A dynamic approach to truck scheduling using an intelligent distributed multi-agent architecture is presented. This paper presents an inherently distributed problem, the dynamic truck scheduling problem which has motivated the current study on an intelligent multi-agent architecture for optimal real time solutions. The .Net environment is critiqued for the proposed multi-agent architecture. A d...

We use a reinforcement learning approach to learn a real world control problem, the truck backer-upper problem. In this problem, a tractor trailer truck must be backed into a loading dock from an arbitrary location and orientation. Our approach uses the temporal difference algorithm using a neural network as the value function approximator. The novelty of this work is the simplicity of our impl...

Novel ambiguous N-N combinations were created that had both a thematic relation and a property mapping interpretation (e.g., a cheetah truck = a fast truck vs. a truck for transporting cheetahs). Experiment 1 asked people to generate their own interpretations, which were then classified as involving thematic relations, property mapping or other. Experiment 2 asked people to choose which of the ...

An analytical point-wise stationary approximation model is proposed to analyze time-dependent truck queuing processes with stochastic service time distributions at gates and yards of a port terminal. A convex nonlinear programming model is developed which minimizes the total truck turn time and discomfort due to shifted arrival times. A two-phase optimization approach is used to first compute a...

In September 2008 new regulations for managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue entered into force in Australia. According to the new regulations there is a chain of responsibility ranging from drivers to dispatchers and shippers and thus, carriers must explicitly consider driving and working hour regulations when generating truck driver schedules. This paper presents and studies the Australian Tru...

In this paper, we will proposed a hybrid method to generate fuzzy membership function automatically. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used as optimized algorithm, supplement the performance of fuzzy system. The PSO is able to generate an optimal set of parameter for the membership functions automatic adjustment. Fuzzy control system that automatically backs up a truck to a specified point o...

T his inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports on an overexposure to methylene bisphenyl isocyanate (MDI) during the spray application of a protective coating for truck beds. The inspection was conducted at an autobody repair shop and collision center that also operated a spray-on truck bed coating operation. The investigation was initiated as a complaint i...

Due to their contribution to the ozone depletion and the anthropogenic greenhouse warming effect caused by the refrigerant as well as the foam blowing agent household refrigerators and freezers were attracting public attention especially in Western Europe. The conversion to the use of environmentally benign fluids as refrigerants and foam blowing agents requires a large number of extensive, exp...

We describe techniques used to fabricate the cold stage of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator that uses the paramagnetic salt ferric ammonium alum. We discuss the design of a leak-tight housing for the salt as well as a technique for growing ferric ammonium alum crystals that results in a housing filled with > 98% refrigerant. These techniques have proven to be reliable in creating robus...

The three-terminal heat device that consists of an electronic cavity and couples to a heat bath is studied both as a heat engine and as a refrigerator. We investigate the characteristic performance in the linear and nonlinear regime for both setups. It is our focus here to analyze how the efficiency of the heat engine and coefficient of performance of the refrigerator are affected by the nonlin...