Deep reinforcement learning for a color-batching resequencing problem

In automotive paint shops, changes of colors between consecutive production orders cause costs for cleaning the painting robots. It is a significant task to re-sequence orders and group orders with identical color as a color batch to minimize the color changeover costs. In this paper, a Color-batching Resequencing Problem (CRP) with mix bank buffer systems is considered. We propose a Color-Histogram (CH) model to describe the CRP as a Markov decision process and a Deep Q-Network (DQN) algorithm to solve the CRP integrated with the virtual car resequencing technique. The CH model significantly reduces the number of possible actions of the DQN agent, so that the DQN algorithm can be applied to the CRP at a practical scale. A DQN agent is trained in a deep reinforcement learning environment to minimize the costs of color changeovers for the CRP. Two experiments with different assumptions on the order attribute distributions and cost metrics were conducted and evaluated. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperformed conventional algorithms under both conditions. The proposed agent can run in real time on a regular personal computer with a GPU. Hence, the proposed approach can be readily applied in the production control of automotive paint shops to resolve order-resequencing problems.     

Participation in workplace design with reference to low back pain: a case for the improvement of the police patrol car

Thirty Canadian police officers, divided into six groups, participated in the redesign of the interior of the patrol car. Three of the groups consisted of individuals having a history of low back disease. The effect of participating in a design process on the characteristics of the final design and on the perception of the low back pain was studied in a semi-experimental setting. The participants developed a strong commitment to the participatory design process, which was reflected in their productions. The differences between participants with and without a history of a low back disease was not marked. The former tended to stress posture-related elements in their analysis and design.     

Data-driven approaches for emissions-minimized paths in urban areas

Concerns about air quality and global warming have led to numerous initiatives to reduce emissions. In general, emissions are proportional to the amount of fuel consumed, and the amount of fuel consumed is a function of speed, distance, acceleration, and weight of the vehicle. In urban areas, vehicles must often travel at the speed of traffic, and congestion can impact this speed particularly at certain times of day. Further, for any given time of day, the observations of speeds on an arc can exhibit significant variability. Because of the nonlinearity of emissions curves, optimizing emissions in an urban area requires explicit consideration of the variability in the speed of traffic on arcs in the network. We introduce a shortest path algorithm that incorporates sampling to both account for variability in travel speeds and to estimate arrival time distributions at nodes on a path. We also suggest a method for transforming speed data into time-dependent emissions values thus converting the problem into a time-dependent, but deterministic shortest path problem. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches in reducing emissions relative to the use of minimum distance and time-dependent paths. In this paper, we also identify some of the challenges associated with using large data sets.     

基于云管端一体化的车联网解决方案创新与实践

为满足客户日新月异的技术及运营需求,对车联网服务能力进行完善,发掘4G在新一代车联网应用中牵引作用,面向前装市场推出以云管端一体化为核心的和车连产品,引导车联网行业新变革.     

基于有限元方法的绝缘斗臂车上带电作业人员体表电场影响因素分析

为了减轻作业强度,增大绝缘防护力度,采用绝缘斗臂车为作业平台的带电作业方式越来越普遍。以500 kV输电线路为例,采用有限元方法分析了不同作业位置和不同作业姿势下人体表面电场分布规律。通过现场试验验证了仿真计算的正确性和有效性,为评估绝缘斗臂车上带电作业人员的安全影响因素提供了理论依据。     

基于STM32的可遥控智能跟随小车设计

针对物品搬运时人类双手仍无法完全解放的现状,设计并实现了一种基于STM32、超声波测距以及比例控制算法的可遥控智能跟随小车。小车以STM32为控制核心,有智能跟随和红外遥控2个模式可选。跟随模式下用2个安装在前端的超声波模块分别实时测量小车与目标之间的距离,单片机采用比例控制算法,根据实测距离控制左右电机转速;遥控模式下单片机根据接收到的红外遥控信号控制小车的运动方向。试验结果表明：小车在2m以内准确跟随几率大于95％、响应时间小于250 m s。该设计实现了小车对目标的360°智能跟随以及在必要情况下对小车的遥控操作,系统可靠,较人性化。     

Where to for Brazil's Cities? Citizen Empowerment or Global Marketing?

An awakening interest in public space in Brazilian cities is emphasising the value of existing civic areas. Guilherme Wisnik , a critic, curator and professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo, looks at the history and potential future of Brazil's urban spaces. He highlights how despite the introduction of innovative Modernist design in the mid-20th century, which forged ‘a new relationship between architecture, urbanism and landscape design’, more recently the country's cities have been subject to the vicissitudes of market and political forces.     

运用微量物证技术鉴定汽车吊钢丝绳断裂原因

通过对20吨汽车起重机钢丝绳进行拆股检测、断口分析、显微组织分析检测,分析钢丝绳断裂原因,结果表明钢丝绳的磨损严重,存在多处断股是其断裂的直接原因。     

轮胎的正确使用与安全行车

轮胎是汽车行驶中最重要的组成部分之一,它的材质以及纹面布置等,在一定程度上影响着汽车的抓地力、摩擦力、抗震性以及安全性等。给不同性能的汽车选择合适的轮胎,能够在很大程度上提高汽车的行车质量,增加其安全性能。笔者根据自身对汽车轮胎的研究与认识,就如何正确的使用汽车轮胎,保证汽车行车安全,作出以下的论述。