Control, Computers, Communications in Transportation


Book Description

This volume investigates developments and future trends in transportation research and what effects they will have on society. The coverage is broad; including road (urban and motorway), rail and air-traffic control. The sections deal with safety aspects, modelling and simulation, the use of sensors and image processing. The final section covers the development and implementation of new route guidance systems. This up-to-date information will be of use to transport engineers, urban planners, operations research and systems scientists.




Advanced Vehicle and Highway Technologies


Book Description

This session contains the following papers: Status of IVHS operational tests in the United States (Baxter, JR); Evaluation of a motorist information system using computer display terminals (Thompson, BA and Holcombe, TW); TravTek: An advanced traveler information system (Rupert, R); Human factors considerations in the development of an IVHS system - Night vision enhancement (Lunenfeld, H and Stephens, BW); Evaluation of alternative AVI/ETTM configurations at toll barriers (Pietrzyk, MC).




Automotive Control Systems


Book Description

This textbook introduces advanced control systems for vehicles, including advanced automotive concepts and the next generation of vehicles for ITS.




Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century


Book Description

Covers the latest developments in PNT technologies, including integrated satellite navigation, sensor systems, and civil applications Featuring sixty-four chapters that are divided into six parts, this two-volume work provides comprehensive coverage of the state-of-the-art in satellite-based position, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies and civilian applications. It also examines alternative navigation technologies based on other signals-of-opportunity and sensors and offers a comprehensive treatment on integrated PNT systems for consumer and commercial applications. Volume 1 of Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century: Integrated Satellite Navigation, Sensor Systems, and Civil Applications contains three parts and focuses on the satellite navigation systems, technologies, and engineering and scientific applications. It starts with a historical perspective of GPS development and other related PNT development. Current global and regional navigation satellite systems (GNSS and RNSS), their inter-operability, signal quality monitoring, satellite orbit and time synchronization, and ground- and satellite-based augmentation systems are examined. Recent progresses in satellite navigation receiver technologies and challenges for operations in multipath-rich urban environment, in handling spoofing and interference, and in ensuring PNT integrity are addressed. A section on satellite navigation for engineering and scientific applications finishes off the volume. Volume 2 of Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century: Integrated Satellite Navigation, Sensor Systems, and Civil Applications consists of three parts and addresses PNT using alternative signals and sensors and integrated PNT technologies for consumer and commercial applications. It looks at PNT using various radio signals-of-opportunity, atomic clock, optical, laser, magnetic field, celestial, MEMS and inertial sensors, as well as the concept of navigation from Low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites. GNSS-INS integration, neuroscience of navigation, and animal navigation are also covered. The volume finishes off with a collection of work on contemporary PNT applications such as survey and mobile mapping, precision agriculture, wearable systems, automated driving, train control, commercial unmanned aircraft systems, aviation, and navigation in the unique Arctic environment. In addition, this text: Serves as a complete reference and handbook for professionals and students interested in the broad range of PNT subjects Includes chapters that focus on the latest developments in GNSS and other navigation sensors, techniques, and applications Illustrates interconnecting relationships between various types of technologies in order to assure more protected, tough, and accurate PNT Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century: Integrated Satellite Navigation, Sensor Systems, and Civil Applications will appeal to all industry professionals, researchers, and academics involved with the science, engineering, and applications of position, navigation, and timing technologies. pnt21book.com




Surface Transportation R&D


Book Description




Human Factors in Intelligent Transportation Systems


Book Description

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program is a cooperative effort by government, private industry, and academia to apply advanced technology to the task of resolving the problems of surface transportation. The objective is to improve travel efficiency and mobility, enhance safety, conserve energy, provide economic benefits, and protect the environment. The current demand for mobility has exceeded the available capacity of the roadway system. Because the highway system cannot be expanded, except in minor ways, the available capacity must be used more efficiently to handle the increased demand. ITS applies advanced information processing, communication, sensing, and computer control technologies to the problems of surface transportation. Considerable research and development efforts will be required to produce these new technologies and to convert technologies developed in the defense and space programs to solve surface transportation problems. ITS has been subdivided into six interlocking technology areas. This book addresses human factors concerns for four of these areas: * Advanced Traveler Information Systems are a variety of systems that provide real time, in-vehicle information to drivers regarding navigation and route guidance, motorist services, roadway signing, and hazard warnings. * Advanced Vehicle Control Systems refer to systems that aid drivers in controlling their vehicle particularly in emergency situations and ultimately taking over some or all of the driving tasks. * Commercial Vehicle Operations address the application of ITS technologies to the special needs of commercial roadway vehicles including automated vehicle identification, location, weigh-in-motion, clearance sensing, and record keeping. * Advanced Traffic Management Systems monitor, control and manage traffic on streets and highways to reduce congestion using vehicle route diversion, automated signal timing, changeable message signs, and priority control systems. Two technical areas are not specifically addressed in individual chapters, but many aspects of them are covered in associated chapters: * Advanced Rural Transportation Systems include systems that apply ITS technologies to the special needs of rural systems and include emergency notification and response, vehicle location, and traveler information. * Advanced Public Transportation Systems enhance the effectiveness, attractiveness and economics of public transportation and include fleet management, automated fare collection, and real-time information systems.




Ergonomics and Safety of Intelligent Driver Interfaces


Book Description

Even to the casual observer of the automotive industry, it is clear that driving in the 21st century will be radically different from driving as we know it today. Significant advances in diverse technologies such as digital maps, communication links, processors, image processing, chipcards, traffic management, and vehicle positioning and tracking, are enabling extensive development of intelligent transport systems (ITS). Proponents of ITS view these technologies as freeing designers to re-define the role and function of transport in society and to address the urgent problems of congestion, pollution, and safety. Critics, on the other hand, worry that ITS may prove too complex, too demanding, and too distracting for users, leading to loss of skill, increased incidence of human error, and greater risk of accidents. The role of human factors is widely acknowledged to be critical to the successful implementation of such technologies. However, too little research is directed toward advancing the science of human-ITS interaction, and too little is published which is useful to system designers. This book is an attempt to fill this critical gap. It focuses on the intelligent driver interface (IDI) because the ergonomics of IDI design will influence safety and usability perhaps more than the technologies which underlie it. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, from cognitive considerations in the design of navigation and route guidance, to issues associated with collision warning systems, to monitoring driver fatigue. The chapters also differ in intent -- some provide design recommendations while others describe research findings or new approaches for IDI research and development. Based in part on papers presented at a symposium on the ergonomics of in-vehicle human systems held under the auspices of the 12th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, the book provides an international perspective on related topics through inclusion of important contributions from Europe, North America, and Japan. Many of the chapters discuss issues associated with navigation and route guidance because such systems are the most salient and arguably the most complex examples of IDI. However, the findings and research methodologies are relevant to other systems as well, making this book of interest to a wide audience of researchers, design engineers, transportation authorities, and academicians involved with the development or implementation of ITS.




Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space


Book Description

This book contains twenty-eight papers by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space," held in Las Navas del Maxques, Spain, July 8-20, 1990. The NATO ASI marked a stage in a two-year research project at the U. S. National Center for Geographic Infonnation and Analysis (NCOIA). In 1987, the U. S. National Science Foundation issued a solicitation for proposals to establish the NCGIA-and one element of that solicitation was a call for research on a "fundamental theory of spatial relations". We felt that such a fundamental theory could be searched for in mathematics (geometry, topology) or in cognitive science, but that a simultaneous search in these two seemingly disparate research areas might produce novel results. Thus, as part of the NCGIA proposal from a consortium consisting of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, we proposed that the second major Research Initiative (two year, multidisciplinary research project) of the NCOIA would address these issues, and would be called "Languages of Spatial Relations" The grant to establish the NCOIA was awarded to our consortium late in 1988.







The Construction of Cognitive Maps


Book Description

and processes which are exclusive to humans in their encoding, storing, decoding and retrieving spatial knowledge for various tasks. The authors present and discuss connectionist models of cognitive maps which are based on local representation, versus models which are based on distributed representation, as well as connectionist models concerning language and spatial relations. As is well known, Gibson's (1979) ecological approach suggests a view on cognition which is diametrically different from the classical main stream view: perception (and thus cognition) is direct, immediate and needs no internal information processing, and is thus essentially an external process of interaction between an organism and its external environment. The chapter by Harry Heft introduces J. J. Gibson's ecological approach and its implication to the construction of cognitive maps in general and to the issue of wayfinding in particular. According to Heft, main stream cognitive sciences are essentially Cartesian in nature and have not as yet internalized the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution. Gibson, in his ecological approach, has tried to do exactly this. The author introduces the basic terminology of the ecological approach and relates its various notions, in particular optic flow, nested hierarchy and affordances, to navigation and the way routes and places in the environment are learned.