Scope Analytics
Agents: system analysts, business analysts, agriculture scientists, engineers;
Stakeholders : Drivers, Traffic controller at TCC, passengers;
Moves : critical success factors analysis, requirements management;
Application domains : surface, rail, water, air transport;
Key technologies : mechanical, aeronautical, electrical, electronics, communication; Civil infrastructure (roads, ports, airport, rail stations);
Security parameters: define a set of sustainable development goals for logistics security.
Logistics security (travel, hospitalities, surface, water, rail, water, EVs and hybrid vehicles)
Responsible consumption and production (fuel, vehicles)
Requirements engineering for dominant design of future generation vehicles :
Electrical & hybrid vehicles through smart, clean and solar micro grid
Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication
Internet of Things (IoT), mobile communication
Objectives:
safe driving trading-off cost vs. comforts of the passengers through real-time fault diagnostics
maintain schedule of train service approximately as far as possible
improve energy efficiency of driving as per standard operating procedures
optimal capacity utilization of limited rail infrastructure
optimize train movements within limits and regulatory compliance
ensure security, safety and comforts at optimal cost
Constraints : Technological complexity, application integration, cost;
Prof. Jones and Dr. Yokoo have started this session through scope analytics. Sustainable transportation infrastructure demands widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources. The use of EVs is growing due to increasing technological success of complex and reliable hybrid vehicles; technological diffusion of Li-ion batteries and increasing willingness of society, political world and the automobiles market due to increasing environmental air pollution, global warming and fuel consumption and high stress on the storage of fossil fuels. This session analyzes the technological innovation of electrical and hybrid vehicles through deep analytics. The dominant design includes smart batteries.
Prof. Jones has outlined the scope of the technological innovation on electrical vehicles which includes E-bus, E-truck, E-scooter, E-bike, E- bicycle, E-Taxi and E- private car. The scope can be extended to E-steamer/ launches / ships, electric trains (e.g. metro rail, mono rail, local trains) and small aircrafts (e.g. helicopters, hovercrafts, fighter planes, military aircrafts, HY4 plane free of carbon emission and driven by serial hybrid powertrain such as fuel cell and alternative energy sources like solar cell). It is interesting to develop power management system of the aircrafts which select appropriate energy sources as per the demand of aircraft and the propeller engine. Vehicles can be powered by internal combustion engine using gasoline, diesel or gas or electric drives. The critical success factors of vehicle manufacturing industry are sustainable, environment friendly design, improvements in power train systems, fuel processing and power conversion technologies.
Vehicles can be classified based on various types of synthetic fuels such as hydrogen, biodiesel, bioethanol, dimethylether, ammonia and electricity via electrical batteries : conventional gasoline vehicle (petrol or diesel, ICE), hybrid vehicle (gasoline fuel, electrical drive, rechargeable battery), electric vehicle (high capacity electrical battery, electrical drive), hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (high pressure hydrogen fuel tank, fuel cell, electrical drive), hydrogen internal combustion vehicle (high-pressure hydrogen fuel tank and ICE) and ammonia fueled vehicle (liquid ammonia fuel tank, hydrogen-fueled ICE). In case of electrical or hybrid vehicles, electricity may be produced from renewable energy sources or natural gas.
It is an interesting option to perform a comparative analysis among various type of vehicles based on a set evaluation parameters such as vehicle price, fuel cost, maintenance cost, economic attractiveness, driving range, energy and power features, safety, sustainability, fuel consumption, reduction in emission and environmental impact. The trading agents often try to trade-off miscellaneous critical factors such as vehicle performance, improved performance of fuel cell or batteries, cost, governmental subsidies and environmental pollution issues. It has been found that hybrid and electrical vehicles have many advantages than other types of vehicles in terms of high fuel price and environmental pollution, economics and environmental impact depends significantly on the source of electrical energy. If the electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, electric car is even better than hybrid vehicles. Nickel metal hydride and Li-ion batteries have shown improved performance as compared to old lead-acid batteries.
Next critical issue is requirements engineering of vehicles : What should be the vision for the vehicles in future ? The requirements should be defined from several perspectives. It is essential to transform the design principles of the conventional vehicles. The traditional design is based on petrol and diesel engines for energy, internal combustion engine for power, manual control and independent standalone operation. The vision for the future vehicles may be based on electrical and hybrid system, light, clean, safe, fun and fashionable design, mobile communication, and Internet of Things (IoT). The design of the vehicles should promote mobile Internet and IoT enabled by electronic tags and sensors and seamless connection to IoT; the basic objectives are efficient traffic management and reduced travel time by collecting, processing and sharing big data. The electrical and hybrid vehicles should be integrated with smart power grid having clean renewable energy sources (e.g. solar, wind and hydroelectric power), dynamic pricing mechanism and optimal balance between supply and demand of electrical energy. The vehicles should be designed with real-time control capabilities, mobile connectivity and onboard intelligence for optimal utilization of road and parking space and traffic congestion control.
The automobiles market demands fundamental rethinking, radical redesign and reinvention of vehicles of the future. The enabling technologies should be developed in terms of dominant design and converged for proper diffusion of electrical and hybrid vehicles globally. The expected benefits of converging innovative solutions should be explored in terms of lower cost, sustainable economic growth and prosperity, enhanced freedom, mobility, safety, zero emissions, use of clean renewable energy to fight against air pollution, climate change and global warming, minimal traffic congestion, increased roadway throughput, fun, entertainment and autonomous driving.
Prof. Jones is also presting the scope of RailTech, an emerging technology in rail operation from the perspectives of intelligent management information systems. RailTech integrates intelligent Driver Advice System (DAS), traffic control centre (TCC) and real-time fault diagnostics (RTFD). The complexity of the technology has been analyzed through deep analytics. The basic building blocks of real-time fault diagnostics are graphical analytics (GA), fault tree analytics (FTA) and failure mode effects analytics (FMEA). The core components of the graphical analytics include time failure propagation graph (TFPG), control, resources and data flows analytics. What should be the top priority: high speed train or rail security and safety? The emerging technology should adopt a balanced approach.
RailTech integrates Driver Advice System (DAS), traffic control centre (TCC) and real-time fault diagnostics (RTFD) for rail operations. RailTech is analyzed based on literature reviews on rail safety, driver advice systems and real-time fault diagnostics from the perspectives of management information systems (MIS), extensive experience of rail travel of more than 100000 kilometers in last twenty five years and also training experience at Railways Corporation.
The ultimate goals of RailTech are to improve the performance of rail infrastructure and train services and minimize train delays which results decrease in capacity utilization, punctuality, reliability and safety. Increased capacity of infrastructure also causes secondary delays and increase in route conflicts. It is essential to do analysis on various types of feedback and operational data for improving planning and control in rail operations and to monitor delays at stations using route conflicts, train and timetable data. Specifically, RailTech faces critical situations during natural disasters (e.g. flood, cyclone, storm, fog, mist and snowfall in winter). Deep analytics can find out chains of route conflicts, secondary delays, number of conflicts, time loss and delay jump.
RailTech safety and security is an emerging trend of top technological innovation today. Railway technology is associated with a complex, distributed and integrated information system. We must monitor the performance of railways infrastructure globally and analyze political and social trends, principal technological advancement of condition monitoring system, driver advice system and real-time fault diagnostics; system complexity, R&D challenges and future vision of railway security and safety.
Condition monitoring is an important issue of RailTech safety. It is a common practice to compare relative benefits and limitations of various modes of transportation such as surface, rail and air in terms of traffic congestion, environmental pollution, safety, reliability, consistency, cost and capacity utilization. Traditionally, the security and safety of RailTech system is analyzed in terms of frequency of accidents, fire hazards, delay, punctuality, reliability, consistency, probability of injuries or fatalities due to derailing and track faults. Gradually, the system has been getting equipped with electronics, communication and information technology which increases the scope of automated fault detection and diagnosis. It is possible to improve punctuality, profit and revenue in rail operations and increase operational availability and reliability of key railway infrastructure through effective coordination and integration among DAS, TCC and RTFD.