Prediction of Vehicular Traffic Flow using Levenberg-Marquardt Artificial Neural Network Model: Italy Road Transportation System

In the last decades, the Italian road transport system has been characterized by severe and consistent traffic congestion and in particular Rome is one of the Italian cities most affected by this problem. In this study, a LevenbergMarquardt (LM) artificial neural network heuristic model was used to predict the traffic flow of non-autonomous vehicles. Traffic datasets were collected using both inductive loop detectors and video cameras as acquisition systems and selecting some parameters including vehicle speed, time of day, traffic volume and number of vehicles. The model showed a training, test and regression value (R2) of 0.99892, 0.99615 and 0.99714 respectively. The results of this research add to the growing body of literature on traffic flow modelling and help urban planners and traffic managers in terms of the traffic control and the provision of convenient travel routes for pedestrians and motorists.

INVESTIGATION AND MODELING OF TRANSPORT NOISE DEPENDENCE ON TRAFFIC SPEED AND IMPACT ON POPULATION ANNOYANCE

Transport noise is a serious problem in cities and has a negative impact on both health and economics. In addition to the aforementioned unnoticed health effects, traffic noise has also been identified as one of the leading causes of sleep disorders, annoyance and negative cardiovascular effects. This research consists of three parts: part one involves onsite measurements of traffic noise in Trakai town; part two simulates traffic noise at different average vehicle speeds; part three assesses the number of people affected by traffic noise. The carried-out simulation has demonstrated that the noise level changes very slightly at different average vehicle speeds. It should be noticed that more noise is generated at average vehicle speed of 30 km/h rather than at 50 km/h. The assessment of the annoyance level has disclosed that an average vehicle speed of 30 km/h should cause the highest level of annoyance (highest – 26.8%).

Numerical Study of Longitudinal Inter-Distance and Operational Characteristics for High-Speed Capsular Train Systems

High-speed capsular vehicles are firstly suggested as an idea by Elon Musk of Tesla Company. Unlike conventional high-speed trains, capsular vehicles are individual vessels carrying passengers and freight with the expected maximum speed of near 1200 [km/h] in a near-vacuum tunnel. More individual vehicle speed, dispatch, and position control in the operational aspect are expected over connected trains. This numerical study and investigation evaluate and analyze inter-distance control and their characteristics for high-speed capsular vehicles and their operational aspects. Among many aspects of operation, the inter-distance of multiple vehicles is critical toward passenger/freight flow rate and infrastructural investment. In this paper, the system’s equation, equation of the motion, and various characteristics of the system are introduced, and in particular control design parameters for inter-distance control and actuation are numerically shown. As a conclusion, (1) Inter-distance between vehicles is a function of error rate and second car start time, the magnitude range is determined by second car start time, (2) Inter-distance fluctuation rate is a function of error rate and second car start time, however; it can be minimized by choosing the correct second car start time, and (3) If the second car start time is chosen an integer number of push-down cycle time at specific velocity error rate, the inter-distance fluctuation can be zero.

Estimation of the power of mechanical losses in the engine, transmission and wheels of car on the stand with running drums

The efficiency of a car is considered through the amount of energy loss spent on transmission from the engine to the driving wheels of the car. Analytical and experimental methods for assessing mechanical losses are analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of road and bench tests of a car in free run modes are indicated. A description of the diagnostic equipment - a stand with running drums, used to simulate the movement of a car in laboratory conditions is given. The components of the necessary measuring equipment for recording the speed and torque on the wheels of a car are considered. The list of primary measuring sensors and main transducers is indicated, which transmit information to the computer. The results of the car run-out on the stand are given: the change in the instantaneous speed from time to time. The primary assessment of the regression model is made and the values of the coefficients are obtained by the method of least squares of deviations of the vehicle speed. A mathematical model for the subsequent processing of experimental data has been developed. The purpose of mathematical modeling is to separate mechanical losses by power units separately for the engine, transmission and car wheels. An assessment was made of the amount of energy losses in the stand itself with running drums. The characteristic of the stand has been obtained, which must be taken into account in the measurement procedure. The results of experimental studies for the GAZ-31029 car are presented. The results of the influence of the technical condition of transmission units and vehicle wheels on the value of the power of mechanical losses are presented. Car tire pressure studies have been conducted. The graphical dependences of the power of mechanical losses depending on the speed of the car are obtained. Recommendations have been developed for diagnosing the general condition of the vehicle by the amount of mechanical losses at the stand with running drums. The ways of further improvement of the method are given. The main conclusions based on the research results are formulated.

Study of the two-rotor electric motor of a drive of vehicle drive wheels

In recent years, electric and hybrid vehicles have taken more and more attention due to their apparent advantages in saving fuel resources and reducing harmful emissions into the environment. Even though electric vehicles can solve the ecological problem, their operation is faced with a number of inconveniences associated with a limited driving distance from a single charge due to limited storage of energy from an independent power source and a lack of the required service and repair infrastructure. In hybrid and electric vehicles one of the main parameters is the curb weight, which affects energy consumption, vehicle speed, stability, controllability and maneuverability. In this regard, leading car manufacturers use parts with a low specific weight (non-metallic, aluminum alloys, etc.) in the design and also exclude some units from the design. Due to these technical solutions, the vehicle's operating is improved. One of the groups of parameters to be defined when designing a new electric vehicle is the parameters relating to the electric motor. The purpose of the article is determination of the mechanical characteristics of a two-rotor electric motor during magnetic flux control and assessment of the possibility of organizing the drive of the drive wheels of the vehicle. The electric motor has two mechanically independent outputs. For the study, an electrical equivalent diagram has been developed for the given two-rotor electric motor. A simulation model of the equivalent diagram has been built. Simulating the interaction processes of the rotors with the stator made it possible to obtain data for building the mechanical characteristics for each output of the electric motor. Analysis and processing of the mechanical characteristics data of the electric motors showed the conformity and the range of changes in the torque on each of the rotors when changing their slip and revolution, which are required when building algorithms for the operation of electric motor control systems as part of drives for various purposes. Analysis of the simulation results made it possible to assess the possibility of using the considered two-rotor electric motor for the drive of drive wheels in an electric and hybrid wheeled vehicle.

Effect of Speed and Boot Opening on Aerodynamics, Fuel Consumption, and CO2 Emission of Minibus

Overspeeding and overloading contribute to road accidents. In developing countries, overloading is often indicated by open boot due to commercial transporters’ motivation to carry an excess load to boost revenue. Therefore, there is a need to provide measures to control or eliminate the practice of overspeeding and overloading. This study aims to conduct a parametric study to determine the effect of vehicle speed and boot opening on the aerodynamics of airflow around a typical minibus, fuel consumption, and CO2 emission, and recommend optimum boot opening. Computational Fluid Dynamics is employed using the FLUENT™ program. Results show the existence of a wavy pattern for drag coefficient, fuel consumption, and CO2 emission concerning boot opening. Furthermore, two boot opening regions exist: and . The first region exhibits low prediction error (maximum of 7.25%) and better fit of regression model to FLUENT™ data. The first region also has lower susceptibility to exhibit handling instability. Therefore, boot opening around is recommended as the optimum boot opening, to ensure minimum fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, improve handling and safety. The developed regression models could inform regulatory bodies’ formulation and implementation of policies to mitigate road accidents. Keywords—Boot Opening, CO2 emission, Fuel Consumption, Pressure drag, Total Drag, Minibus, Viscous Drag

Safety Assessment and a Parametric Study of Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist Based on Real-World Crash Simulations

In this study, we selected four real-world rear-end crash scenarios with different crash characteristics. The vehicles involved in those crashes were not equipped with any crash avoidance systems. We then used the accident reconstruction method to build those crash scenarios in PC-Crash software. Then, different FCW/AEB safety algorithms have been defined for a subject vehicle model in each crash scenario and each scenario was simulated for a set of input parameters such as vehicle speed, brake intensity, and driver reaction time. The range and distribution of input parameters were extracted from the related field crash data and available literature. A total number of 16000 simulations have been conducted which produced input-output datasets for further investigations. Finally, the effects of input parameters on simulation outcomes including crash occurrence, AEB activation, injury risk, and vehicle damage have been quantified using the Boruta algorithm. The results indicated that the overall effectiveness of the AEB system was a 57% reduction of rear-end crashes, a 52% reduction of injury severity (striking vehicle’s passengers), and a 47% reduction of damages for striking vehicles. The results also showed that the available AEB algorithms were more effective for the average speed equal to or less than 80 kmph. The speed of the subject vehicle, type of AEB algorithm, sensor detection range, and driver reaction time were the most important parameters on crash outcomes. In addition, the results indicated that the performance of FCW had a direct impact on the effectiveness of the AEB system for the integrated FCW + AEB system.

Heavy-duty truck platooning on hilly terrain highways: Methods for assessment and improvement

Platooning heavy-duty trucks is a proven method to reduce fuel consumption on flat ground, but a significant portion of the U.S. highway system covers hilly terrain. The effort described in this paper uses experimentally gathered single truck data from a route with hilly terrain and an experimentally-validated two-truck platoon simulation framework to analyze control methods for effective platooning on hilly terrain. Specifically, this effort investigates two platoon control aspects: (1) the lead truck’s vehicle speed control and (2) the platoon’s transmission shifting algorithm. Three different types of lead truck speed control strategies are analyzed using the validated platoon model. Two are commercially available cruise control strategies – conventional constant set speed cruise control (CCC) and flexible set speed cruise control (FCC). The third lead truck speed control strategy was developed by the authors in this paper. It uses look-ahead grade information for an entire route to create an energy-optimal speed profile for the lead truck which is called long-horizon predictive cruise control (LHPCC). Then, a two-truck platoon transmission shifting strategy that coordinates the shift events – Simultaneous Shifting (SS) – is introduced and compared to a commercially available shifting strategy using the validated platoon model. This shifting strategy demonstrates further improvements in the platoon performance by improving the platoon gap control. A summary of these simulations demonstrates that the performance of the platoon can be improved by three methods: adding speed flexibility to the lead truck speed control method, using look-ahead road grade information to generate energy-optimal speed targets for the lead truck, and coordinating the timing of the transmission shifts for each truck in the platoon.

Permitted speed decision of single-unit trucks with emergency braking maneuver on horizontal curves under rainy weather

Under adverse weather conditions, visibility and the available pavement friction are reduced. The improper selection of speed on curved road sections leads to an unreasonable distribution of longitudinal and lateral friction, which is likely to cause rear-end collisions and lateral instability accidents. This study considers the combined braking and turning maneuvers to obtain the permitted vehicle speed under rainy conditions. First, a braking distance computation model was established by simplifying the relationship curve between brake pedal force, vehicle braking deceleration, and braking time. Different from the visibility commonly used in the meteorological field, this paper defines "driver’s sight distance based on real road scenarios" as a threshold to measure the longitudinal safety of the vehicle. Furthermore, the lateral friction and rollover margin is defined to characterize the vehicle’s lateral stability. The corresponding relationship between rainfall intensity-water film thickness-road friction is established to better predict the safe speed based on the information issued by the weather station. It should be noted that since the road friction factor of the wet pavement not only determined the safe vehicle speed but also be determined by the vehicle speed, so we adopt Ferrari’s method to solve the quartic equation about permitted vehicle speed. Finally, the braking and turning maneuvers are considered comprehensively based on the principle of friction ellipse. The results of the TruckSim simulation show that for a single-unit truck, running at the computed permitted speed, both lateral and longitudinal stability meet the requirements. The proposed permitted vehicle speed model on horizontal curves can provide driving guidance for drivers on curves under rainy weather or as a decision-making basis for road managers.