城市交通计算机区域自适应控制系统

城市交通信号控制系统是现代城市交通管理系统的中枢,也是智能交通系统的重要组成部分。其管理与控制手段的优劣将直接影响城市道路交通拥堵或疏通的效果。虽然城市道路交叉口信号控制有改善交通流秩序与保障安全的优点,但是若不能提供优化的控制,将会产生交通流停顿与拥堵的负面效果,会成为城市交通拥堵的一个重要原因。运用高科技手段建设现代化的交通信号控制系统已经势在必行。     

城市集中供热中计算机监控技术的有效应用

本文主要介绍了在远程操作当中,计算机监控技术所发挥的作用,丹佛斯变频器主要对循环水泵和补水泵进行控制,采用摄像机监控主要设备以及周边环境的安全,再利用光纤将视频信号传输到监控管理中心。采用这种系统组装,大大降低了供暖的成本,创造了很大的经济整益,有非常大的实用价值。     

Detailed Real-Time Urban 3D Reconstruction from Video

The paper presents a system for automatic, geo-registered, real-time 3D reconstruction from video of urban scenes. The system collects video streams, as well as GPS and inertia measurements in order to place the reconstructed models in geo-registered coordinates. It is designed using current state of the art real-time modules for all processing steps. It employs commodity graphics hardware and standard CPU’s to achieve real-time performance. We present the main considerations in designing the system and the steps of the processing pipeline. Our system extends existing algorithms to meet the robustness and variability necessary to operate out of the lab. To account for the large dynamic range of outdoor videos the processing pipeline estimates global camera gain changes in the feature tracking stage and efficiently compensates for these in stereo estimation without impacting the real-time performance. The required accuracy for many applications is achieved with a two-step stereo reconstruction process exploiting the redundancy across frames. We show results on real video sequences comprising hundreds of thousands of frames.     

Design of a braille writing tutor to combat illiteracy

Less than 3% of the 145 million blind people living in developing countries are literate (Helander, Prejudice and dignity: An introduction to community-based rehabilitation. New York: UNDP 1998). This low literacy rate is partly due to the lack of trained teachers and the challenges associated with learning to write braille on a traditional slate and stylus. These challenges include writing from right to left, writing mirrored images of letters, and receiving significantly delayed feedback. Extensive conversations with the Mathru Educational Trust for the Blind near Bangalore, India, revealed the need for a robust, low-power, low-cost braille writing tutor. We present an iterative and participatory process resulting in the creation and refinement of a prototype braille writing tutor system. This system uses a novel input device to capture a student’s activity on a slate using a stylus and uses a range of techniques to teach braille writing skills to both beginner and advanced students. We report on lessons learned from the implementation of this project and from a 6-week pilot study at Mathru, and outline future directions for improvement.

基于多类别支持向量机的城市交通网络模式分类研究

在网络层次上进行区域交通信号控制、交通分配和路径诱导是缓解交通堵塞的有效途径之一。为进一步提高城市交通网络分类检测的准确性,将支持向量机（Support Vector Machine）应用于交通事件的模式分类研究。通过提出一种基于多类别支持向量机的交通模式分类方法,设计了适合该检测系统的网络结构。仿真结果表明：相对于其他算法,城市交通网络的状态可分为数量有限且不同类型的模式,并且这些模式不断重复出现,当系统识别出网络处于某种模式时,就可参照事先确定的优化参数及策略进行交通控制和诱导,以缓解交通拥塞,提高交通系统的运行效率。该网络结构对于小样本数据具有检测率高、误报率低的优点,完全适用于城市交通的模式分类,同时也存在不足之处,指出了今后进一步研究的方向。     

An economic input-output analysis for urban stormwater quality planning

A new approach using input-output techniques is proposed for the analysis of urban stormwater pollution caused by urban land development. The input-output model provides projections of sectoral outputs within an urban region. By defining land as an input to production, these output projections may be translated into projections of commercial and industrial land development. Furthermore, the closed version of the input-output model is used to project residential land development as a function of projected wage income. The pollutant generation in urban stormwater is related to the quantity of each category of land development by a pollutant coefficient matrix. Thus, the model can be used to predict the impact of various economic growth scenarios on pollution loadings in runoff water. This will help planners in assessing the environmental costs of various scenarios, and in preparing for remedial actions. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the applications of the model.     

多Agent系统的研究

自agent术语引起国内学者重视以来,人们一直试图寻找一个贴切的汉语名词,“代理人”“智能体洲结点”等概念应运而生。但这些概念都不能令人满意,因为无论是“智能体”、“代理人”,还是“结点”,都仅部分地反映了agent的特征,而未完全地反映其本质属性,故本文仍使用agent的英文形式。     

Electric cooperatives and the political economy of rural electrification in Africa: Insights from Uganda

Rural electrification is a crucial process of enhancing the modern energy access of rural communities which is an important global development goal. Electric cooperatives have played an important role as drivers of rural electrification worldwide, both historically and contemporaneously. The emerging role of cooperatives in rural electrification is yet to be examined in the context of East Africa, a region that experiences serious infrastructure deficits alongside widespread rural poverty. This study adopts a political economy perspective to explore the roles and challenges of cooperatives in rural electrification in Uganda. Through a high-level case study of two electric cooperatives, we show that while the cooperatives can deliver rural electrification, they face a series of political and economic challenges in fulfilling their mission. To enhance rural electrification through cooperatives, the challenges should be addressed by policy solutions: (1) providing more support to rural households that cannot afford electricity; (2) providing further support to cooperatives to avoid overburdening the community; (3) enhancing investment to upgrade the grid and extend its geographical coverage; and (4) exploring new financial and technological options for rural electrification. We expect the findings of this study to be useful to policymakers, implementers, cooperatives, and international donors currently working in rural electrification in Africa and beyond.     

Development of degradation model for urban asphalt pavement

There is a lack of a profound understanding of urban pavement deterioration pattern. This is due to the complexity of traffic conditions and the variety of pavement structures in urban roads. The lack of a suitable deterioration model for the urban pavements limits the possibility of making any scientific and cost-effective repair and maintenance strategy. There is a need for a better understanding of the long-term behaviour of urban pavements by which predictive pavement condition models can be derived and consequently a suitable maintenance management system can be built. In response to this need, a comprehensive field study was performed in three Iranian cosmopolitan cities. Pervasive pavement damages were defined and an urban pavement condition index was established. A deterioration model was developed by monitoring and analysing the conditions of road pavements in a period of four years. This model varies as the structural and loading conditions of the pavement change. The efficiency and practicability of the model in predicting the conditions of the pavements were illustrated.     

Effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speed and safety of pedestrian crosswalks on urban roads in China

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speed and crashes in the vicinity of urban pedestrian crosswalks. The research team measured speed data at twelve sites, and crash data at eleven sites. Observational cross-sectional studies were conducted to identify if the effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speeds and speed violations were statistically significant. The results showed that parallelogram-shaped pavement markings significantly reduced vehicle speeds and speed violations in the vicinity of pedestrian crosswalks. More specifically, the speed reduction effects varied from 1.89 km/h to 4.41 km/h with an average of 3.79 km/h. The reduction in the 85th percentile speed varied from 0.81 km/h to 5.34 km/h with an average of 4.19 km/h. Odds ratios (OR) showed that the parallelogram-shaped pavement markings had effects of a 7.1% reduction in the mean speed and a 6.9% reduction in the 85th percentile speed at the pedestrian crosswalks. The reduction of proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit varied from 8.64% to 14.15% with an average of 11.03%. The results of the crash data analysis suggested that the use of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings reduced both the frequency and severity of crashes at pedestrian crosswalks. The parallelogram-shaped pavement markings had a significant effect on reducing the vehicle–pedestrian crashes. Two crash prediction models were developed for vehicle–pedestrian crashes and rear-end crashes. According to the crash models, the presence of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings reduced vehicle–pedestrian crashes at pedestrian crosswalks by 24.87% with a 95% confidence interval of [10.06–30.78%]. However, the model results also showed that the presence of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings increased rear-end crashes at pedestrian crosswalks by 5.4% with a 95% confidence interval of [0–11.2%].