Train-driving simulator studies: Can novice drivers deliver the goods?

2017 ◽  
Vol 231 (10) ◽  
pp. 1186-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R Large ◽  
David Golightly ◽  
Emma Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Novice Drivers ◽  
Control Actions ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Frequent Switching ◽  
Train Drivers ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control

Early research suggests that, in a simulated train-driving environment, unskilled, novice drivers may exhibit comparable behaviour and performance to experienced, professional train drivers after receiving only minimal, task-specific training. However, this conclusion is based on exiguous performance indicators, such as speed limit exceedances, SPAD violations, etc. and considers only limited data. This paper presents further, detailed analysis of the driving performance data obtained from 20 drivers (13 novices and 7 experienced train drivers), who took part in a previous simulator-based research study, utilising more sensitive and perspicuous measures, namely acceleration noise and control actuation. The results indicate that, although both cohorts exhibited similar performance using the original metrics, and would thus support the same conclusions, the manner in which this performance was effected is fundamentally different between groups. Trained novice drivers (mainly comprising students and staff at the University of Nottingham) adopted far more erratic speed control profiles, characterised by longer control actions and frequent switching between power and brake actuation. In contrast, experienced drivers delivered smoother acceleration/braking profiles with more subtle (and shorter) control actions and less variance in speed. We conclude that although utilising trained non-drivers may offer an appealing solution in the absence of professional train drivers during simulator-based research, and their input remains of value, researchers should remain mindful when interpreting results and drawing conclusions from a contingent comprising non-drivers. The work also demonstrates the value of dependent variables such as acceleration noise, and quantitative measures of control actuation, which may offer an insightful portfolio of measures in train-driving research studies.

scholarly journals Application of statistical analysis to improve time management of a process modeling project

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Mello Pereira ◽  
Luiza Lavocat Galvão de Almeida Coelho ◽  
Gladston Luiz da Silva ◽  
Yanne Souza Alves Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Execution Time ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
Quantitative Nature

Abstract This work was the result of a cooperation agreement between the University of Brasilia (UnB) and a security organization. Its goal was to model the logistic processes of the company to assist in the modernization of a control system for the management of materials. The project was managed in a dynamic model, through the monitoring and control of activities executed during its various stages. The development of a control system enabled the detection of discrepancies between what was planned and how it was performed, identifying its causes and which actions to take to ensure that the project got back on track according to the planned schedule and budget. The main objective of this article was to identify which elements controlled by the project affected its execution time. With that knowledge, it was possible to improve the planning of the next phases of the project. To this end, we performed a case study of exploratory aspect and quantitative nature to provide information on the object and guide the formulation of hypotheses. The qualitative analysis of the execution time of the modeling identified two dependent variables - systematic version and team - out of the four evaluated. The quantitative analysis studied two variables - number of modifications and number of elements -, which did not indicate evidence of correlation with the aforementioned time.

The Impact of TED-Vodcast on Iranian EFL Learners' Academic Oral Proficiency

2017 ◽  
pp. 80-96
Author(s):  
Aram Reza Sadeghi ◽  
Soheila Ghorbani
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Listening And Speaking

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of TED-Vodcast on academic oral proficiency, with a focus on accuracy and fluency of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. There is no doubt that most of the university students in different fields of study face a lot of hardships while attending international conferences for presenting a paper which is due to lack of English proficiency. In this research, 34 female freshman students of English Language and Literature at Semnan University aged between 18-27 were selected and assigned into 2 groups of experimental (N=19) and control (N=15). TED-Vodcast was integrated into experimental group and conventional method of teaching listening and speaking was applied for the control group. Both groups took pretest and posttest which were in the form of interviews. The relation of 3 dependent variables of the two groups were computed by MANOVA and independent sample T-test was used as well. The findings of the study indicated that TED-Vodcast had significant effects on learners' oral proficiency as well as accuracy but not on fluency.

Advanced Virtual Reality Based Training to Improve Young Drivers’ Latent Hazard Anticipation Ability

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1995-1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi Agrawal ◽  
Michael Knodler ◽  
Donald L. Fisher ◽  
Siby Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Risk Awareness ◽  
Novice Drivers ◽  
Feedback Training ◽  
Young Drivers ◽  
And Control ◽  
Risk Driving

The crash rate for young novice drivers is at least eight times higher than that of their experienced counterparts. Literature shows that the young novice drivers are not careless drivers but they are clueless drivers’ - clueless because of their inability to predict the risk ahead of time that might materialize on the forward roadway. Other error-feedback training programs exist that emphasize the teaching of risk awareness and perception skills to young drivers. In the current study, a Virtual reality based risk awareness and perception training program (V-RAPT) was developed on the Oculus Rift and evaluated on a driving simulator. The training program provides 360 degrees’ views of 6 high risk driving scenarios towards training the young driver to anticipate and mitigate latent hazards. Twenty-four participants in three experiment groups were trained on one of 3 training programs- VRAPT, RAPT and Control, and were evaluated on a driving simulator. Eye movements were collected throughout the experiment. The simulator evaluation drives included six near-transfer scenarios used in the training and four far-transfer scenarios not used in the training but validated previously in other similar studies. The young drivers trained on the V-RAPT were found to anticipate a significantly greater proportion (86.25%) of the potential latent hazards as compared to the RAPT trained young drivers (62.36%) and control trained drivers (30.97%). The VR-based training program is shown to be effective in improving young drivers’ ability to anticipate latent threats.

The role of copper ions in hydrogen peroxide bleaching: Their origin, removal, and effect on pulp quality

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO E.G. LOUREIRO ◽  
SANDRINE DUARTE ◽  
DMITRY V. EVTUGUIN ◽  
M. GRAÇA V.S. CARVALHO
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Copper Ions ◽  
Peroxide Bleaching ◽  
Metals Removal ◽  
Peroxide Decomposition ◽  
Equipment Corrosion ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Control ◽  
Main Effects

This study puts particular emphasis on the role of copper ions in the performance of hydrogen peroxide bleaching (P-stage). Owing to their variable levels across the bleaching line due to washing filtrates, bleaching reagents, and equipment corrosion, these ions can play a major role in hydrogen peroxide decomposition and be detrimental to polysaccharide integrity. In this study, a Cu-contaminated D0(EOP)D1 prebleached pulp was subjected to an acidic washing (A-stage) or chelation (Q-stage) before the alkaline P-stage. The objective was to understand the isolated and combined role of copper ions in peroxide bleaching performance. By applying an experimental design, it was possible to identify the main effects of the pretreatment variables on the extent of metals removal and performance of the P-stage. The acid treatment was unsuccessful in terms of complete copper removal, magnesium preservation, and control of hydrogen peroxide consumption in the following P-stage. Increasing reaction temperature and time of the acidic A-stage improved the brightness stability of the D0(EOP)D1AP bleached pulp. The optimum conditions for chelation pretreatment to maximize the brightness gains obtained in the subsequent P-stage with the lowest peroxide consumption were 0.4% diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), 80ºC, and 4.5 pH.

The Effect of Using Flipped Classroom Model to Improve Iraqi EFL Learners’ Pronunciation in English at University Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
pp. 631-654
Author(s):  
Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

For Iraqi EFL learners who are studying English pronunciation in a traditional instruction method often requires more effort and hard work. Thus, using new methods of teaching such as the flipped classroom model (FCM) is necessary to facilitate learning and improve performance. Hence, this study reports on explanatory research that investigates the effect of using the FCM in the teaching of English pronunciation for Iraqi EFL learners at the university level. The study implemented mixed research methods for data collection in a quasi-experimental analysis. Therefore, two tests were conducted on the assigned groups to measure the effect of the FCM before and after the intervention. Besides, a questionnaire and interviews were used on the experiment group students to collect data about their perceptions of the FCM. The study length (lasted)  was 15 weeks and is comprised of 60 students from the department of English, College of Arts at the University of Anbar. The students were divided into two groups, experimental, and control with 30 students in each group. The findings revealed that there was a significant statistical difference between the two groups in favour of the experimental group with better performance, indicating that the FCM has considerably assisted the Iraqi EFL learners to improve their English pronunciation. Moreover, the students expressed their positive feedback and satisfaction on the use of the FCM in their responses to the questionnaire and the interviews. As such, the current study recommends further research to study the effect of applying the FCM in areas and disciplines other than language learning.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Kinect-Based and Oculus-Based Gaze Region Estimation Methods in a Driving Simulator

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
David González-Ortega ◽  
Francisco Javier Díaz-Pernas ◽  
Mario Martínez-Zarzuela ◽  
Míriam Antón-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Gaze Estimation ◽  
Driving Simulators ◽  
Oculus Rift ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
And Performance

Driver’s gaze information can be crucial in driving research because of its relation to driver attention. Particularly, the inclusion of gaze data in driving simulators broadens the scope of research studies as they can relate drivers’ gaze patterns to their features and performance. In this paper, we present two gaze region estimation modules integrated in a driving simulator. One uses the 3D Kinect device and another uses the virtual reality Oculus Rift device. The modules are able to detect the region, out of seven in which the driving scene was divided, where a driver is gazing at in every route processed frame. Four methods were implemented and compared for gaze estimation, which learn the relation between gaze displacement and head movement. Two are simpler and based on points that try to capture this relation and two are based on classifiers such as MLP and SVM. Experiments were carried out with 12 users that drove on the same scenario twice, each one with a different visualization display, first with a big screen and later with Oculus Rift. On the whole, Oculus Rift outperformed Kinect as the best hardware for gaze estimation. The Oculus-based gaze region estimation method with the highest performance achieved an accuracy of 97.94%. The information provided by the Oculus Rift module enriches the driving simulator data and makes it possible a multimodal driving performance analysis apart from the immersion and realism obtained with the virtual reality experience provided by Oculus.

scholarly journals Barriers to Development of an App for Improving Staff-Family Communication at Israeli Geriatric Facilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 192-193
Author(s):  
Rinat Cohen ◽  
Gal Maydan ◽  
Shai Brill ◽  
Jiska Cohen-Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
Mobile App ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Implementation Planning ◽  
Institutional Adoption ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
To Receive

Abstract Family caregivers (FCs) of institutionalized noncommunicative older persons reported multiple unmet communication needs focusing on the need to receive reliable and regular updates on the patient’s condition. We have developed a mobile app for improving communication between FCs and healthcare professionals (HPs), based on 152 interviews with FCs and 13 discussion groups with HPs from four Israeli geriatric facilities. Both parties participated in app planning, tailoring it to their needs and abilities. App use implementation encountered major obstacles including the bureaucratic process concerning signing contracts between the university and software development firms, which hindered the process for a full year; data security department required disproportionate security levels that interfered with user experience and delayed the development process; the study’s definition varied across different ethics/Helsinki committees (Institutional Review Boards; IRBs), which led to different demands, e.g., insurance for medical clinical trials although no drugs or medical device were involved; lack of cooperation by mid-level staff members despite the institutional adoption of the app project; low utilization by HPs resulted in FCs not receiving timely responses. Despite these and other obstacles, we tested app use for 15 months in one facility in a pre-post-design with intervention and control groups, and we have since begun testing it in another facility. FCs who had used the app had positive feedback and wished to continue using it. App use optimization requires implementation planning, assimilating changes in each facility’s work procedures and HP’s engagement and motivation and thus depends on institutional procedures and politics.

Effect of Changing a Traffic Control Device Color on Driver Behavior and Perception across Different Age Groups

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110111
Author(s):  
Hatem Abou-Senna ◽  
Mohamed El-Agroudy ◽  
Mustapha Mouloua ◽  
Essam Radwan
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Traffic Management ◽  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
Driving Conditions ◽  
And Performance

The use of express lanes (ELs) in freeway traffic management has seen increasing popularity throughout the United States, particularly in Florida. These lanes aim at making the most efficient transportation system management and operations tool to provide a more reliable trip. An important component of ELs is the channelizing devices used to delineate the separation between the ELs and the general-purpose lane. With the upcoming changes to the FHWA Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, this study provided an opportunity to recommend changes affecting safety and efficiency on a nationwide level. It was important to understand the impacts on driver perception and performance in response to the color of the EL delineators. It was also valuable to understand the differences between demographics in responding to delineator colors under different driving conditions. The driving simulator was used to test the responses of several demographic groups to changes in marker color and driving conditions. Furthermore, participants were tested for several factors relevant to driving performance including visual and subjective responses to the changes in colors and driving conditions. Impacts on driver perception were observed via eye-tracking technology with changes to time of day, visibility, traffic density, roadway surface type, and, crucially, color of the delineating devices. The analyses concluded that white was the optimal and most significant color for notice of delineators across the majority of subjective and performance measures, followed by yellow, with black being the least desirable.

scholarly journals First-of-a-kind muography for nuclear waste characterization

2018 ◽  
Vol 377 (2137) ◽  
pp. 20180048 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mahon ◽  
Anthony Clarkson ◽  
Simon Gardner ◽  
David Ireland ◽  
Ramsey Jebali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Imaging System ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Laboratory Facility ◽  
Waste Container ◽  
High Resolution Images ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University

In the last decade, there has been a surge in the number of academic research groups and commercial companies exploiting naturally occurring cosmic-ray muons for imaging purposes in a range of industrial and geological applications. Since 2009, researchers at the University of Glasgow and the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) have pioneered this technique for the characterization of shielded nuclear waste containers with significant investment from the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd. Lynkeos Technology Ltd. was formed in 2016 to commercialize the Muon Imaging System (MIS) technology that resulted from this industry-funded academic research. The design, construction and performance of the Lynkeos MIS is presented along with first experimental and commercial results. The high-resolution images include the identification of small fragments of uranium within a surrogate 500-litre intermediate level waste container and metal inclusions within thermally treated GeoMelt® R&D Product Samples. The latter of these are from Lynkeos' first commercial contract with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory. The Lynkeos MIS will be deployed at the NNL Central Laboratory facility on the Sellafield site in Summer 2018 where it will embark upon a series of industry trials. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Cosmic-ray muography’.

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