Modeling pedestrians’ interest in locations: A concept to improve simulations of pedestrian destination choice

Large environments that are designed for travel, leisure, and for everyday life – such as transport hubs, amusement parks, and shopping centers – feature different locations that are frequently visited by pedestrians. Each visit is evoked by one’s motivation to engage in some kind of activity at a certain location. By means of modeling the pedestrians’ interests in locations with the aid of computer simulations, it is possible to forecast the occupancy at locations by utilizing sophisticated pedestrian destination choice models. In the field of pedestrian dynamics research, location preference modeling is not common, but it is all the more rare to include a psychological grounding into such choice models. Here we show that our psychologically inspired and mathematically defined model to describe pedestrians’ interests in locations is able to improve the exactness of pedestrian destination choice models. The interest function model is based on the psychological concept of goal-related memory accessibility and on fundamental coherences found in pedestrian-related data that is measurable at locations. We validated the interest function model and our results provide evidence that our approach improves the simulation fidelity regarding occupancy forecasting. Because the interest concept is designed as a framework that can be coupled to existing microscopic pedestrian simulators, it can be used in most pedestrian destination choice models to describe pedestrian visiting preferences. Consequently, the reliability of the occupancy predictions of pedestrian simulations can be enhanced by integrating the interest function model into choices models.     

An algorithm to study non-stationary random vibrations of vehicle–bridge systems

An efficient algorithm is proposed for non-stationary random vibration of vehicle–bridge systems. The pseudo excitation method (PEM) is extended to handle the random analysis of time-dependent vehicle–bridge systems, for which the statistical characteristics of dynamic responses are computed. A vehicle–bridge interaction element is adopted to reduce the computational effort. In the numerical examples, the proposed method is justified by comparing with Monte Carlo simulation results. Also, a method to estimate maximum responses is suggested. Examples include a train moving across both simply supported and three-span continuous bridges and some observed phenomena are discussed.     

Studies on improving vehicle handling and lane keeping performance of closed-loop driver–vehicle system with integrated chassis control

This study proposes a new integrated robust model matching chassis controller to improve vehicle handling performance and lane keep ability. The design framework of the H_∞ controller is based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which integrates active rear wheel steering control, longitudinal force compensation and active yaw moment control. To comprehensively evaluate the performance of the integrated chassis control system, a closed-loop driver–vehicle system is used. The effectiveness of the integrated controller on handling performance improvement is tested by a vehicle without driver model under a crosswind disturbance. At the same time, both the handling and lane keeping improving performance of the closed-loop driver–vehicle system is evaluated by tracking an S shape winding road. The simulation results reveal that the integrated chassis controller not only achieves preferable handling performance and stability, but also improves the vehicle lane keep ability significantly, and can alleviate the working load of the driver.     

Transmission of nanoscale information-based neural communication-aware ligand–receptor interactions

Neural Computing and Applications - In this paper, we develop an analytical framework for modeling the transmission of nanoscale information in nanonetwork-based molecular communication and aware...     

Modeling of the molar volume of the solution phases in the Al–Cu–Mg system

The temperature and pressure dependences of molar volume of the solution phases in the Al–Cu–Mg system have been modeled by using the CALPHAD approach. Molar volumes of pure elements were critical assessed according to the experimental data from the literature. Subsequently, volumetric properties of the Al–Cu, Al–Mg and Cu–Mg binary systems were assessed and compared with the corresponding experimental data. The results are compatible with the assessed data.     

Sensitivity analysis and optimization of vehicle–bridge systems based on combined PEM–PIM strategy

This paper presents a new optimization method for coupled vehicle–bridge systems subjected to uneven road surface excitation. The vehicle system is simplified as a multiple rigid-body model and the single-span bridge is modeled as a simply supported Bernoulli–Euler beam. The pseudo-excitation method transforms the random surface roughness into the superposition of a series of deterministic pseudo-harmonic excitations, which enables convenient and accurate computation of first and second order sensitivity information. The precise integration method is used to compute the vertical random vibrations for both the vehicle and the bridge. The sensitivities are used to find the optimal solution, with vehicle ride comfort taken as the objective function. Optimization efficiency and computational accuracy are demonstrated numerically.     

Single–camera vehicle speed measurement using the geometry of the imaging system

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In recent years, measuring the speed of vehicles by a single camera has been done using several methods including the road geometric information, the difference...     

Modeling of Ni–Cr–Mo based alloys: Part II — Kinetics

The CALPHAD approach is applied to kinetic studies of phase transformations and to aging of prototypes of Ni–Cr–Mo-based alloys selected for waste disposal canisters in the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). Based on a previous study on alloy stability for several candidate alloys, the thermodynamic driving forces, together with a newly developed mobility database, have been used to analyze diffusion-controlled transformations in these Ni-based alloys. Results on precipitation of the Ni₂Cr-ordered phase in Ni–Cr and Ni–Cr–Mo alloys, and of the complex P and σ$\sigma$ phases in a surrogate of Alloy 22 are presented, and the output from the modeling are compared with experimental data on aging.     

Modeling of the viscosity in the AL–Cu–Mg–Si system: Database construction

The viscosity database for the Al–Cu–Mg–Si system was constructed using the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram)-type formalism. Viscosities of pure elements were described with the Arrhenius formula based on the experimental data. Subsequently, viscosities of the Al–Cu, Al–Si, Al–Mg and Cu–Si binary systems were assessed via CALPHAD technique and compared with the corresponding experimental data. Due to the lack of experimental data, viscosities in the Mg–Si and Cu–Mg systems were estimated by means of the Hirai's equation. The viscosities of the ternary Al–Cu–Si system were then predicted based on the binary parameters and compared with the experimental results. Using the established viscosity database for the quaternary Al–Cu–Mg–Si system, the viscosities of some commercial aluminum alloys were predicted. The reasonable agreement between calculations and experiments in Al-rich corner indicates that the CALPHAD-type database for the viscosity is valid and the database is suitable for predicting the viscosity of the commercial Al–Cu–Mg–Si based alloys.     

The Issues of Information Modeling

ＴｈｅＩｓｓｕｅｓｏｆＩｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎＭｏｄｅｌｉｎｇ￥ＹｕｚｕｒｕＦｕｊｉｗａｒａ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＥｌｅｃｔｒｏｎｉｃｓａｎｄｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎＳｃｉｅｎｃｅ，ＴｈｅＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙｏｆＴｓｕｋｕｂａ）Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：Ｃｏｎ...     

Adaptive rollover prevention controller for driver–vehicle systems

In the paper, we propose an adaptive rollover prevention controller for heavy vehicles. At first, a design method for an ideal vehicle model is proposed. The designed ideal vehicle model has the property that good rollover prevention performance can be assured even if the driver steering characteristics vary. If the behavior of the actual heavy vehicle tracks that of the designed ideal vehicle model, rollover prevention can be achieved. Therefore, next, to realize good rollover prevention, we propose an adaptive steering controller. In the heavy vehicle system using the controller, the actual heavy vehicle can track the ideal vehicle model. Then, rollover prevention can be achieved. Finally, to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed controller, numerical simulations are carried out.     

Modeling Multileader–Follower Noncooperative Stackelberg Games

This paper presents a Stackelberg–Nash game for modeling multiple leaders and followers. The model involves two Nash games restricted by a Stackelberg game. We propose a computational approach to find the equilibrium point based on the extraproximal method for ergodic controlled finite Markov chains. The extraproximal method consists of a two-step iterated procedure: the first step is a prediction and the second is a basic adjustment of the previous step. We formulate the game as coupled nonlinear programming problems using the Lagrange principle. The Tikhonov’s regularization method is used to guarantee the convergence to a unique equilibrium point. Validity of the method is demonstrated applying this framework to model an oligopoly competition.     

User Modeling in Human–Computer Interaction

A fundamental objective of human–computer interaction research is to make systems more usable, more useful, and to provide users with experiences fitting their specific background knowledge and objectives. The challenge in an information-rich world is not only to make information available to people at any time, at any place, and in any form, but specifically to say the right thing at the right time in the right way. Designers of collaborative human–computer systems face the formidable task of writing software for millions of users (at design time) while making it work as if it were designed for each individual user (only known at use time). User modeling research has attempted to address these issues. In this article, I will first review the objectives, progress, and unfulfilled hopes that have occurred over the last ten years, and illustrate them with some interesting computational environments and their underlying conceptual frameworks. A special emphasis is given to high-functionality applications and the impact of user modeling to make them more usable, useful, and learnable. Finally, an assessment of the current state of the art followed by some future challenges is given.     

The virtualization of human–robot interactions: a user-centric workload assessment

Virtual Reality - Interest in the virtualization of human–robot interactions is increasing, yet the impact that collaborating with either virtual or physical robots has on the human...