A rear-end collision risk assessment model based on drivers’ collision avoidance process under influences of cell phone use and gender—A driving simulator based study

Driver’s collision avoidance performance has a direct link to the collision risk and crash severity. Previous studies demonstrated that the distracted driving, such as using a cell phone while driving, disrupted the driver’s performance on road. This study aimed to investigate the manner and extent to which cell phone use and driver’s gender affected driving performance and collision risk in a rear-end collision avoidance process. Forty-two licensed drivers completed the driving simulation experiment in three phone use conditions: no phone use, hands-free, and hand-held, in which the drivers drove in a car-following situation with potential rear-end collision risks caused by the leading vehicle’s sudden deceleration. Based on the experiment data, a rear-end collision risk assessment model was developed to assess the influence of cell phone use and driver’s gender. The cell phone use and driver’s gender were found to be significant factors that affected the braking performances in the rear-end collision avoidance process, including the brake reaction time, the deceleration adjusting time and the maximum deceleration rate. The minimum headway distance between the leading vehicle and the simulator during the rear-end collision avoidance process was the final output variable, which could be used to measure the rear-end collision risk and judge whether a collision occurred. The results showed that although cell phone use drivers took some compensatory behaviors in the collision avoidance process to reduce the mental workload, the collision risk in cell phone use conditions was still higher than that without the phone use. More importantly, the results proved that the hands-free condition did not eliminate the safety problem associated with distracted driving because it impaired the driving performance in the same way as much as the use of hand-held phones. In addition, the gender effect indicated that although female drivers had longer reaction time than male drivers in critical situation, they were more quickly in braking with larger maximum deceleration rate, and they tended to keep a larger safety margin with the leading vehicle compared to male drivers. The findings shed some light on the further development of advanced collision avoidance technologies and the targeted intervention strategies about cell phone use while driving.     

面向80后的智能床设计策略

目的对25~35岁使用人群的智能床设计原则与设计策略进行研究,使产品顺应人的生活方式和行为习惯,为智能产品与传统家居产品的结合提供思路。方法通过用户旅程图、接触点分析以及问卷访谈等进行行为和需求分析,结合用户体验设计、交互设计理论与方法,形成以80后用户群体为目标的智能床设计原则和设计策略。结论通过深入的用户分析,得到智能床的设计原则和设计策略,能够为这种新兴的产品设计提供基本的参考,便于用户更快更好地接受和使用产品。     

Optimization Techniques for Improving the Performance of Silicone‐Based Dielectric Elastomers

Dielectric elastomers are possible candidates for realizing products that are in high demand by society, such as soft robotics and prosthetics, tactile displays, and smart wearables. Diverse and advanced products based on dielectric elastomers are available; however, no elastomer has proven ideal for all types of products. Silicone elastomers, though, are the most promising type of elastomer when viewed from a reliability perspective, since in normal conditions they do not undergo any chemical degradation or mechanical ageing/relaxation. Within this review, different pathways for improving the electro‐mechanical performance of dielectric elastomers are highlighted. Various optimization methods for improved energy transduction are investigated and discussed, with special emphasis placed on the promise each method holds. The compositing and blending of elastomers are shown to be simple, versatile methods that can solve a number of optimization issues. More complicated methods, involving chemical modification of the silicone backbone as well as controlling the network structure for improved mechanical properties, are shown to solve yet more issues. From the analysis, it is obvious that there is not a single optimization technique that will lead to the universal optimization of dielectric elastomer films, though each method may lead to elastomers with certain features, and thus certain potentials.

     

基于SIP的高性能可视电话方案的设计

针对IP可视电话系统的复杂性高以及图像质量低下的问题,设计了一种基于SIP的可视电话系统,该系统采用SIP协议作为信令控制协议、选择G.729语音压缩算法、H.264视频压缩算法,同时选择RTP和RTCP协议来实现音视频媒体流的实时传输,充分利用因特网的发展优势来实现其优质的通话视频功能;提出的设计方案主要由通话状态机、信令处理、音频处理、视频处理及实时传输等模块构成;该方案采用优质的通信协议与高效的算法,保证了系统的简单可靠与系统高效的性能;实验结果表明,设计的可视电话系统结构简单、图像质量较高,是切实可行有效的。     

The Role of Deep Learning in Parking Space Identification andPredictionSystems

In today’s smart city transportation, traffic congestion is a vexing issue, and vehicles seeking parking spaces have been identified as one of the causes leading to approximately 40% of traffic congestion. Identifying parking spaces alone is insufficient because an identified available parking space may have been taken by another vehicle when it arrives, resulting in the driver’s frustration and aggravating traffic jams while searching for another parking space. This explains the need to predict the availability of parking spaces. Recently, deep learning (DL) has been shown to facilitate drivers to find parking spaces efficiently, leading to a promising performance enhancement in parking identification and prediction systems. However, no work reviews DL approaches applied to solve parking identification and prediction problems. Inspired by this gap, the purpose of this work is to investigate, highlight, and report on recent advances in DL approaches applied to predict and identify the availability of parking spaces. A taxonomy of DL-based parking identification and prediction systems is established as a methodology by classifying and categorizing existing literature, and by doing so, the salient and supportive features of different DL techniques for providing parking solutions are presented. Moreover, several open research challenges are outlined. This work identifies that there are various DL architectures, datasets, and performance measures used to address parking identification and prediction problems. Moreover, there are some open-source implementations available that can be used directly either to extend existing works or explore a new domain. This is the first short survey article that focuses on the use of DL-based techniques in parking identification and prediction systems for smart cities. This study concludes that although the deployment of DL in parking identification and prediction systems provides various benefits, the convergence of these two types of systems and DL brings about new issues that must be resolved in the near future.     

Optimizing Decision-Making of A Smart Prosumer Microgrid Using Simulation

Distributed renewable energy sources offer significant alternatives for Qatar and the Arab Gulf region’s future fuel supply and demand. Microgrids are essential for providing dependable power in difficult-to-reach areas while incorporating significant amounts of renewable energy sources. In energy-efficient data centers, distributed generation can be used to meet the facility’s overall power needs. This study primarily focuses on the best energy management practices for a smart microgrid in Qatar while taking demand-side load management into account. This article looked into a university microgrid in Qatar that primarily aimed to get all of its energy from the grid. While diesel generators are categorized as a dispatchable distributed generation with energy storage added to handle solar radiation from the sun and high grid power operating costs in the suggested scenario, wind turbines and solar Photovoltaic (PV) are classified as non-dispatchable distributed generators. The resulting linear math issues are assessed and displayed in MATLAB optimization software using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) strategy. According to the simulation results, the suggested energy management strategy reduced the university microgrid’s grid power costs by 38.8%, making it an affordable solution which is somehow greater than the prior case scenario’s 23% savings. The installed solar system capacity’s effects on the economy, society, and finances were also assessed, and it became clear that the best option for the smart microgrid was determined that would be 325 kW of solar PV, 25 kW of wind turbine, and 600 kW of diesel generators, respectively. Given the current situation, university administrators are urged to participate in distributed generators and adopt cutting-edge designs for energy storage technologies due to the significant environmental and financial benefits.     

基于MAXQ3108+DS8102的三相智能电能表设计

针对目前市场上采用电磁式电流互感器作为电流传感器的三相智能电能表计量精度普遍易受外部强磁场干扰的不足,采用美信半导体公司提出的MAXQ3108+DS8102芯片组,解决方案设计了一款采用锰铜分流器作为电流传感器的三相智能电能表,解决了锰铜分流器采样电流方式下各相电压、电流信号与数据采集MCU电气隔离的技术瓶颈,并详细阐述了信号采集与测量的过程;样机测试结果表明:文中设计的三相智能电表能够有效抑制外部强磁场干扰,有功电能计量精度满足IEC62053标准中有功0.5S级相关技术指标要求。     

智能传感器接口标准IEEE1451的最新研究与应用

综述了智能传感器网络接口标准IEEE1451的最新研究和应用,特别对其理论研究、与其他标准的结合与发展及在航天领域及工业过程中的应用进行了重点阐述;国际上已经将射频标签(RFID)系统变送器通信协议纳入标准族作为IEEE1451.7,基于无线TIMs和无线NCAPs分别构建了两种无线传感器网络的方法,并研究了其与OMG(Object Management Group)标准和UPnP(Univer-sal Plug and Play)结合;该标准在航天、军事、工业控制和机器人控制等领域也有新的应用。     

The influence of design aesthetics in usability testing: Effects on user performance and perceived usability

This article examined the effects of product aesthetics on several outcome variables in usability tests. Employing a computer simulation of a mobile phone, 60 adolescents (14-17 yrs) were asked to complete a number of typical tasks of mobile phone users. Two functionally identical mobile phones were manipulated with regard to their visual appearance (highly appealing vs not appealing) to determine the influence of appearance on perceived usability, performance measures and perceived attractiveness. The results showed that participants using the highly appealing phone rated their appliance as being more usable than participants operating the unappealing model. Furthermore, the visual appearance of the phone had a positive effect on performance, leading to reduced task completion times for the attractive model. The study discusses the implications for the use of adolescents in ergonomic research.     

WebGIS在114电话导航中的应用

针对114传统业务在空间信息查询方面的局限性及用户对位置信息的多样化需求,实现一种基于瓦片和Ajax技术的电子地图发布,设计POI查询、公交搜索和自驾导航路径分析等3个空间搜索引擎,并开发一套114电话导航WebGIS平台。该平台可供114客服人员为客户提供各种空间信息查询服务。