Effect of cognitive load on drivers' State and task performance during automated driving: Introducing a novel method for determining stabilisation time following take-over of control

This research paper explores the impact of cognitive load on drivers' physiological state and driving performance during an automated driving to manual control transition scenario, using a driving simulator. Whilst driving in the automated mode, cognitive load was manipulated using the "N-Back" task, which participants engaged with via a visual display. Results suggest that non-optimal levels of workload during the automated driving conditions impair driving performance, especially lateral control of the vehicle, and the magnitude of this impairment varied with increasing cognitive load. In addition to these findings, the present paper introduces a novel method for determining stabilisation times of both driver state and driving performance indicators following a transition of vehicle control. Using this method we demonstrate that mean and standard deviation of lane position impairments were found to take longer to stabilise following transition to manual driving following a higher level of cognitive load during the automated driving period, taking up to 22 s for driving performance to normalise after take-over. In addition, heart rate parameters take between 20 and 30 s to stabilise following a planned take-over request. Finally, this paper demonstrates how the magnitude of cognitive load can be estimated in context of automated driving using physiological measures, captured by consumer electronic devices. We discuss the impact our findings have on the design of SAE Level 3 systems. Relevant suggestions are provided to the research community and automakers working on future implementation of vehicles capable of conditional automation.

The optimization of overall equipment effectiveness factors in a pharmaceutical company

Over the years, the inability of pharmaceutical companies to achieve optimum maintenance of their equipment, and enhanced machine availability for better resource and maintenance utilization, has adversely affected their competitive advantage. The need to adopt a unique production technique that will curb their numerous equipment maintenance challenges, and also re-position them for world-class manufacturing will not only reduce their losses, but will also increase their throughput and profitability. To address a Pharmaceutical firm's maintenance challenges, data were obtained for the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) factors after Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) implementation in the company. Minitab 16.0 software was used to analyze the data collected, and the results showed that the highest value of 98.90 and 96.39 in the descriptive statistics for the maximum and mean respectively, underscore the importance of quality in the company's products. The percentage of mean for quality, availability, and performance obtained were 96.3906, 60.4938, and 27.6188 respectively. This once again showed that quality of products is the greatest OEE factor that pharmaceutical companies must take seriously in order to reduce the six big losses in their manufacturing processes. Response Surface Method (RSM), with the application of Design Expert software with Box-Behnken as the design type was used to model, analyze, and optimize the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) using availability, quality, and performance as the input parameters. The analysis of both the actual and coded values, which is the main contribution of the study showed that quality has the greatest value followed by availability and performance. Also, OEE must be set at 10.3 and 629.5 for both the lower and upper limits respectively, in order to effectively reduce downtime, setup cost, the inherent wastes, as well as the six big losses.

Feasibility study on small cars as an alternative to conventional fleets due to low occupancy: case study in Indonesia

Consumer interest in privately managed urban transport services in Indonesia are showing a declining trend. On the other hand, the presence of Transportation on Demand (ToD) based on Internet of Things (IoT) has attracted the majority of conventional fleet customers which contribute to the declining trend of occupancy. Therefore, this study aims to present a feasibility study of a small car RE60 Three Passenger and One Driver (3P+1D) four-wheeler as an alternative to replace conventional fleets. The Break-Even Point (BEP), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PP) are analyzed based on vehicle operating data. The analysis shows that there is an additional monthly income flow of IDR 1,533,122 and IDR 2,536,946 from RE60 operations compared to the high and low consumption of fuel from existing fleets, respectively. In conclusion, it is feasible to invest in small car RE60 as a replacement for the existing fleets since the fundamental indicators (BEP, NPV, IRR, and PP) showed positive results before the specified instalment period. Sensitivity analysis also shows good results, NPV shows positive results (>0) although the input conditions are made pessimistic to -30% from NPV base case. The BEP of RE60 will cut distance travelled at 190,670 km and 115,225 km, respectively. NPV of IDR 33,088,000 and IDR 80,841,000 will be obtained at the 60th month after the operation and IRR also enabled good scores, at 2.24% and 4.17%.

The analysis of shrink-fit connection - the methods of heating and the factors influencing the distribution of residual stresses

The main aim of this article is to compare various heating methods of the shrink-fit connection and to analyse its shrinkage mechanism. The shrink fit connection consists of the crank and the pin or the ring and the pin, which have negative value of the geometrical clearance. The experimental part of research included the measurement of the temperature at the various points in the surface of the crank, the measurement of the residual stress 5 mm from the crank hole and the measurement of the maximum torsional moment, at which sliding of the shrink-fit connection occurs. Conformity between data from the Finite Element Analysis and the experimental data was obtained in relation to the von Mises stress. The analysis results show that Lamé equations can be successfully used for calculation of the load capacity even for parts with the irregular shape.