An evolutionary approach to the optimisation of autonomous pod distribution for application in an urban transportation service

For autonomous vehicles (AVs), which when deployed in urban areas are called “pods”, to be used as part of a commercially viable low-cost urban transport system, they will need to operate efficiently. Among ways to achieve efficiency, is to minimise time vehicles are not serving users. To reduce the amount of wasted time, this paper presents a novel approach for distribution of AVs within an urban environment. Our approach uses evolutionary computation, in the form of a genetic algorithm (GA), which is applied to a simulation of an intelligent transportation service, operating in the city of Coventry, UK. The goal of the GA is to optimise distribution of pods, to reduce the amount of user waiting time. To test the algorithm, real-world transport data was obtained for Coventry, which in turn was processed to generate user demand patterns. Results from the study showed a 30% increase in the number of successful journeys completed in a 24 hours, compared to a random distribution. The implications of these findings could yield significant benefits for fleet management companies. These include increases in profits per day, a decrease in capital cost, and better energy efficiency. The algorithm could also be adapted to any service offering pick up and drop of points, including package delivery and transportation of goods

Lawyers in New South Wales, 1856-1914 : the evolution of a colonial profession

Between 1856 and 1914 the character of the legal profession in New South Wales changed markedly. It evolved from being a small group of primarily British practitioners with no real foundations in the colony into an independent and cohesive colonial profession strongly conscious of the need to preserve its standards and reputation and of its responsibilities with respect to the administration of justice. Historians have, however, largely overlooked the significance of this change and its implications for the legal and political development of the colony. Although lawyers appeared to have won a secure and leading position in the social and political life of New South Wales by the 1850s, there were important weaknesses in the composition of the profession which soon undermined its standing and influence. Not only did the profession lack the numbers and the experience to cope adequately with the demands of the colony which was expanding rapidly in the wake of the gold rushes but its. political authority was linked closely to the fortunes of the colony's conservative social elite whose former dominance of the government of New South Wales disintegrated rapidly after the introduction of responsible government in 1856. Neither barristers nor solicitors showed any inclination or ability to respond. They were primarily concerned with furthering their individual careers and clearly had little sense of commitment to the more general interests of the profession. In consequence, the profession's reputation deteriorated and law reform slipped into abeyance. It was not until the 1880s that lawyers began to demonstrate new strengths. In part this change was due to the increased size and experience of the profession and the apolitical standing of its leaders, but above all it reflected the new character of the individual lawyer. Two decades of prosperous economic development had greatly enhanced the opportunities for colonial youth to aspire to the law. They brought with them a strong awareness of the position which they had won and a determination to preserve the rights and reputation of lawyers. These sentiments, together with an increasing realisation of the profession's colonial identity, led to the upgrading of admission standards and legal education, provided the basis for effective cooperation among lawyers upon a wide variety of issues, and greatly increased both the interest of barristers and solicitors in law reform and their ability to pursue that object successfully. The united response of lawyers to the economic difficulties and political changes of the 1890s and early 1900s confirmed how far these new qualities had become fundamental elements in the character of the legal profession of New South Wales

Exploring the utility of EDA and skin temperature as individual physiological correlates of motion sickness

Motion sickness (MS) is known to be a potentially limiting factor for future self-driving vehicles – specifically in regards to occupant comfort and well-being. With this as a consideration comes the desire to accurately measure, track and even predict MS state in real-time. Previous research has considered physiological measurements to measure MS state, although, this is mainly measured after an MS exposure and not throughout exposure(s) to a MS task. A unique contribution of this paper is in the real-time tracking of subjective MS alongside real-time physiological measurements of Electrodermal Activity (EDA) and skin temperature. Data was collected in both simulator-based (controlled) and on-road (naturalistic) studies. 40 participants provided at total of 61 data sets, providing 1,603 minutes of motion sickness data for analysis. This study is in agreement that these measures are related to MS but evidenced a total lack of reliability for these measures at an individual level for both simulator and on-road experimentation. It is likely that other factors, such as environment and emotional state are more impactful on these physiological measures than MS itself. At a cohort level, the applicability of physiological measures is not considered useful for measuring MS accurately or reliably in real-time. Recommendations for further research include a mixed-measures approach to capture other data types (such as subject activity) and to remove contamination of physiological measures from environmental changes

The EBV-encoded latent membrane proteins, LMP2A and LMP2B, limit the actions of interferon by targeting interferon receptors for degradation

Although frequently expressed in Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-positive malignancies, the role that latent membrane protein 2A and 2B (LMP2A and LMP2B) have in the oncogenic process remains obscure. Here we show a novel function for these proteins in epithelial cells, namely, their ability to modulate signalling from type I/II interferon receptors (IFNRs). We show that LMP2A- and LMP2B-expressing epithelial cells show decreased responsiveness to interferon (IFN)α and IFNγ, as assessed by STAT1 phosphorylation, ISGF3 and GAF-mediated binding to IFN-stimulated response element and IFNγ-activated factor sequence elements and luciferase reporter activation. Transcriptional profiling highlighted the extent of this modulation, with both viral proteins impacting ‘globally’ on IFN-stimulated gene expression. Although not affecting the levels of cell-surface IFNRs, LMP2A and LMP2B accelerated the turnover of IFNRs through processes requiring endosome acidification. This function may form part of EBV's strategy to limit anti-viral responses and define a novel function for LMP2A and LMP2B in modulating signalling from receptors that participate in innate immune responses

Using fNIRS to Verify Trust in Highly Automated Driving

Trust in automation is crucial for the safe and appropriate adoption of automated driving technology. Current research methods to measure trust mainly rely on subjective scales, with several intrinsic limitations. This empirical experiment proposes a novel method to measure trust objectively, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Through manipulating participants’ expectations regarding driving automation credibility, we have induced and successfully measured opposing levels of trust in automation. Most notably, our results evidence two separate yet interrelated cortical mechanisms for trust and distrust. Trust is demonstrably linked to decreased monitoring and working memory, whereas distrust is event-related and strongly tied to affective (or emotional) mechanisms. This paper evidence that trust in automation and situation awareness are strongly interrelated during driving automation usage. Our findings are crucial for developing future driver state monitoring technology that mitigates the impact of inappropriate reliance, or over trust, in automated driving systems

A human factors approach to defining requirements for low-speed autonomous vehicles to enable intelligent platooning

This paper presents results from a series of focus groups, aimed at enhancing technical engineering system requirements, for a public transport system, encompassing a fleet of platooning low-speed autonomous vehicles (LSAV; aka pods) in urban areas. A critical review of the pods was conducted, as part of a series of technical workshops, to examine the key areas of the system that could affect users and other stakeholders, such as businesses and the public. These initial findings were used to inform a series of focus groups, aimed at identifying the public's views of multiple autonomous vehicles being deployed in a pedestrianised area that can join and form platoons. Analysis of findings from the focus groups suggests that while people view platooning public transport vehicles favourably as a passenger, they have some concerns from a pedestrian perspective. Thematic analysis was applied to these findings and a systematic approach was used to identify where subjective outputs could be formalised to inform requirements. Finally, a step-by-step requirements elicitation process is presented that illustrates the method used to convert qualitative user data to objective engineering requirements

How do drivers perceive risks during automated driving scenarios? An fNIRS neuroimaging study

Objective Using brain haemodynamic responses to measure perceived risk from traffic complexity during automated driving. Background Although well-established during manual driving, the effects of driver risk perception during automated driving remain unknown. The use of fNIRS in this paper for assessing drivers’ states posits it could become a novel method for measuring risk perception. Methods Twenty-three volunteers participated in an empirical driving simulator experiment with automated driving capability. Driving conditions involved suburban and urban scenarios with varying levels of traffic complexity, culminating in an unexpected hazardous event. Perceived risk was measured via fNIRS within the prefrontal cortical haemoglobin oxygenation and from self-reports. Results Prefrontal cortical haemoglobin oxygenation levels significantly increased, following self-reported perceived risk and traffic complexity, particularly during the hazardous scenario. Conclusion This paper has demonstrated that fNIRS is a valuable research tool for measuring variations in perceived risk from traffic complexity during highly automated driving. Even though the responsibility over the driving task is delegated to the automated system and dispositional trust is high, drivers perceive moderate risk when traffic complexity builds up gradually, reflected in a corresponding significant increase in blood oxygenation levels, with both subjective (self-reports) and objective (fNIRS) increasing further during the hazardous scenario. Application Little is known regarding the effects of drivers’ risk perception with automated driving. Building upon our experimental findings, future work can use fNIRS to investigate the mental processes for risk assessment and the effects of perceived risk on driving behaviours to promote the safe adoption of automated driving technology

How do drivers perceive risks during automated driving scenarios? An fNIRS neuroimaging study

Objective Using brain haemodynamic responses to measure perceived risk from traffic complexity during automated driving. Background Although well-established during manual driving, the effects of driver risk perception during automated driving remain unknown. The use of fNIRS in this paper for assessing drivers’ states posits it could become a novel method for measuring risk perception. Methods Twenty-three volunteers participated in an empirical driving simulator experiment with automated driving capability. Driving conditions involved suburban and urban scenarios with varying levels of traffic complexity, culminating in an unexpected hazardous event. Perceived risk was measured via fNIRS within the prefrontal cortical haemoglobin oxygenation and from self-reports. Results Prefrontal cortical haemoglobin oxygenation levels significantly increased, following self-reported perceived risk and traffic complexity, particularly during the hazardous scenario. Conclusion This paper has demonstrated that fNIRS is a valuable research tool for measuring variations in perceived risk from traffic complexity during highly automated driving. Even though the responsibility over the driving task is delegated to the automated system and dispositional trust is high, drivers perceive moderate risk when traffic complexity builds up gradually, reflected in a corresponding significant increase in blood oxygenation levels, with both subjective (self-reports) and objective (fNIRS) increasing further during the hazardous scenario. Application Little is known regarding the effects of drivers’ risk perception with automated driving. Building upon our experimental findings, future work can use fNIRS to investigate the mental processes for risk assessment and the effects of perceived risk on driving behaviours to promote the safe adoption of automated driving technology

Gap acceptance study of pedestrians crossing between platooning autonomous vehicles in a virtual environment

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) operating in shared urban environments, often referred to as “pods”, will constantly have to interact with pedestrians. As a result, an effective strategy will be required for pods to continue operating, while in close proximity to people. This strategy could be in terms of active negotiation, where a pod identifies a person and gives way; or a more passive strategy, such as requiring pods to travel close together in platoons, in order to reduce the number of individual vehicle encounters. For this latter example, it is critical to understand how the spaces between pods and AVs in general are perceived by pedestrians, and what factors will persuade and dissuade crossing. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand this relationship, and presents results from a pedestrian gap acceptance study for platoons. To ensure the safety of participants, a virtual environment was used instead of real vehicles. The goal of the experiment described in this paper, is to understand the gap acceptance behaviour of participants, when presented with a platoon of pods in different environments. The experiment evaluated four vehicle speeds, from 1 km/h to 16 km/h, four temporal gaps, from 2 s to 5 s, and two environments. These environments were a typical road layout, with footpath and line markings, and a shared space, where all markings and separation between pod and pedestrian were removed. For each scenario, participants were asked if they would cross between the pods and how safe they felt about the situation, recorded as a Likert score. The results suggest that people are more likely to attempt to cross between a platoon of pods when they are travelling closer together in a shared space (no line markings or separation between vehicles and pedestrian), compared to a road environment (separated by raised pavement and road markings). However, it was also found that people’s subjective rating of safeness was higher in the road environment, when presented with a platoon of pods, compared to the shared space