Search results for "vehicles"
showing 10 items of 202 documents
Sleepiness, sleep, and use of sleepiness countermeasures in shift-working long-haul truck drivers
2015
Driver sleepiness is a prevalent phenomenon among professional drivers working unconventional and irregular hours. For compromising occupational and traffic safety, sleepiness has become one of the major conundrums of road transportation. To further elucidate the phenomenon, an on-road study canvassing the under-explored relationship between working hours and sleepiness, sleep, and use of sleepiness countermeasures during and outside statutory rest breaks was conducted. Testing the association between the outcomes and working hours, generalized estimating equations models were fitted on a data collected from 54 long-haul truck drivers (mean 38.1 ± 10.5 years, one female) volunteering in the…
Enhancement of nortriptyline penetration through human epidermis: influence of chemical enhancers and iontophoresis.
2008
Abstract Different known percutaneous chemical enhancers and iontophoresis have been tested in-vitro to study their ability to increase transdermal absorption of nortriptyline hydrochloride (20 mg mL−1). The chemicals 1-dodecanol, Span 20, Azone, (R)-(+)-limonene or isopropyl myristate were used as an overnight pretreatment at 5% (w/w) in ethanol. Furthermore, isopropyl myristate (20%, w/w) and propylene glycol (15%, w/w) were tested in the same vehicle. Iontophoresis was applied directly to the nortriptyline hydrochloride donor solution for three different concentrations (20, 2 and 0.5 mgmL−1). The chemical enhancers slightly increased the nortriptyline transdermal flux but iontophoresis w…
TAKEOFF AND LANDING ROBUST CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A TANDEM CANARD UAV
2005
In spite of modern wide improvements in UAV’s technologies, a few number of such a vehicles is fully autonomous from takeoff to landing . So, either autonomous operation or operation with minimal human intervention is, actually, the primary design goal for the UAV’s researchers. The core of the problem is the design of the landing and takeoff control system. The objective of this paper is to design a control system in which the same state variables are controlled during both the descending/ascending path and the flare, tacking into account the actual ground effect. Robust control techniques are employed with the aim to cope with atmospheric turbulence, measurement noise, parameter variation…
A Bio-Inspired Cognitive Agent for Autonomous Urban Vehicles Routing Optimization
2017
Autonomous urban vehicle prototypes are expected to be efficient even in not explicitly planned circumstances and dynamic environments. The development of autonomous vehicles for urban driving needs real-time information from vehicles and road network to optimize traffic flows. In traffic agent-based models, each vehicle is an agent, while the road network is the environment. Cognitive agents are able to reason on the perceived data, to evaluate the information obtained by reasoning, and to learn and respond, preserving their self-sufficiency, independency, self-determination, and self-reliance. In this paper, a bio-inspired cognitive agent for autonomous urban vehicles routing optimization…
Perceived benefits and constraints in vehicle automation: Data to assess the relationship between driver's features and their attitudes towards auton…
2019
This data article examines the association driver's features, perceptions and attitudes towards autonomous vehicles (AVs). The data was collected using a structured self-administrable and online-based questionnaire, applied to a full sample of 1205 Spanish drivers. The data contains 4 parts: the full set of bivariate correlations between study variables; descriptive statistics and graphical trends for each main study variable according to gender, age group and city/town size; and, finally, the dataset for further explorations in this regard. For more information, it is convenient to read the full article entitled “Perceived safety and attributed value as predictors of the intention to use a…
Swerve correction of heavy-duty articulated lorries
2016
The trailers of heavy-duty articulated lorries are usually linked to the tractors by auxiliary dollies to improve the manoeuvrability along curved paths. Connecting the dolly to the tractor by a four-bar linkage, some performance improvement may be achieved in comparison with the conventional single pin. The correct path along a road curve may be obtained exerting control moments on the horizontal plane by means of differential braking of the wheels. The results of the analysis show that the forward-converging and the crossing bar quadrilaterals are mostly yaw-stable, whereas the farther backward-converging bars prove to be inherently unstable.
The self-reported stress and stressors in tram and long-haul truck drivers
2022
Work stress may compromise professional drivers’ health and driving capacity. Differences between driver groups in terms of on-duty stress are understudied. Therefore, we examined self-reported stress (Stockholm University Stress Scale) of shift-working tram and long-haul truck drivers (n = 75) across 2–3 weeks. Furthermore, stressors were self-reported retrospectively and categorised as related to the job, driving conditions, personal, or other causes. Stress levels were generally low, but moderate to high stress (≥6) was more frequently reported among the tram drivers. Stressors related to the job (54%) and driving conditions (19% of all shifts) were frequently reported among the tram and…
Simulation-Based Analysis of "What-If" Scenarios with Connected and Automated Vehicles Navigating Roundabouts.
2022
Despite the potential of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), there are still many open questions on how road capacity can be influenced and what methods can be used to assess its expected benefits in the progressive transition towards fully cooperative driving. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the benefits of CAV technologies by investigating mobility-related issues of automated vehicles operating with a cooperative adaptive cruise control system on roundabout efficiency using microscopic traffic simulation. The availability of the adjustment factors for CAVs provided by the 2022 Highway Capacity Manual allowed to adjust the entry capacity equations to reflect the pr…
Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) applied to the adaptation of the automobile industry to meet the emission standards of climate cha…
2021
Abstract Facing global climate change challenges entails a sustainable development of transportation. Governments and automobile manufacturers are highly aware of how a large-scale deployment of Electric Vehicles (EVs) can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate global warming. This study aids the design of the adaptation strategies of the automotive industry to meet global goals on climate change by means of a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which makes it possible to measure the level of actors’ satisfaction. This allows identification of a combination of factors leading to the outcome while dealing with uncertain environments due to the heterogeneous nature…
Aviation Crew Recovery Experiences on Outstations
2016
Abstract ACMI flight crews spend considerable time away from home on outstations. This study suggests that this long term stay carries its own considerations in regards to rest recovery with practical implications for Fatigue Risk Management as prescribed by ICAO. Four recovery experiences, Work Detachment, Control, Relaxation and Mastery, are identified and correlated with 28 crew behaviours on base. The results indicate improvement considerations for airline management organizing a long term contract with ACMI crews, in particular to increase schedule stability to improve the crew member’s sense of Control.