ITS ON RAILWAY

Development of technology management and security, transmission and information systems allows the concept of process management and security of railways and organizing the operation of a new, as yet non-phase in a non-traditional way. Requirements for higher efficiency, accuracy and flexibility of the attractiveness of rail transport Connection in the integrated transport systems are a challenge for the railways. These requirements can be solved just by changing the concept and technology of the presented here as an ITS-R

Fully automated urban traffic system

The replacement of the driver with an automatic system which could perform the functions of guiding and routing a vehicle with a human's capability of responding to changing traffic demands was discussed. The problem was divided into four technological areas; guidance, routing, computing, and communications. It was determined that the latter three areas being developed independent of any need for fully automated urban traffic. A guidance system that would meet system requirements was not being developed but was technically feasible

A hybrid Delphi-AHP multi-criteria analysis of Moving Block and Virtual Coupling railway signalling

The railway industry needs to investigate overall impacts of next generation signalling systems such as Moving Block (MB) and Virtual Coupling (VC) to identify development strategies to face the forecasted railway demand growth. To this aim an innovative multi-criteria analysis (MCA) framework is introduced to analyse and compare VC and MB in terms of relevant criteria including quantitative (e.g. costs, capacity, stability, energy) and qualitative ones (e.g. safety, regulatory approval). We use a hybrid Delphi-Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP) technique to objectively select, combine and weight the different criteria to more reliable MCA outcomes. The analysis has been performed for different rail market segments including high-speed, mainline, regional, urban and freight corridors. The results show that there is a highly different technological maturity level between MB and VC given the larger number of vital issues not yet solved for VC. The MCA also indicates that VC could outperform MB for all market segments if it reaches a comparable maturity and safety level. The provided analysis can effectively support the railway industry in strategic investment planning of VC

Technical Workshop: Advanced Helicopter Cockpit Design

Information processing demands on both civilian and military aircrews have increased enormously as rotorcraft have come to be used for adverse weather, day/night, and remote area missions. Applied psychology, engineering, or operational research for future helicopter cockpit design criteria were identified. Three areas were addressed: (1) operational requirements, (2) advanced avionics, and (3) man-system integration

A differential-based parallel force/velocity actuation concept : theory and experiments

textRobots are now moving from their conventional confined habitats such as factory floors to human environments where they assist and physically interact with people. The requirement for inherent mechanical safety is overarching in such human-robot interaction systems. We propose a dual actuator called Parallel Force/Velocity Actuator (PFVA) that combines a Force Actuator (FA) (low velocity input) and a Velocity Actuator (VA) (high velocity input) using a differential gear train. In this arrangement mechanical safety can be achieved by limiting the torque on the FA and thus making it a backdriveable input. In addition, the kinematic redundancy in the drive can be used to control output velocity while satisfying secondary operational objectives. Our research focus was on three areas: (i) scalable parametric design of the PFVA, (ii) analytical modeling of the PFVA and experimental testing on a single-joint prototype, and (iii) generalized model formulation for PFVA-driven serial robot manipulators. In our analysis, the ratio of velocity ratios between the FA and the VA, called the relative scale factor, emerged as a purely geometric and dominant design parameter. Based on a dimensionless parametric design of PFVAs using power-flow and load distributions between the inputs, a prototype was designed and built using commercial-off-the-shelf components. Using controlled experiments, two performance-limiting phenomena in our prototype, friction and dynamic coupling between the two inputs, were identified. Two other experiments were conducted to characterize the operational performance of the actuator in velocity-mode and in what we call ‘torque-limited’ mode (i.e. when the FA input can be backdriven). Our theoretical and experimental results showed that the PFVA can be mechanical safe to both slow collisions and impacts due to the backdriveability of the FA. Also, we show that its kinematic redundancy can be effectively utilized to mitigate low-velocity friction and backlash in geared mechanisms. The implication at the system level of our actuator level analytical and experimental work was studied using a generalized dynamic modeling framework based on kinematic influence coefficients. Based on this dynamic model, three design case studies for a PFVA-driven serial planar 3R manipulator were presented. The major contributions of this research include (i) mathematical models and physical understanding for over six fundamental design and operational parameters of the PFVA, based on which approximately ten design and five operational guidelines were laid out, (ii) analytical and experimental proof-of-concept for the mechanical safety feature of the PFVA and the effective utilization of its kinematic redundancy, (iii) an experimental methodology to characterize the dynamic coupling between the inputs in a differential-summing mechanism, and (iv) a generalized dynamic model formulation for PFVA-driven serial robot manipulators with emphasis on distribution of output loads between the FA and VA input-sets.Mechanical Engineerin

Space benefits: The secondary application of aerospace technology in other sectors of the economy

Benefit cases of aerospace technology utilization are presented for manufacturing, transportation, utilities, and health. General, organization, geographic, and field center indexes are included

Regional Rail Developments in North America

The increasing importance of regional rail systems for growing cities and metropolitan areas has been shown more clearly in North America than anywhere else in the world. In spite of extremely auto-oriented developments and policies which do not favor railways, a number of North American cities have extended and improved their regional rail systems in recent decades

Automation and Management Accounting in British Manufacturing and Retail Financial Services, 1945-1968

This article looks at the effects of office mechanisation in greater detail by describing data processing innovations in major building societies during the dawn of the computer era. Reference to similar developments in clearing banks, industrial and computer organisations provides evidence as to the common experience in the computerisation of firms in the post-war years. As a result, research in this article offers a comparison between widespread technological change and changes unique to service sector organisations. Moreover, research in this article ascertains the extent to which the adoption of computer-related innovations in financial services sought to satisfy financial, rather than management accounting, purposes.banks, building societies, manufacturing, computers