Knowledge, Profitability and Exit of German Car Manufacturing Firms

In this paper the profitability of German car manufacturing firms is related to different indicators for the knowledge incorporated in the firms since the birth of the industry in 1886. The analysis is performed with an ordered probit model, where information about the kind of exit of the firms is exploited to construct a latent profitability variable. Knowledge is represented by the number of patents, learning-by-doing and entrepreneurial experience before entry. The results show that knowledge is significantly positively related to firm profitability and that each of the three knowledge forms exerts an independent effect.firms profitability, exit modes, knowledge, ordered choice, automobile industry

Holistic Graph-based Motion Prediction

Motion prediction for automated vehicles in complex environments is a difficult task that is to be mastered when automated vehicles are to be used in arbitrary situations. Many factors influence the future motion of traffic participants starting with traffic rules and reaching from the interaction between each other to personal habits of human drivers. Therefore we present a novel approach for a graph-based prediction based on a heterogeneous holistic graph representation that combines temporal information, properties and relations between traffic participants as well as relations with static elements like the road network. The information are encoded through different types of nodes and edges that both are enriched with arbitrary features. We evaluated the approach on the INTERACTION and the Argoverse dataset and conducted an informative ablation study to demonstrate the benefit of different types of information for the motion prediction quality.Comment: Accepted on ICRA 202

Potential of auxiliary strobe lights on train locomotives to improve level crossing safety

Inattentiveness of road users on approach to passive railway crossings represents a major threat to level crossing safety. An auxiliary strobe light system installed on trains in addition to existing headlights may help address this issue by providing an ergonomic way of attracting human attention to the level crossing and to the train. The objective of this paper was to investigate the ergonomics and safety potential of auxiliary strobe light systems. A system was implemented on a real railway vehicle and in the virtual environment of a driving simulator. Acceptance of the system, including its usefulness and perceived benefits and drawbacks, as well as its objective effectiveness, were evaluated using questionnaires, behavioural measures, and eye tracking. The safety potential of the system was evaluated with respect to fatal level crossing accidents. The auxiliary strobe lights were preferred over normal lights and were rated as useful, reducing driving speeds, increasing visual scanning at level crossings, and thus aiding detection of a train. The system has the potential to prevent 6–30% of level crossing accidents in Europe. The results suggest that it might be worthwhile to test auxiliary strobe lights in a larger scale real-world experiment. Especially on railway lines with a high number of passive level crossings, this system can be expected to increase safety by supporting timely detection by road users and preventing accidents caused by inattentiveness

Simulation eines neuartigen Prüfsystems für Achserprobungen durch MKS-Modellierung einschließlich Regelung

Die Erprobung neuer Fahrzeugachsen oder Achsvarianten auf Basis von Lastdaten aus dem Fahrbetrieb erfolgt meist mit Hilfe komplexer mehrkanaliger Prüfstände. Bei solchen Erprobungen sollen im Allgemeinen die im Fahrbetrieb gemessenen Radnabenkräfte und Momente vom Prüfstand reproduziert werden. Aufgrund der komplexen Wechselwirkungen zwischen Prüfling und Prüfmaschine stellt sich bei jedem neuen Konzept die Frage, ob der gewünschte Test mit einem vorgegebenen Prüfsystemaufbau durchführbar ist, bzw. welche Konfiguration des Prüfsystems für den geplanten Test geeignet erscheint. In dieser Arbeit wird die Modellierung eines neuartigen Achsprüfsystemkonzeptes beschrieben, das auf zwei Hexapoden basiert. Die Modellierung umfasst neben der geometrischen Anordnung des Prüfsystems auch die Hydraulik sowie den internen Controller. Das Prüfsystemmodell wurde als so genanntes Template innerhalb des Fahrzeugsimulationsprogramms ADAMS/Car entwickelt und kann mit verschiedenen Achsmodellen zu einem Gesamtsystem gekoppelt werden. An diesem Gesamtmodell können alle am realen Prüfsystem auftretenden Arbeitsschritte wie Controllereinstellung, Drive-File-Iteration und Simulation durchgeführt werden. Geometrische oder hydraulische Parameter können auf einfache Weise geändert werden, um eine optimale Anpassung des Prüfsystems an den Prüfling und die vorgegebenen Lastdaten zu ermöglichen. Das im Rahmen des Projektes entwickelte Modell unterstützt und begleitet einerseits die Einführung des neuen Achsprüfsystemkonzeptes und kann andererseits zur virtuellen Vorbereitung von Testläufen eingesetzt werden. Am Beispiel einer Vorder- und einer Hinterachse wird die allgemeine Vorgehensweise erläutert und die neuen Möglichkeiten aufgezeigt, die sich durch die Prüfsystemsimulation ergeben

Auxiliary strobe lights improve train visibility

The inattentiveness of road users during their approach towards passive railway crossings represents a major threat for crossing safety. This paper presents an auxiliary strobe light system as a countermeasure to cope with this inattentive behaviour. This system is installed on the front and the sides of the locomotive in addition to the already existing headlights to increase the salience of the train. In order to assess the functionality of the system it was as well installed on a real locomotive as implemented in the virtual environment of a driving simulator to test its effect on the user. This paper presents as well the system that has been developed as the assessment of the technical feasibility. A proof of concept of the auxiliary strobe light system was successfully implemented on a railway vehicle and tested under realistic conditions. Furthermore, the system was virtually implemented in a driving simulator to conduct an empirical study on the effects the system has on drivers that are approaching a passive level crossing. The participants of the study judged the system as highly useful to enhance the detection of the train al the level crossing as well as the overall safety

Firm survival in the German automobile industry

Firm survival , Experience , Automobile industry , Hazard rates, L10 , L62 , O33 , C41,