Improvement of The Driver Simulator Control and Comparison Between Driver-Road-Vehicle Interaction in Real and Simulated Environment

The present doctoral thesis discusses the ways to improve the performance of driving simulator, provide objective measures for the road safety evaluation methodology based on driver’s behavior and response and investigates the drivers' adaptation to the driving assistant systems. The activities are divided into two macro areas; the driving simulation studies and on-road experiments. During the driving simulation experimentation, the classical motion cueing algorithm with logarithmic scale was implemented in the 2DOF motion cueing simulator and the motion cues were found desirable by the participants. In addition, it found out that motion stimuli could change the behaviour of the drivers in terms of depth/distance perception. During the on-road experimentations, The driver gaze behaviour was investigated to find the objective measures on the visibility of the road signs and reaction time of the drivers. The sensor infusion and the vehicle monitoring instruments were found useful for an objective assessment of the pavement condition and the drivers’ performance. In the last chapter of the thesis, the safety assessment during the use of level 1 automated driving “ACC” is discussed with the simulator and on-road experiment. The drivers’ visual behaviour was investigated in both studies with innovative classification method to find the epochs of the distraction of the drivers. The behavioural adaptation to ACC showed that drivers may divert their attention away from the driving task to engage in secondary, non-driving-related tasks.

Performance assessment of vehicular connectivity in hybrid electric vehicles for fuel and emissions reduction

Nowadays, the spreading of the air pollution crisis enhanced by greenhouse gases emission is leading to the worsening of global warming. Recently, several metropolitan cities introduced Zero-Emissions Zones where the use of the Internal Combustion Engine is forbidden to reduce localized pollutants emissions. This is particularly problematic for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, which usually work in depleting mode. In order to address these issues, the present thesis presents a viable solution by exploiting vehicular connectivity to retrieve navigation data of the urban event along a selected route. The battery energy needed, in the form of a minimum State of Charge (SoC), is calculated by a Speed Profile Prediction algorithm and a Backward Vehicle Model. That value is then fed to both a Rule-Based Strategy, developed specifically for this application, and an Adaptive Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (A-ECMS). The effectiveness of this approach has been tested with a Connected Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HiL) on a driving cycle measured on-road, stimulating the predictions with multiple re-routings. However, even if hybrid electric vehicles have been recognized as a valid solution in response to increasingly tight regulations, the reduced engine load and the repeated engine starts and stops may reduce substantially the temperature of the exhaust after-treatment system (EATS), leading to relevant issues related to pollutant emission control. In this context, electrically heated catalysts (EHCs) represent a promising solution to ensure high pollutant conversion efficiency without affecting engine efficiency and performance. This work aims at studying the advantages provided by the introduction of a predictive EHC control function for a light-duty Diesel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) equipped with a Euro 7-oriented EATS. Based on the knowledge of future driving scenarios provided by vehicular connectivity, engine first start can be predicted and therefore an EATS pre-heating phase can be planned.

Analysis of urban infrastructure for sustainable mobility through instrumented bicycles for students

In Europe almost 80% of the continent's population lives in cities. It is estimated that by 2030 most regions in Europe which contain major cities will have even more inhabitants on 35–60% more than now. This process generates a consequent elevate human pressure on the natural environment, especially around large urban agglomerations. Cities could be seen as an ecosystem, represented by the dominance of humans that re-distribute organisms and fluxes and represent the result of co-evolving human and natural systems, emerging from the interactions between humans, natural and infrastructures. Roads have a relevant role in building links between urban components, creating the basis on which it is founded the urban ecosystem itself. This thesis is focused on the research for a comprehensive model, framed in European urban health & wellbeing programme, aimed to evaluate the determinants of health in urban populations. Through bicycles, GPS and sensor kits, specially developed and produced by University of Bologna for this purpose, it has been possible to conduct on Bologna different direct observations that oriented the novelty of the research: the categorization of university students cyclists, connection among environmental data awareness and level of cycling, and an early identification of urban attributes able to impact on road air quality and level of cycling. The categorization of university students’ cyclist has been defined through GPS analysis and focused survey, that both permit to identify behavioural and technical variables and attitudes towards urban cycling. The statistic relationship between level of cycling, seen as number of bicycles passages per lane and pollutants level, has been investigated through an inverse regression model, defined and tested through SPSS software on the basis of the data harvest. The research project that represents a sort of dynamic mobility laboratory on two wheels, that permits to harvest and study detected parameters.

Microscopic Modeling on complex networks

The field of complex systems is a growing body of knowledge, It can be applied to countless different topics, from physics to computer science, biology, information theory and sociology. The main focus of this work is the use of microscopic models to study the behavior of urban mobility, which characteristics make it a paradigmatic example of complexity. In particular, simulations are used to investigate phase changes in a finite size open Manhattan-like urban road network under different traffic conditions, in search for the parameters to identify phase transitions, equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions . It is shown how the flow-density macroscopic fundamental diagram of the simulation shows,like real traffic, hysteresis behavior in the transition from the congested phase to the free flow phase, and how the different regimes can be identified studying the statistics of road occupancy.

The Road to Poverty Reduction: Corporate Governance and Female Participation in MFIs

1.Microfinance Industry – Context of Analysis. This paper is an introduction to the microfinance industry. It serves as a context of analysis, for the empirical settings and basis for building the theoretical argument for the thesis. 2.Women in Microfinance Institutions: The Road to Poverty Reduction and Gender Equality? One of the unique aspects of microfinance institutions is their focus on outreach, i.e. their ability to reach the poor. This paper explores whether the presence of women in microfinance institutions is associated with improved outreach. Building on prior research that shows that women tend to improve financial performance and social responsibility, we examine an original dataset of 226 microfinance institutions. The empirical results suggest that the presence of a female CEO, female managers and female loan officers is directly related to improved outreach, while the presence of women board members is not. 3. Women in Microfinance Institutions: Is There a Trade-Off Between Outreach and Sustainability? Abstract This paper’s contribution to the understanding of microfinance is two-fold. First, while it has been shown that female CEOs in MFIs increase financial performance, it will be argued that female managers, female loan officers and female board members will do the same. Secondly, having previously shown that having a female presence in management in MFIs improves social performance the outreach, it will be argued that having females in the MFIs’ management will not lead to a trade-off between outreach and sustainability. These findings are based on an original data set of 226 MFIs. Statistical analysis demonstrates that a weak relationship between female managers and female loan officers vis-à-vis financial performance, but female board members do not. The trade-off between outreach and sustainability can be avoided with the appointment of females to the MFIs’ management positions, but the same cannot be concluded for female board members.

Cascading events triggering industrial accidents: quantitative assessment of NaTech and domino scenarios

The so called cascading events, which lead to high-impact low-frequency scenarios are rising concern worldwide. A chain of events result in a major industrial accident with dreadful (and often unpredicted) consequences. Cascading events can be the result of the realization of an external threat, like a terrorist attack a natural disaster or of “domino effect”. During domino events the escalation of a primary accident is driven by the propagation of the primary event to nearby units, causing an overall increment of the accident severity and an increment of the risk associated to an industrial installation. Also natural disasters, like intense flooding, hurricanes, earthquake and lightning are found capable to enhance the risk of an industrial area, triggering loss of containment of hazardous materials and in major accidents. The scientific community usually refers to those accidents as “NaTechs”: natural events triggering industrial accidents. In this document, a state of the art of available approaches to the modelling, assessment, prevention and management of domino and NaTech events is described. On the other hand, the relevant work carried out during past studies still needs to be consolidated and completed, in order to be applicable in a real industrial framework. New methodologies, developed during my research activity, aimed at the quantitative assessment of domino and NaTech accidents are presented. The tools and methods provided within this very study had the aim to assist the progress toward a consolidated and universal methodology for the assessment and prevention of cascading events, contributing to enhance safety and sustainability of the chemical and process industry.