scholarly journals Assessing the Impacts of Autonomous Bus-on-Demand Based on Agent-Based Simulation: A Case Study of Fuyang, Zhejiang, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Zhikang Zhai ◽  
Ying Yang ◽  
Yu Shen ◽  
Yuxiong Ji ◽  
Yuchuan Du

This paper envisions and assesses the performance of an autonomous bus-on-demand (ABoD) system. We take Fuyang, Zhejiang, China, as the study area to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of bus travel demand during workdays, and we propose replacing inefficient bus routes with the ABoD system. Agent-based models with various bus dispatching and operation control strategies are constructed to evaluate the performance of the ABoD system. The behaviors and interactions of the agents, passengers, autonomous buses, and a control center are designed. After the verification of the simulated bus travel demand with real-world demand, a series of scenarios with various ABoD operation strategies are simulated. The simulation results show that, in comparison with both current fixed-schedule bus services and the optimized bus dispatching strategies, the ABoD system occupies fewer road resources and utilizes bus vehicles more efficiently. Besides, the system is adaptive to the sudden surge in bus travel demand and is economically sustainable.

2019 ◽  
pp. 1086-1108
Author(s):  
Yujian Fu ◽  
Zhijiang Dong ◽  
Xudong He

A humanoid robot is inherently complex due to the heterogeneity of accessory devices and to the interactions of various interfaces, which will be exponentially increased in multiple robotics collaboration. Therefore, the design and implementation of multiple humanoid robotics (MHRs) remains a very challenging issue. It is known that formal methods provide a rigorous analysis of the complexity in both design of control and implementation of systems. This article presents an agent-based framework of formal modeling on the design of communication and control strategies of a team of autonomous robotics, to attain the specified tasks in a coordinated manner. To ensure a successful collaboration of multiple robotics, this formal agent-based framework captures behaviors in Petri Net models and specifies collaboration operations in four defined operations. To validate the framework, a non-trivial soccer bot set was implemented and simulation results were discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohani Liyanage ◽  
Hussein Dia

On-demand multi-passenger shared transport options are increasingly being promoted as an influential strategy to reduce traffic congestion and emissions and improve the convenience and travel experience for passengers. These services, often referred to as on-demand public transport, are aimed at meeting personal travel demands through the use of shared vehicles that run on flexible routes using advanced tools for dynamic scheduling. This paper presents an agent-based traffic simulation model that was developed to evaluate the performance of on-demand public transport and compare it with existing scheduled bus services using a case study of the inner city of Melbourne in Australia. The key performance measures used in the comparative evaluation included quality of service and passenger experience in terms of waiting times, the efficiency of service and operations in terms of hourly vehicle utilization, and system efficiency in terms of trip completion rates, passenger kilometers travelled and total passenger trip times. The results showed significant benefits for passengers who use on-demand bus services compared to scheduled bus services. The on-demand bus service was found to reduce average total passenger waiting times by 89% during the Morning Peak; by 78% during the Mid-Day period; by 81% during the Afternoon Peak; and by more than 95% during other periods of the day. From an operator’s perspective, the on-demand services were found to achieve around 70% vehicle utilization rates during peak hours compared to a utilization rate not exceeding 16% for the scheduled bus services. Even during off-peak periods, the occupancies for on-demand services were almost twice the vehicle occupancies for scheduled bus services. In terms of system efficiency, the on-demand services achieved a trip completion rate of 85% compared to a trip completion rate of 67% for the scheduled bus services. The total passenger-kilometers travelled was similar for both scheduled and on-demand bus services, which refutes claims that on-demand bus services induce more kilometers of travel. The trip completion times were around 55% shorter for on-demand bus services compared to scheduled services, which represents a significant saving in travel time for users. Finally, the paper presents average emissions per completed trip for both types of services and shows a significant reduction in emissions for on-demand services compared to conventional bus services. These include, on average, a 48% reduction in CO2 emissions per trip; 82% reduction in NO emissions per trip; and 41% reduction in p.m.10 emissions per trip. These findings clearly demonstrate the superior benefits of on-demand bus services compared to scheduled bus services.


Author(s):  
Ellen van der Werff ◽  
Niels van Oort ◽  
Oded Cats ◽  
Serge Hoogendoorn

Reliability is a key determinant of the quality of a transit service. Control is needed to deal with the stochastic nature of high-frequency bus services and to improve service reliability. This study focuses on holding control, both schedule- and headway-based strategies. An assessment framework is developed to systematically assess the effect of different strategies on passengers, the operator, and the transport authority. This framework can be applied by operators or authorities to determine which holding strategy is most beneficial to regulate headways, and thus solve related problems. In this research knowledge is gained about what service characteristics affect the performance of holding strategies and the robustness of these strategies in disrupted situations, by using scenarios. The framework is applied to a case study of a high-frequency regional bus line in the Netherlands. Based on the simulation results, the study identified the line characteristics that are important for the performance of schedule- and headway-based strategies and determined how robust different strategies are in the case of disruptions. Headway-based control strategies better mitigate irregularity along the line, especially when there are disruptions. However, schedule-based control strategies are currently easier to implement, because they do not require large changes in practice, and the performance of both strategies is generally equal in regular, undisrupted situations. In this paper, insights into what the concerns are for operators with respect to technical adaptations, logistical changes, and behavioral aspects when using a headway-based strategy are given.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Costanza Bonadonna ◽  
Ali Asgary ◽  
Franco Romerio ◽  
Tais Zulemyan ◽  
Corine Frischknecht ◽  
...  

Abstract. Evacuation planning and management represents a key aspect of volcanic crises because it can increase people protection as well as minimize the potential impact on the economy, properties, and infrastructure of the affected area. Assessment of evacuation scenarios that consider human and economic impact is best done in a pre-disaster context as it helps authorities develop evacuation plans and make informed decisions outside the highly stressful time period that characterizes crises. We present an agent-based simulation tool that assesses the effectiveness of different evacuation scenarios using Vulcano island (Italy) as a case study. Simulation results show that the overall time needed to evacuate people should be analysed together with the percentage of people evacuated as a function of time and that a simultaneous evacuation on Vulcano is more efficient than a staged evacuation. We also present a model to assess the economic impact of evacuation as a function of evacuation duration and starting period that reveals that an evacuation of Vulcano would cause significant economic impact to the tourism industry if lasting more than 3 months (in case it was initiated at the beginning of the visitor season) to 1 year (in case it was initiated at the end of the visitor season).


Author(s):  
Nabil Mohareb ◽  
Sara Maassarani

Current architecture studios are missing an important phase in the education process, which is constructing the students’ conceptual ideas on a real physical scale. The design-build approach enables the students to test their ideas, theories, material selection, construction methods, environmental constraints, simulation results, level of space functionality and other important aspects when used by real target clients in an existing context. This paper aims to highlight the importance of using the design-build method through discussing a design project case study carried out by the Masters of Architecture design programme students at Beirut Arab University, who have built prototype units for refugees on a 1:1 scale.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 331-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Weinreich ◽  
Wolfgang Schilling ◽  
Ane Birkely ◽  
Tallak Moland

This paper presents results from an application of a newly developed simulation tool for pollution based real time control (PBRTC) of urban drainage systems. The Oslo interceptor tunnel is used as a case study. The paper focuses on the reduction of total phosphorus Ptot and ammonia-nitrogen NH4-N overflow loads into the receiving waters by means of optimized operation of the tunnel system. With PBRTC the total reduction of the Ptot load is 48% and of the NH4-N load 51%. Compared to the volume based RTC scenario the reductions are 11% and 15%, respectively. These further reductions could be achieved with a relatively simple extension of the operation strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Lennart Adenaw ◽  
Markus Lienkamp

In order to electrify the transport sector, scores of charging stations are needed to incentivize people to buy electric vehicles. In urban areas with a high charging demand and little space, decision-makers are in need of planning tools that enable them to efficiently allocate financial and organizational resources to the promotion of electromobility. As with many other city planning tasks, simulations foster successful decision-making. This article presents a novel agent-based simulation framework for urban electromobility aimed at the analysis of charging station utilization and user behavior. The approach presented here employs a novel co-evolutionary learning model for adaptive charging behavior. The simulation framework is tested and verified by means of a case study conducted in the city of Munich. The case study shows that the presented approach realistically reproduces charging behavior and spatio-temporal charger utilization.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110205
Author(s):  
Giulia Mariani ◽  
Tània Verge

Building on historical and discursive institutionalism, this article examines the agent-based dynamics of gradual institutional change. Specifically, using marriage equality in the United States as a case study, we examine how actors’ ideational work enabled them to make use of the political and discursive opportunities afforded by multiple venues to legitimize the process of institutional change to take off sequentially through layering, displacement, and conversion. We also pay special attention to how the discursive strategies deployed by LGBT advocates, religious-conservative organizations and other private actors created new opportunities to influence policy debates and tip the scales to their preferred policy outcome. The sequential perspective adopted in this study allows problematizing traditional conceptualizations of which actors support or contest the status quo, as enduring oppositional dynamics lead them to perform both roles in subsequent phases of the institutional change process.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Jorge Lopez-Jimenez ◽  
Nicanor Quijano ◽  
Alain Vande Wouwer

Climate change and the efficient use of freshwater for irrigation pose a challenge for sustainable agriculture. Traditionally, the prediction of agricultural production is carried out through crop-growth models and historical records of the climatic variables. However, one of the main flaws of these models is that they do not consider the variability of the soil throughout the cultivation area. In addition, with the availability of new information sources (i.e., aerial or satellite images) and low-cost meteorological stations, it is convenient that the models incorporate prediction capabilities to enhance the representation of production scenarios. In this work, an agent-based model (ABM) that considers the soil heterogeneity and water exchanges is proposed. Soil heterogeneity is associated to the combination of individual behaviours of uniform portions of land (agents), while water fluxes are related to the topography. Each agent is characterized by an individual dynamic model, which describes the local crop growth. Moreover, this model considers positive and negative effects of water level, i.e., drought and waterlogging, on the biomass production. The development of the global ABM is oriented to the future use of control strategies and optimal irrigation policies. The model is built bottom-up starting with the definition of agents, and the Python environment Mesa is chosen for the implementation. The validation is carried out using three topographic scenarios in Colombia. Results of potential production cases are discussed, and some practical recommendations on the implementation are presented.


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