LESY-ECO: Learning system for eco-driving based on the imitation

Proceedings of 2014 International Conference on Connected Vehicles and Expo (ICCVE,IEEE), took place 2014, November, 03-07, in Viena (Austria).In this paper, we propose a learning method for eco-driving based on imitation. The system uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in order to calculate the driving efficiency from the point of view of the fuel consumption. The input and output parameters have been selected taking into account the Longitudinal Vehicle Dynamics Model. This technique allows us to notify the user about who is the most efficient driver close to him or her and to suggest the imitation of the behavior of such driver. The proposed method promotes learning by observation and imitation of efficient drivers in a practical rather than theoretical way such as attending eco-driving lessons. The DEA algorithm does not depend on the definition of a preconceived form of the data in order to calculate the efficiency. The DEA algorithm estimates the inefficiency of a particular DMU by comparing it to similar DMUs considered as efficient. This is very important due to the dynamic nature of the traffic. A validation experiment has been conducted with 10 participants who made 500 driving tests in Spain. The results show that combining eco-driving lessons with the proposed learning system, drivers achieve a very significant improvement on fuel saving (15.82%)The research leading to these results has received funding from the “HERMES-SMART DRIVER” project TIN2013-46801-C4-2-R within the Spanish "Plan Nacional de I+D+I" under the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad funded projects (co-financed by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)) IRENE (PT-2012-1036-370000), COMINN (IPT-2012-0883-430000) and REMEDISS (IPT-2012-0882-430000) within the INNPACTO program.Publicad

A gamification framework demonstrating a complete cycle of vehicle driver performance evaluation

Training through a gamified environment motivates the users in achieving optimal outcome and reduces the complexity of learning by adding factor of entertainment in it. The deployment of serious games in automotive industry is a major leap in technological grounds, as it\u2019s a best way to inculcate safe driving patterns to reduce the fatalities and enhance resource usage which includes car accessories and fuel. The Ph.D. thesis represents Gamification platform aimed to Green Mobility and Safe Driving

Examination of Regional Transit Service Under Contracting: A Case Study in the Greater New Orleans Region, Research Report 10-09

Many local governments and transit agencies in the United States face financial difficulties in providing adequate public transit service in individual systems, and in providing sufficient regional coordination to accommodate transit trips involving at least one transfer between systems. These difficulties can be attributed to the recent economic downturn, continuing withdrawal of the state and federal funds that help support local transit service, a decline in local funding for transit service in inner cities due to ongoing suburbanization, and a distribution of resources that responds to geographic equity without addressing service needs. This study examines two main research questions: (1) the effect of a “delegated management” contract on efficiency and effectiveness within a single transit system, and (2) the effects of a single private firm—contracted separately by more than one agency in the same region—on regional coordination, exploring the case in Greater New Orleans. The current situation in New Orleans exhibits two unique transit service conditions. First, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) executed a “delegated management” contract with a multinational private firm, outsourcing more functions (e.g., management, planning, funding) to the contractor than has been typical in the U.S. Second, as the same contractor has also been contracted by another transit agency in an adjacent jurisdiction—Jefferson Transit (JeT), this firm may potentially have economic incentives to improve regional coordination, in order to increase the productivity and effectiveness of its own transit service provision. Although the limited amount of available operation and financial data has prevented us from drawing more definitive conclusions, the findings of this multifaceted study should provide valuable information on a transit service contracting approach new to the U.S.: delegated management. This study also identified a coherent set of indices with which to evaluate the regional coordination of transit service, the present status of coordination among U.S. transit agencies, and barriers that need to be resolved for regional transit coordination to be successful

Advances on Smart Cities and Smart Buildings

Modern cities are facing the challenge of combining competitiveness at the global city scale and sustainable urban development to become smart cities. A smart city is a high-tech, intensive and advanced city that connects people, information, and city elements using new technologies in order to create a sustainable, greener city; competitive and innovative commerce; and an increased quality of life. This Special Issue collects the recent advancements in smart cities and covers different topics and aspects

Impact of Efficient Driving in Professional Bus Fleets

Diesel engines of the vehicles in the transport sector are responsible for most of the CO2 emissions into the environment. An alternative to reduce fuel consumption is to promote efficient driving techniques. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of efficient driving on fuel consumption in professional fleets. Data captured from the engine control unit (ECU) of the vehicles are complemented with external information from weather stations and context data from the transport companies. The paper proposes linear and quadratic models in order to quantify the impact of all the terms influencing energy consumption. The analysis was made from the traces captured from a passenger transport company in Spain with more than 50 bus routes. 20 vehicles of five different models were monitored and 58 drivers participated in the study. The results indicate that efficient driving has significant influence on fuel consumption, which confirms efficient driving as a valid and economical option for reducing consumption and therefore emissions of harmful particles into the atmosphere. According to the proposed model, in average external conditions, a driver that increases efficiency from 25% to 75% can reach savings in fuel consumption of up to 16 L/100 km in the analysed bus fleet, which is a significant improvement considering the long distances covered by professionals of the transport sector

From traffic in towns to people in streets: Exploring the relationships between behaviour, design, and regulation

This research investigates how street environments and culture are shaped by behaviour, design, and regulation, and explores the implications of this shaping for street users who walk and cycle. The work of Buchanan and Smeed in the 1960s helped create urban street planning that allowed motor traffic to dominate, with the consequence that some would-be street users have been marginalised. Such marginalisation is a manifestation of a lack of justice in the context of everyday travel. Street environments, culture and justice have been researched using Q-methodology, which lends itself to the study of subjectivity and is appropriate for exploring the opinions of street users in relation to behaviour, design, and regulation.Focus groups with 19 street users, and interviews with seven professionals, developed a set of 64 statements that characterise behaviours, infrastructure designs and regulations, that either contribute to, or detract from, streets that are conducive to movement on foot, a cycle, or using other human-scale modes. These statements were used in a Q-method ranking exercise undertaken by 49 participants. Factor analysis generated five groupings of viewpoints. These are summarised as follows: ‘we are the traffic’, a view that streets are places people pass along; ‘safety and comfort first’, streets are places where some street users want to stop and linger; ‘access is not optional’, streets deny access to some; ‘designed for all’, which suggests that unless streets are designed for everyone, many people will never choose to walk or cycle; and ‘rules matter’, street rules should prompt those that can harm most to take a greater share of responsibility for others. In an innovation of Q-methodology, thresholds that need to be exceeded to allow people to walk or cycle were also identified. To guide the research a new theory was postulated, the Social Ecological Model of Ability, which combines the part-behavioural and part-anthropological Social Ecological Model (SEM) with the Social Model of Disability (SMD). The model defines the interrelations among the relevant factors, with a particular focus on barriers in relation to personal abilities. It fills a gap that exists between behavioural and anthropological theories, and theories of disability. Drawing on the SMD, some individuals are marginalised by layers of barriers in the ecosystem of their environment that remove choices and may hinder participation, and this is a highly relevant adaptation of the SEM for street environments. The Q-methodology findings confirm there are layers of barriers, validating the need to have developed the new theory. The SEMA is a way to understand street use and to promote more inclusive sustainable travel, and this has not been done before in transport studies. The research is important given the emergence of (electric) micromobility and connected and automated vehicles in urban areas.There was strong consensus among the research participants that physical separation between means of travel would contribute the most to the creation of street environments conducive to human-scale movement. Practitioners and decision makers have the authority to develop the policy, design and regulation changes to streets that will enable active travel. However, drivers of motor vehicles and other street users need to address their own intimidating behaviours (such as speeding, close passing, and inappropriate interaction with strangers in the street) otherwise many potential street users will remain deterred from walking, cycling, and using other human-scale mobility

Innovation in Asian Philanthropy: Entrepreneurial Social Finance in Asia

This publication is the second in a series of ACSEP working papers concerned with what is termed 'entrepreneurial social finance' in Asia, which explores how philanthropy is responding to the financial and nonfinancial needs of the region's social entrepreneurs. The term philanthropy is most commonly associated with straightforward grant making, most usually making donations where all capital is lost and no return expected. In modern practice, philanthropy is more sophisticated and diverse than this, wanting to utilise as many tools as possible with the goal of creating sustained social change. Recognising this, philanthropy is defined in this study, as the deployment of financial and human capital for primarily social impact. For this reason, this paper investigates the growing interest in 'impact investing,' which seeks to use non-grant finance to maximise the social and financial outcomes by investing in social businesses. This study employs an essentially qualitative methodology. The researchers conducted 40 face-to-face and telephone interviews in Singapore, India, China, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand between March and November 2012. In-depth interviews were chosen as the central component of the study to gain insight into the personal motivations of lead individuals who had founded or who are managing philanthropy organisations

Columbia Chronicle (10/20/2014)

Student newspaper from October 20, 2014 entitled The Columbia Chronicle. This issue is 40 pages and is listed as Volume 50, Number 8. Cover story: No caps, gowns at Chicago Theatre Editor-in-Chief: Tyler Eaglehttps://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cadc_chronicle/1918/thumbnail.jp

The Digital Classicist 2013

This edited volume collects together peer-reviewed papers that initially emanated from presentations at Digital Classicist seminars and conference panels. This wide-ranging volume showcases exemplary applications of digital scholarship to the ancient world and critically examines the many challenges and opportunities afforded by such research. The chapters included here demonstrate innovative approaches that drive forward the research interests of both humanists and technologists while showing that rigorous scholarship is as central to digital research as it is to mainstream classical studies. As with the earlier Digital Classicist publications, our aim is not to give a broad overview of the field of digital classics; rather, we present here a snapshot of some of the varied research of our members in order to engage with and contribute to the development of scholarship both in the fields of classical antiquity and Digital Humanities more broadly