• Canada
• 050210 logistics & transportation close

Virhtal and augmented environments have been applied primarily to visualization and entertainment in the past. They are now being explored for goal-directed human activities like surgery, training and collaborative work. For these applications, we are pursuing augmented environments where there are both physical (“real world”) objects, and virtual (computer-generated) objects. These environments may be rendered through graphics, haptics, audio or even olfactory displays.

The low back pain risks in a beef skinning operation at a high stand kill floor workstation was evaluated. The increases in compressive forces at lower back (L5/S1) between normal slump (back angle 25 degrees, measured in the sagittal plane) and severe (45 degrees ) and between normal slump and very severe (70 degrees ) bent back postures were 387 N or 28% and 616 N or 45%, respectively. The high spine load coupled with high level of repetition can have a high probability of fatigue failure in the spine structural members. Non-neutral back posture for a large portion of the total work time can be a low back pain risk factor. The videotape analysis showed that the times involved during the task performance for the bent back (more than 25 degrees ) and severe bent back (more than 45 degrees ) were 48.4 and 33.5% of the total cycle time, respectively. The upper limit from OWAS (Ovako Working Posture Analysis System) for bent back posture is 30% of the total cycle time. The bent and twisted back posture (both more than 25 degrees ) time was 10.4% compared to OWAS limit of 5%. This indicated that actions are needed in the near future to alleviate the risk of low back pain. Ergonomics redesign of the workstation was recommended for the operation.

The mitigation of severe problems resulting from vehicle collisions with roadside objects has become one of the major research areas in automotive engineering. The literature review shows that few attempts in finite-element computer simulation of vehicle collision with roadside hardware have been conducted. However, limited research has been conducted to enhance the safety performance of traffic light poles when impacted by vehicles. The objective of this paper is to generate information that can be used to enhance energy absorption characteristics of transportation infrastructure involved in vehicle crash accidents. A finite-element computer model, using the available LS-DYNA software, was developed to simulate vehicle collision with a traffic light steel pole in frontal impact. Five configurations of steel pole supports were examined, including embedding the pole directly into the soil. Different types of soil conditions were examined to study their effects on vehicle occupant safety. The study of structural response focused on the energy absorption, acceleration, and deformation of the steel pole and the vehicle. It is demonstrated from numerical simulations that the steel pole embedded directly into the soil is proved to be strong enough to offer protection under service loading and to remain flexible enough to avoid influencing vehicle occupants, thus reducing fatalities and injuries resulting from vehicle impact.

When oil and gas operators send personnel on occupationally required survival training programs, there is an expectation that the individuals will successfully complete the course requirements and become part of the offshore workforce. Based on current course requirements for helicopter underwater egress, it is not surprising that pass rates are reported as being nearly 100%. However, with such a high success rate, can there be a reasonable prediction of survival in a real helicopter ditching. This paper outlines the current course requirement, performance outcomes for 162 individuals completing five different underwater courses, and an argument for modifying the evaluation of successful course completion. The results from helicopter underwater egress training (HUET) performance data collected from four international training providers indicates that there was an overall success rate greater than 99% across egress trials regardless of course training provider. Within a smaller dataset the results revealed that there was a total of 32 failed attempts across 648 individual egress trials. Based on the findings it is recommended that a critical examination of HUET programs focus on skill acquisition and retention to ensure that offshore workforces are adequately prepared in the event of an actual helicopter ditching.

As numerous jurisdictions worldwide are liberalizing cannabis laws, there is increasing need to understand the social contexts and individual perceptions involved in driving under the influence of ...

With 2000 to 2007 crash data, this study investigated the factors that contributed to injuries in collisions that involved at least one bus in the province of Alberta, Canada. Crashes of all types of buses (e.g., school, transit, intercity) were considered. Four logistic regression models were calibrated: single-vehicle collisions on highways, single-vehicle collisions on nonhighway locations, two-vehicle collisions on highways, and two-vehicle collisions on nonhighway locations. The analysis showed that weather conditions were a significant contributing factor in all four types of collisions, although crashes in adverse weather conditions resulted in fewer injuries. The type of collision, characteristics of collision partner, driver age of collision partner, and weather conditions had a significant effect on the level of severity of collisions on both highway and nonhighway locations. Other factors were shown to affect injury risk only in one particular situation. For instance, for highway-related collisions, the age of the collision partner had a significant effect on levels of accident severity, whereas the age of the bus driver did not. In addition, for highway collisions, the severity was higher for head-on crashes, bus–bus crashes, bus–truck crashes, bus–motorcycle crashes, older buses, crashes on grade and in sags, and crashes during dark and sun glare, whereas accident probability decreased with larger outside shoulder width. For nonhighway locations, crashes occurring near tunnels, overpasses, and signalized intersections were shown to result in a higher probability of injury. The results showed that single-bus collisions involving pedestrians at nonhighway locations had higher injury risk than collisions involving objects.

Abstract This study investigates dockless bike sharing service (DBS) users’ behavior; particularly, why individuals choose DBS. A latent segmentation-based logit (LSL) model is developed using data from a DBS user survey conducted in Kelowna, Canada. The model is developed considering the following reasons for choosing DBS: cheapest option, fastest option, exercise purposes, recreational purposes, parking constraint, and unavailability of other modes or other reasons. The LSL model captures unobserved heterogeneity by assigning individuals into discrete latent segments. The model is estimated for two segments. Results suggest that segment 1 can be identified to include older, lower-income, frequent bike rider, females; whereas, segment 2 includes higher income, younger, non-frequent bike user, males. The parameter estimation results suggest that built environment attributes such as bike index, land use diversity index, transit accessibility, density of destinations, and length of bike infrastructure might influence the choice of DBS. The model confirms significant heterogeneity across the segments. Individuals residing in mixed land use areas with longer active transportation infrastructure are more likely to use DBS for recreational purposes in segment 1. In contrast, higher-income individuals in segment 2 show a negative relationship. The elasticity effects suggest that transit accessibility, length of bike lanes and cycle tracks, dwelling density, and vehicle ownership reveal substantial impact in segment 1. In contrast, bike index, land use diversity index, and personal vehicle ownership reveal significant impact in segment 2. This study offers important behavioral insights; specifically, the heterogeneity addressed in this research needs to be accommodated within the policy-making for efficient operation and expansion of DBS.

Microscopic traffic simulation models offer virtual reproduction of full-scale traffic networks with individual vehicle and driver resolution. However, relevant behavioral aspects, such as route-choice behavior, are based on some theoretical assumptions. Alternatively, driving simulators allow for direct testing of real subjects. However, the virtual driving environment is typically a fairly rudimentary representation of the road network and traffic conditions, focusing on the immediate surroundings of the test vehicle. As such, both tools were integrated to create a mixed reality traffic analysis environment. The objective is to enhance the credibility of in-lab-simulated route-choice experiments under various intelligent transportation system applications. The mixed reality system allows a human subject to “drive” a vehicle in a microscopic traffic simulation model of an actual physical network. An externally controlled driving capability was integrated into the widely used Quadstone Paramics microscopic traffic simulator. The developed mixed reality platform was used at the Toronto (Canada) Intelligent Transportation System Centre to test subjects while driving in a simulated model of a main downtown Toronto corridor. Drivers were given descriptive and prescriptive traffic information while their reactions were monitored. For comparative purposes, they were also tested using a more classical map-based point-and-click route-choice procedure. Results of the analysis highlight the potential of the developed mixed reality platform to enhance the realism of in-lab-simulated route-choice experiments and hence improve the credibility of collected data. Both the virtual reproduction of the choice environment and the tangible consequences of choice decisions contribute to an enhanced experimental environment.