The fleet size and mix vehicle routing problem

In this paper, we address the problem of routing a fleet of vehicles from a central depot to customers with known demand. Routes originate and terminate at the central depot and obey vehicle capacity restrictions. Typically, researchers assume that all vehicles are identical. In this work, we relax the homogeneous fleet assumption. The objective is to determine optimal fleet size and mix by minimizing a total cost function which includes fixed cost and variable cost components. We describe several efficient heuristic solution procedures as well as techniques for generating a lower bound and an underestimate of the optimal solution. Finally, we present some encouraging computational results and suggestions for further study.     

Multi-Level Planning for Semi-autonomous Vehicles in Traffic Scenarios Based on Separation Maximization

The planning of semi-autonomous vehicles in traffic scenarios is a relatively new problem that contributes towards the goal of making road travel by vehicles free of human drivers. An algorithm needs to ensure optimal real time planning of multiple vehicles (moving in either direction along a road), in the presence of a complex obstacle network. Unlike other approaches, here we assume that speed lanes are not present and that different lanes do not need to be maintained for inbound and outbound traffic. Our basic hypothesis is to carry forward the planning task to ensure that a sufficient distance is maintained by each vehicle from all other vehicles, obstacles and road boundaries. We present here a 4-layer planning algorithm that consists of road selection (for selecting the individual roads of traversal to reach the goal), pathway selection (a strategy to avoid and/or overtake obstacles, road diversions and other blockages), pathway distribution (to select the position of a vehicle at every instance of time in a pathway), and trajectory generation (for generating a curve, smooth enough, to allow for the maximum possible speed). Cooperation between vehicles is handled separately at the different levels, the aim being to maximize the separation between vehicles. Simulated results exhibit behaviours of smooth, efficient and safe driving of vehicles in multiple scenarios; along with typical vehicle behaviours including following and overtaking.     

A record-to-record travel algorithm for solving the heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem

In the heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem (HVRP), several different types of vehicles can be used to service the customers. The types of vehicles differ with respect to capacity, fixed cost, and variable cost. We assume that the number of vehicles of each type is fixed and equal to a constant. We must decide how to make the best use of the fixed fleet of heterogeneous vehicles.     

Moving observer trajectory control by angular measurements in tracking problem

An optimal path synthesis problem for a moving observer that performs angular observations over a target moving uniformly along a straight line on a plane is solved. It is supposed that elevation and azimuth angles can be observed when the observer moves in space and only the azimuth angle can be observed when the observer moves on a plane. Observer’s trajectories are obtained with the help of Pontryagin’smaximum principle as numerical solutions of an optimal control problem. As a performance criterion the trace of covariance matrix of the target motion elements estimate is used. A possibility of solving the problem in real time on board for unmanned aerial vehicle is investigated. A comparison with the scenario of two unmanned aerial vehicles using is given.     

Rendezvous in space with minimal sensing and coarse actuation

In this paper, we propose a control law to achieve a rendezvous of autonomous vehicles moving in three-dimensional (3D) space, using minimal data sensing and quantized control. A pre-assigned graph uniquely assigns the pursuer-target pair in a cyclic manner. A quantized control law has been proposed which allows the vehicle to pitch and yaw simultaneously in the required direction and track its target agent. The only measurement required for the proposed control law is the quadrant from which the target vehicle moves out of the field-of-view of the pursuing vehicle. A Lyapunov function is chosen to find a domain for the field-of-view which guarantees rendezvous under the proposed control law. Computer simulations are presented to demonstrate the control law.     

Dynamic distributed lanes: motion planning for multiple autonomous vehicles

Unorganized traffic is a generalized form of travel wherein vehicles do not adhere to any predefined lanes and can travel in-between lanes. Such travel is visible in a number of countries e.g. India, wherein it enables a higher traffic bandwidth, more overtaking and more efficient travel. These advantages are visible when the vehicles vary considerably in size and speed, in the absence of which the predefined lanes are near-optimal. Motion planning for multiple autonomous vehicles in unorganized traffic deals with deciding on the manner in which every vehicle travels, ensuring no collision either with each other or with static obstacles. In this paper the notion of predefined lanes is generalized to model unorganized travel for the purpose of planning vehicles travel. A uniform cost search is used for finding the optimal motion strategy of a vehicle, amidst the known travel plans of the other vehicles. The aim is to maximize the separation between the vehicles and static obstacles. The search is responsible for defining an optimal lane distribution among vehicles in the planning scenario. Clothoid curves are used for maintaining a lane or changing lanes. Experiments are performed by simulation over a set of challenging scenarios with a complex grid of obstacles. Additionally behaviours of overtaking, waiting for a vehicle to cross and following another vehicle are exhibited.     

有禁飞区的时间依赖型车辆与无人机协同配送路径优化

本文针对有禁飞区的时间依赖型车辆与无人机协同配送路径问题,综合考虑分时段禁飞的无人机禁飞区域、车辆行驶速度连续变化、车辆及无人机能耗等因素,以车辆派遣成本、车辆能耗成本、无人机能耗成本之和最小为目标建立优化模型.根据问题特征,设计遗传变邻域搜索算法对其进行求解.针对遗传算法易早熟、局部搜索能力较差等缺陷,将变邻域搜索算法与其结合以增强算法的局部搜索能力,引入自适应邻域搜索次数以增强对种群的搜索深度,采用精英保留策略不断改进最优解.通过多组算例验证了算法的有效性,并分析了配送模式、禁飞区数量、车辆行驶速度变化对配送方案的影响,结果表明禁飞区及车辆速度等因素在很大程度上影响物流配送成本.研究成果不仅丰富了车辆与无人机协同配送的场景,拓展了VRP问题的研究,也为物流企业制定配送方案提供了依据.     

基于非线性主成分分析的自适应变步长盲源分离算法

算法的迭代步长对于算法的收敛性能有着重要影响。针对固定步长的非线性主成分分析(NPCA)算法不能兼顾收敛速度和估计精度的情形,提出基于梯度的自适应变步长NPCA算法和最优变步长NPCA算法两种自适应变步长算法来改善其收敛性能。特别地,最优变步长NPCA算法通过对代价函数进行一阶线性近似表示,从而计算出当前的最优迭代步长。该算法的迭代步长随估计误差的变化而变化,估计误差大,迭代步长相应大,反之亦然;且不需要人工设置任何参数。仿真结果表明,当算法的估计精度相同时,与固定步长NPCA算法相比,两种自适应变步长NPCA算法相对固定步长NPCA算法都具有更好的收敛速度或跟踪性能,且最优变步长NPCA算法的性能优于基于梯度的自适应变步长NPCA算法。     

Minimum cost VRP with time-dependent speed data and congestion charge

A heuristic algorithm, called LANCOST, is introduced for vehicle routing and scheduling problems to minimize the total travel cost, where the total travel cost includes fuel cost, driver cost and congestion charge. The fuel cost required is influenced by the speed. The speed for a vehicle to travel along any road in the network varies according to the time of travel. The variation in speed is caused by congestion which is greatest during morning and evening rush hours. If a vehicle enters the congestion charge zone at any time, a fixed charge is applied. A benchmark dataset is designed to test the algorithm. The algorithm is also used to schedule a fleet of delivery vehicles operating in the London area.     

基于改进的YOLOv3道路车辆实时检测

道路车辆实时检测是计算机视觉领域中的研究热点问题。针对道路车辆检测算法存在检测精度低、速度慢等问题,提出了一种基于改进YOLOv3的道路车辆目标检测方法。通过改进Darknet53骨架网络构建了有30个卷积层的卷积神经网络,在减少网络成本的同时提高了检测速度;根据道路车辆宽高比固定的特点,利用k-means聚类方法选取锚点预测边界框,提高了检测速度与精度。实验结果表明,提出的方法在标准数据集KITTI上的平均精度达到了90.08%,比传统的YOLOv3提高了0.47%,检测速度达到了76.04 f/s,明显优于传统的YOLOv3算法。同时将该方法应用于车辆行驶动态数据集,能够实现针对视频中道路车辆的实时检测。