Abstract

To preserve the fun of driving and enhance driving convenience, a smart regenerative braking system (SRS) is developed. The SRS provides automatic regeneration that is appropriate for the driving conditions, but the existing technology has a low level of acceptability and comfort. To solve this problem, this paper presents an automatic regenerative control system based on a deceleration model that reflects the driver&rsquo s characteristics. The deceleration model is designed as a parametric model that mimics the driver&rsquo s behavior. In addition, it consists of parameters that represent the driver&rsquo s characteristics. These parameters are updated online by a learning algorithm. The validation results of the vehicle testing show that the vehicle maintained a safe distance from the leading car while simulating a driver&rsquo s behavior. Of all the deceleration that occurred during the testing, 92% was conducted by the automatic regeneration system. In addition, the results of the online learning algorithm are different based on the driver&rsquo s deceleration pattern. The presented automatic regenerative control system can be safely used in diverse car-following situations. Moreover, the system&rsquo s acceptability is improved by updating the driver characteristics. In the future, the algorithm will be extended for use in more diverse deceleration situations by using intelligent transportation system information. Document type: Article

Abstract

Despite being an important mode of transportation in the developing world, little research has been conducted to understand the factors contributing to crashes involving three wheel vehicles. This study surveyed a convenient sample of 505 professional three-wheeler drivers in Sri Lanka to explore the similarities and differences in the demographic and work characteristics between three-wheeler drivers who reported experiencing at least one collision in the past twelve months and those who reported that they were not involved in any collisions. Our study revealed some interesting results that were quite different from those obtained in the studies on professional drivers in developed countries. In particular, both drivers with less than one year and more than five years of driving experience in our study were found to be associated with higher probability of crash involvement. Also, the number of trips per day and the average travel distance per trip were found to be insignificant in delineating between crash-involved and non-crash-involved drivers. Moreover, crash-involved drivers, on average, have significantly fewer working days per week and fewer hours per day, suggesting that the conventional approach used in most developed countries to tackle fatigue among professional drivers do not appear to be suitable for solving the road safety problem involving three-wheeler drivers in a developing country. Also, since the age of most drivers falls in a narrow range, this U-shaped relationship is not likely to be a result of youth and ageing but of inexperience in newer drivers and complacency in more experienced drivers. Lastly, since a relatively large proportion of the drivers had driven without a valid driving license, legislation and enforcement interventions are likely to be less effective than education and engineering countermeasures. Document type: Article