5,605 research outputs found
Towards Full Automated Drive in Urban Environments: A Demonstration in GoMentum Station, California
Each year, millions of motor vehicle traffic accidents all over the world
cause a large number of fatalities, injuries and significant material loss.
Automated Driving (AD) has potential to drastically reduce such accidents. In
this work, we focus on the technical challenges that arise from AD in urban
environments. We present the overall architecture of an AD system and describe
in detail the perception and planning modules. The AD system, built on a
modified Acura RLX, was demonstrated in a course in GoMentum Station in
California. We demonstrated autonomous handling of 4 scenarios: traffic lights,
cross-traffic at intersections, construction zones and pedestrians. The AD
vehicle displayed safe behavior and performed consistently in repeated
demonstrations with slight variations in conditions. Overall, we completed 44
runs, encompassing 110km of automated driving with only 3 cases where the
driver intervened the control of the vehicle, mostly due to error in GPS
positioning. Our demonstration showed that robust and consistent behavior in
urban scenarios is possible, yet more investigation is necessary for full scale
roll-out on public roads.Comment: Accepted to Intelligent Vehicles Conference (IV 2017
AMTV headway sensor and safety design
A headway sensing system for an automated mixed traffic vehicle (AMTV) employing an array of optical proximity sensor elements is described, and its performance is presented in terms of object detection profiles. The problem of sensing in turns is explored experimentally and requirements for future turn sensors are discussed. A recommended headway sensor configuration, employing multiple source elements in the focal plane of one lens operating together with a similar detector unit, is described. Alternative concepts including laser radar, ultrasonic sensing, imaging techniques, and radar are compared to the present proximity sensor approach. Design concepts for an AMTV body which will minimize the probability of injury to pedestrians or passengers in the event of a collision are presented
Smart Sensor Based Obstacle Detection for High-Speed Unmanned Surface Vehicle
This paper describes an obstacle detection system for a high-speed and agile unmanned surface vehicle (USV), running at speeds up to 30m/s. The aim is a real-time and high performance obstacle detection system using both radar and vision technologies to detect obstacles within a range of 175 m. A computer vision horizon detector enables a highly accurate attitude estimation despite large and sudden vehicle accelerations. This further facilitates the reduction of sea clutter by utilising a attitude based statistical measure. Full scale sea trials show a significant increase in obstacle tracking performance using sensor fusion of radar and computer vision
Rotorcraft In-Flight Simulation Research at NASA Ames Research Center: A Review of the 1980's and plans for the 1990's
A new flight research vehicle, the Rotorcraft-Aircrew System Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL), is being developed by the U.S. Army and NASA at ARC. The requirements for this new facility stem from a perception of rotorcraft system technology requirements for the next decade together with operational experience with the Boeing Vertol CH-47B research helicopter that was operated as an in-flight simulator at ARC during the past 10 years. Accordingly, both the principal design features of the CH-47B variable-stability system and the flight-control and cockpit-display programs that were conducted using this aircraft at ARC are reviewed. Another U.S Army helicopter, a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk, was selected as the baseline vehicle for the RASCAL. The research programs that influence the design of the RASCAL are summarized, and the resultant requirements for the RASCAL research system are described. These research programs include investigations of advanced, integrated control concepts for achieving high levels of agility and maneuverability, and guidance technologies, employing computer/sensor-aiding, designed to assist the pilot during low-altitude flight in conditions of limited visibility. The approach to the development of the new facility is presented and selected plans for the preliminary design of the RASCAL are described
Development of bent-up triangular tab shear transfer (BTTST) enhancement in cold-formed steel (CFS)-concrete composite beams
Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections, have been recognised as an important
contributor to environmentally responsible and sustainable structures in developed
countries, and CFS framing is considered as a sustainable 'green' construction material
for low rise residential and commercial buildings. However, there is still lacking of data
and information on the behaviour and performance of CFS beam in composite
construction. The use of CFS has been limited to structural roof trusses and a host of nonstructural applications. One of the limiting features of CFS is the thinness of its section
(usually between 1.2 and 3.2 mm thick) that makes it susceptible to torsional,
distortional, lateral-torsional, lateral-distortional and local buckling. Hence, a reasonable
solution is resorting to a composite construction of structural CFS section and reinforced
concrete deck slab, which minimises the distance from the neutral-axis to the top of the
deck and reduces the compressive bending stress in the CFS sections. Also, by arranging
two CFS channel sections back-to-back restores symmetricity and suppresses lateraltorsional and to a lesser extent, lateral-distortional buckling. The two-fold advantages
promised by the system, promote the use of CFS sections in a wider range of structural
applications. An efficient and innovative floor system of built-up CFS sections acting
compositely with a concrete deck slab was developed to provide an alternative composite
system for floors and roofs in buildings. The system, called Precast Cold-Formed SteelConcrete Composite System, is designed to rely on composite actions between the CFS
sections and a reinforced concrete deck where shear forces between them are effectively
transmitted via another innovative shear transfer enhancement mechanism called a bentup triangular tab shear transfer (BTTST). The study mainly comprises two major
components, i.e. experimental and theoretical work. Experimental work involved smallscale and large-scale testing of laboratory tests. Sixty eight push-out test specimens and
fifteen large-scale CFS-concrete composite beams specimens were tested in this program.
In the small-scale test, a push-out test was carried out to determine the strength and
behaviour of the shear transfer enhancement between the CFS and concrete. Four major
parameters were studied, which include compressive strength of concrete, CFS strength,
dimensions (size and angle) of BTTST and CFS thickness. The results from push-out test
were used to develop an expression in order to predict the shear capacity of innovative
shear transfer enhancement mechanism, BTTST in CFS-concrete composite beams. The
value of shear capacity was used to calculate the theoretical moment capacity of CFSconcrete composite beams. The theoretical moment capacities were used to validate the
large-scale test results. The large-scale test specimens were tested by using four-point
load bending test. The results in push-out tests show that specimens employed with
BTTST achieved higher shear capacities compared to those that rely only on a natural
bond between cold-formed steel and concrete and specimens with Lakkavalli and Liu
bent-up tab (LYLB). Load capacities for push-out test specimens with BTTST are
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relatively higher as compared to the equivalent control specimen, i.e. by 91% to 135%.
When compared to LYLB specimens the increment is 12% to 16%. In addition, shear
capacities of BTTST also increase with the increase in dimensions (size and angle) of
BTTST, thickness of CFS and concrete compressive strength. An equation was
developed to determine the shear capacity of BTTST and the value is in good agreement
with the observed test values. The average absolute difference between the test values
and predicted values was found to be 8.07%. The average arithmetic mean of the
test/predicted ratio (n) of this equation is 0.9954. The standard deviation (a) and the
coefficient of variation (CV) for the proposed equation were 0.09682 and 9.7%,
respectively. The proposed equation is recommended for the design of BTTST in CFSconcrete composite beams. In large-scale testing, specimens employed with BTTST
increased the strength capacities and reduced the deflection of the specimens. The
moment capacities, MU ) e X p for all specimens are above Mu>theory and show good agreement
with the calculated ratio (>1.00). It is also found that, strength capacities of CFS-concrete
composite beams also increase with the increase in dimensions (size and angle) of
BTTST, thickness of CFS and concrete compressive strength and a CFS-concrete
composite beam are practically designed with partial shear connection for equal moment
capacity by reducing number of BTTST. It is concluded that the proposed BTTST shear
transfer enhancement in CFS-concrete composite beams has sufficient strength and is
also feasible. Finally, a standard table of characteristic resistance, P t a b of BTTST in
normal weight concrete, was also developed to simplify the design calculation of CFSconcrete composite beams
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