Scheduling of Intelligent and Autonomous Vehicles under pairing/unpairing collaboration strategy in container terminals

A new class of Intelligent and Autonomous Vehicles (IAVs) has been designed in the framework of Intelligent Transportation for Dynamic Environment (InTraDE) project funded by European Union. This type of vehicles is technologically superior to the existing Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), in many respects. They offer more flexibility and intelligence in maneuvering within confined spaces where the logistic operations take place. This includes the ability of pairing/unpairing enabling a pair of 1-TEU (20-foot Equivalent Unit) IAVs dynamically to join, transport containers of any size between 1-TEU and 1-FFE (40-foot Equivalent) and disjoin again. Deploying IAVs helps port operators to remain efficient in coping with the ever increasing volume of container traffic at ports and eliminate the need for deploying more 40-ft transporters in the very confined area of ports. In order to accommodate this new feature of IAVs, we review and extend one of the existing mixed integer programming models of AGV scheduling in order to minimize the makespan of operations for transporting a set of containers of different sizes between quay cranes and yard cranes. In particular, we study the case of Dublin Ferryport Terminal. In order to deal with the complexity of the scheduling model, we develop a Lagrangian relaxation-based decomposition approach equipped with a variable fixing procedure and a primal heuristics to obtain high-quality solution of instances of the problem.     

Sociological perspectives on travel and mobilities: A review

There is increasing interest in understanding and achieving changes in travel behaviour, but a focus on individual behaviour change may overlook the potential for achieving change via transformation at the levels of institutions, cultures and societies – the domains of sociological inquiry. In this paper, we review sociological contributions to the literature on travel and ‘mobilities’. We summarise four key themes which supplement or contradict arguments made in mainstream transport debates on behaviour change. The first involves focusing on travel ‘practices’ as social entities with dynamics of their own, rather than on individual behaviours. The second relates to the changing natures of societies, and the implications for travel. The third explores and interprets the issue of car dependence in ways which highlight the ethical, experiential and emotional dimensions associated with car use, its symbolic role in societies increasingly concerned with consumption, and its differing roles within different cultures. Finally, the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ highlights issues such as the increasing links between travel and new technologies, and the primacy of social networks in influencing travel decisions. These themes emphasise the importance of understanding the broader contexts in which travel choices are made. In particular, the implication is that the creation of more sustainable travel patterns will require changes at a range of social levels, not simply in individual behaviours, and that changes to transport will inevitably be linked with, and influenced by, broader changes in the values and practices developed by societies as a whole.     

Smarter and more connected: Future intelligent transportation system

Emerging technologies toward a connected vehicle-infrastructure-pedestrian environment and big data have made it easier and cheaper to collect, store, analyze, use, and disseminate multi-source data. The connected environment also introduces new approaches to flexible control and management of transportation systems in real time to improve overall system performance. Given the benefits of a connected environment, it is crucial that we understand how the current intelligent transportation system could be adapted to the connected environment.     

环氧沥青洒布车的研制与应用

文章基于环氧沥青洒布车研制历程,针对环氧沥青桥面防水粘结层施工的特殊性,介绍了环氧沥青洒布车的功能设计、结构特点及工作原理,分析了其技术优越性,为桥面防水粘结层施工机械的选用提供参考。     

Engaging disadvantaged populations in transport studies: Linking modal use and perceptions of safety to activity patterns

Accessibility measures are important tools in planning. However, if the data are not available to adequately capture the mobility and accessibility challenges of disadvantaged populations, than the results of the model provide little to no direction for policy makers. This paper explores data collection techniques that have the potential to address the “why” underlining the activity behavior, especially linking personal safety perceptions to activities. The first study comes from a series of focus groups with low-income women in Quebec City, Canada. Self-mapping of individual spaces creates a framework to address spatial and temporal challenges that negatively impact transit dependent populations. The second study focuses on the activity patterns of low-income immigrant youth in Providence, RI. A technique is presented to elicit formatted responses concerning perceptions of personal safety. With the help of GIS, this technique has the potential to link together activities and perceptions of safety for activity modeling.     

Investigations of vehicle securing without lashings for Ro-Ro ships

To reduce the area on deck occupied by each car and the labour and time required for lashing and unlashing cars, it has been proposed by the author that in some conditions, cars on decks could be transported without lashing. To evaluate cargo securing based on this “lashing-free” concept, computational code was developed to calculate the vehicle–deck interactions for various ship motions. The code was structured by incorporating a vehicle model into a piece of ship motion calculation code. A series of time-domain simulations were conducted to evaluate vehicle securing. It was found that for a target ship consisting of a 6000-unit Ro-Ro vessel, vehicle securing is mainly influenced by the ship's rolling motions and is highly dependent on the wave height and loading conditions. It was suggested from the analysis that vehicles could be secured without being lashed in a large area of the ship in specific weather conditions and on some routes with less adverse sea states. However, it is still suggested that conventional lashing holes should be constructed on the deck because in severe sea states the cars will still need to be lashed. The limitations of the current investigations are also presented. The relevant research work was carried out at the Division of Ship Design and Engineering, Department of Shipping and Marine Technology, Chalmers University of Technology.     

An agent-based approach to modelling driver route choice behaviour under the influence of real-time information

This paper presents an agent-based approach to modelling individual driver behaviour under the influence of real-time traffic information. The driver behaviour models developed in this study are based on a behavioural survey of drivers which was conducted on a congested commuting corridor in Brisbane, Australia. Commuters’ responses to travel information were analysed and a number of discrete choice models were developed to determine the factors influencing drivers’ behaviour and their propensity to change route and adjust travel patterns. Based on the results obtained from the behavioural survey, the agent behaviour parameters which define driver characteristics, knowledge and preferences were identified and their values determined. A case study implementing a simple agent-based route choice decision model within a microscopic traffic simulation tool is also presented. Driver-vehicle units (DVUs) were modelled as autonomous software components that can each be assigned a set of goals to achieve and a database of knowledge comprising certain beliefs, intentions and preferences concerning the driving task. Each DVU provided route choice decision-making capabilities, based on perception of its environment, that were similar to the described intentions of the driver it represented. The case study clearly demonstrated the feasibility of the approach and the potential to develop more complex driver behavioural dynamics based on the belief–desire–intention agent architecture.     

液货舱透气系统设计与计算方法研究

针对IMO通涵以及ISO标准的新要求，从船东、船厂和船舶设计院所履行职责的角度，对新建油船和化学品船透气系统的设计与计算方法进行研究，并给出了实例。     

铁路客货列车分摊线路使用费比例的研究

客货列车均对线路造成损伤,但因运行速度、轴重和运量不同,则对线路损伤的程度不同,所承担线路使用费不同。从工务维修角度出发,以对线路使用费有决定性作用的钢轨抽换成本和轨道状态维修成本作为研究对象,建立客货列车线路使用费分摊比例的工程模型,对我国铁路进行大量现场调研,并用所建立的工程模型对现场调研数据进行处理,得到我国客运货运分摊线路使用费的比例。