Utilization of Unmanned System Technology in Transportation Engineering

Drone technology can be very beneficial to transportation engineering by increasing the efficiency of the data collection process and limiting the number of personnel needed, allowing resources to be dedicated to multiple projects simultaneously. However, the technology can be costly. This presentation identifies a cost-effective way to employ drone technology for data collection

Micro-Hydropower in Nepal:Analysing the Project Process to Understand Drivers that Strengthen and Weaken Sustainability

Evaluating the sustainable operation of community-owned and community-operated renewable energy projects is complex. The development of a project often depends on the actions of diverse stakeholders, including the government, industry and communities. Throughout the project cycle, these interrelated actions impact the sustainability of the project. In this paper, the typical project cycle of a micro-hydropower plant in Nepal is used to demonstrate that key events throughout the project cycle affect a plant’s ability to operate sustainably. Through a critical analysis of the available literature, policy and project documentation and interviews with manufacturers, drivers that affect the sustainability of plants are found. Examples include weak specification of civil components during tendering, quality control issues during manufacture, poor quality of construction and trained operators leaving their position. Opportunities to minimise both the occurrence and the severity of threats to sustainability are identified. For the micro-hydropower industry in Nepal, recommendations are made for specific actions by the relevant stakeholders at appropriate moments in the project cycle. More broadly, the findings demonstrate that the complex nature of developing community energy projects requires a holistic consideration of the complete project process

Energy Transition on St Helena Island:A system dynamics approach

This paper uses a system dynamics approach to explore low carbon energy transition on St Helena (SH) Island, identifying dominant system behaviors and opportunities for sustainable development. The British overseas territory is geographically remote and electrically isolated, making it an interesting, well-bounded case study. SH government wants to transition to renewable energy but financing investment in new systems will be challenging as import costs are high and their economy is stagnant, not yet recovered from the effects of the pandemic. Affordable energy would have a big impact on local businesses and increase consumer spending, boosting the economy. Qualitative data is collected through semi-structured interviews with energy stakeholders that explore how the current energy provision impacts the island and possible effects of future development plans. Transcripts from these interviews are coded to extract causal relationships and synthesized to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) of island energy behaviors. This model undergoes methodical simplification to identify dominant behaviors and explore how system behaviors can support energy transition in the interest of the whole island. In this case, it is observed that public planned energy systems are an opportunity for more positive impact on the whole island than private systems. Analysis also highlights how strongly consumer energy costs affect the rest of the system and thereby indicates which stakeholder groups need to be included in decision-making processes. In some areas where the polarity of behavioral links was disputed, a basic systems archetypes study demonstrates the importance of effective communication and transparent decision-making to prevent initiation of unfavorable dynamics. Authors hope the clearly demonstrated methods offer a useful example of how this approach can offer useful insights into complex system problems.<br/

Design for Localisation:a case study in the development and implementation of a low head propeller turbine in Nepal

This paper proposes a methodology for “design for localisation” that addresses the challenge of designing a product for local manufacture and use, whilst considering the production process availability and the context of the local geographic area. The methodology is derived from a case study of the development of a propeller turbine in Nepal. In the case study, the initial challenge was the absence of a low head turbine that could be manufactured, used and repaired in Nepal. A potential solution from previous academic work was identified however its intended operating environment differed considerably. Through identification of the specific local requirements, the design priorities for individual sub-systems in the new context were developed. Using three examples, design changes driven by improving the ease of manufacture and applicability to the local context are explained. Multiple phases of field and laboratory-based testing were used to validate, adapt and improve the design and its method for implementation. The experiences of the case study lead to three rules for design for localisation using an identified potential solution for a local problem: firstly, to derive local product requirements; secondly to develop solutions appropriate for local manufacturing; and finally, to conduct field-testing phases to ensure the product is suitable for its intended application

An Ultra-High Time Resolution Cosmic-Ray Detection Mode for the Murchison Widefield Array

The radio-wavelength detection of extensive air showers (EASs) initiated by cosmic-ray interactions in the Earth's atmosphere is a promising technique for investigating the origin of these particles and the physics of their interactions. The Low-frequency Array (LOFAR) and the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) have both demonstrated that the dense cores of low-frequency radio telescope arrays yield detailed information on the radiation ground pattern, which can be used to reconstruct key EAS properties and infer the primary cosmic-ray composition. Here, we demonstrate a new observation mode of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), tailored to the observation of the sub-microsecond coherent bursts of radiation produced by EAS. We first show how an aggregate 30.72MHz bandwidth (3072×10kHz frequency channels) recorded at 0.1ms resolution with the MWA's voltage capture system (VCS) can be synthesized back to the full bandwidth Nyquist resolution of 16.3ns. This process, which involves "inverting"two sets of polyphase filterbanks, retains 90.5% of the signal-to-noise of a cosmic-ray signal. We then demonstrate the timing and positional accuracy of this mode by resolving the location of a calibrator pulse to within 5m. Finally, preliminary observations show that the rate of nanosecond radio-frequency interference (RFI) events is 0.1Hz, much lower than that found at the sites of other radio telescopes that study cosmic rays. We conclude that the identification of cosmic rays at the MWA, and hence with the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array, is feasible with minimal loss of efficiency due to RFI