control algorithms to enhance the car-following and string stability performance for both ACC and CACC vehicle strings, including communication temporal delay effects. The proposed controller is compared with state-of-the-art implementations, exhibiting better performance. Simulation and real experiments have been conducted for validating the approach.     

Stability of transportation networks under adaptive routing policies

Growing concerns regarding urban congestion, and the recent explosion of mobile devices able to provide real-time information to traffic users have motivated increasing reliance on real-time route guidance for the online management of traffic networks. However, while the theory of traffic equilibria is very well-known, fewer results exist on the stability of such equilibria, especially in the context of adaptive routing policy. In this work, we consider the problem of characterizing the stability properties of traffic equilibria in the context of online adaptive route choice induced by GPS-based decision making. We first extend the recent framework of “Markovian Traffic Equilibria” (MTE), in which users update their route choice at each intersection of the road network based on traffic conditions, to the case of non-equilibrium conditions, while preserving consistency with known existence and uniqueness results on MTE. We then exhibit sufficient conditions on the network topology and the latency functions for those MTEs to be stable in the sense of Lyapunov for a single destination problem. For various more restricted classes of network topologies motivated by the observed properties of travel patterns in the Singapore network, under certain assumptions we prove local exponential stability of the MTE, and derive analytical results on the sensitivity of the characteristic time of convergence to network and traffic parameters. The results proposed in this work are illustrated and validated on synthetic toy problems as well as on the Singapore road network with real demand and traffic data.     

A Constrained Controller Based on State Estimation

IntroductionIn practice, owing to the limitations of actua-tors and other physical properties, the inputs of asystem are often subject to constraints. It has sig-nificant theoretical and engineering values to inves-tigate the control of constrained systems. In thepast years, many attempts have been made on thisissue[1-5]. For a class of uncertain constrained dis-crete-time systems, Kothare, et al[4]proposed anonline receding predictive control algorithm. Byanalyzing the degradation condition …     

CACC车头时距与混合交通流稳定性的解析关系

研究协同自适应巡航控制(Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control，CACC)车头时距对不同CACC比例下混合交通流稳定性的影响关系，进而为CACC车头时距设计提供参考. 应用优化速度模型(Optimal Velocity Model，OVM)作为手动车辆的跟驰模型，PATH真车实验标定的模型作为CACC车辆的跟驰模型. 基于传递函数理论，推导混合交通流稳定性判别条件，计算关于CACC比例与平衡态速度的混合交通流稳定域. 分析混合交通流在任意速度下稳定所需满足的临界CACC比例与CACC车头时距的解析关系，提出随CACC比例增加的可变 CACC车头时距设计策略，并通过数值仿真实验验证所提可变CACC车头时距策略的正确性. 研究结果表明：在所提可变CACC车头时距策略下，CACC车头时距随CACC比例增加而逐渐降低，避免取值较大影响混合交通流通行能力的提升；当CACC比例大于35%时，混合交通流在任意速度下稳定.研究结果可为大规模CACC真车实验的实施提供理论设计参考.     

鱼雷定深航行稳定性的分叉分析

鱼雷定深运动方程含有诸多的非线性项，用传统的分析方法对其稳定性进行研究有较大难度。运用非线性科学中的分叉理论，选定鱼雷定深运动方程中的某一流体动力系数扰动值为分叉参数，系统地分析在经典比例微分深度控制系统作用下，鱼雷在退化平衡点处的航行稳定性。利用中心流形定理，推导出系统状态变量解析表达式，对系统 Hopf分叉进行分析，并进行仿真验证。结果表明，流体动力系数变化使定深航行产生 Hopf分叉，并给出了确保鱼雷稳定航行的流体动力参数取值范围。     

新五维超混沌系统反同步研究

以新五维超混沌系统为对象，基于Lyapunov稳定性理论，采用非线性控制法、主动控制法及全局控制法，分别设计了控制器，实现了新五维超混沌系统的反同步。通过数值仿真，对三种方法的反同步效果进行了验证和对比分析，结果显示主动控制法优于其它两种方法。     

保证路基长期稳定性的技术措施研究

路基长期稳定性是一个综合性的问题,要想通过设计或施工一劳永逸的解决,在技术上是困难的,在经济上也是不适宜的。只有通过对设计、施工、养护三者综合考虑,把握影响路基长期稳定性的关键因素,才能经济、合理地解决该问题,使公路更好地为经济建设服务。     

关于木材运输船安全运输的几点分析

木材船海上运输具有一定的风险,一旦积载和绑扎不当或管理不妥,造成货物滚动、移位、货垛倒塌,就会引发安全事故甚至导致船舶倾覆。因此,加强木材船的安全管理,落实各项安全保障措施,是确保木材船安全运输生产的重要举措。