Aniruddha Desai

CARAVAN: Congestion Avoidance and Route Allocation Using Virtual Agent Negotiation

Traffic congestion becomes a cascading phenomenon when vehicles from a road segment chaotically spill on to successive road segments. Such uncontrolled dispersion of vehicles can be avoided by evenly distributing vehicles along alternative routes. This paper proposes a practical multiagent-based approach, which is designed to achieve acceptable route allocation within a short time frame and with low communication overheads. In the proposed approach, which is called Congestion Avoidance and Route Allocation using Virtual Agent Negotiation (CARAVAN), vehicle agents (VAs) in the local vicinity communicate with each other before designated decision points (junctions) along their route. Cooperative route-allocation decisions are performed at these junctions. VAs use intervehicular communication to propagate key traffic information and undertake its distributed processing. Every VA exchanges its autonomously calculated route preference information to arrive at an initial allocation of routes. The allocation is improved using a number of successive virtual negotiation “deals.” The virtual nature of these deals requires no physical communication and, thereby, reduces communication requirements. In addition to the theory and concept, this paper presents the design and implementation methodology of CARAVAN, including experimental results for synthetic and real-world road networks. Results show that when compared against the shortest path algorithm for travel time improvements, CARAVAN offers 21%-43% gain (when traffic demand is below network capacity) and 13%-17% gain (when traffic demand exceeds network capacity), demonstrating its ability to regulate overall system traffic using local coordination strategies.

Routing mechanisms and cross-layer design for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks: A survey

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) will pave the way to advance automotive safety and occupant convenience. The potential VANET applications present diverse requirements. VANET shows unique characteristics and presents a set of challenges. The proposed VANET applications demand reliable and proficient message dissemination techniques. Routing techniques proposed for Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) do not cater for the characteristics of VANET. The need for novel routing techniques, exclusively designed for VANET has been recognised. This paper analyses different routing techniques proposed specifically for VANET. Unique characteristics of VANET pose challenges to traditional layered architecture where different layers make independent decisions. Mobility, absence of global view of network, random changes in topology, poor link quality and varied channel conditions have encouraged the paradigm shift to cross-layer approach. In order to optimise the performance of VANET, architectures based on cross-layer approach have been proposed by the researchers. The paper also surveys such cross-layer paradigm based solutions for VANET and concludes with an analytical summary.

Multi-agent based vehicular congestion management

In rapidly growing transportation networks, traffic congestion can result from inefficient traffic control infrastructure or ineffective traffic control measures. Existing congestion management techniques in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have not been very effective due to lack of autonomous and collaborative behavior of the constituent traffic control entities involved in these techniques. Moreover, these entities cannot easily adapt to the traffic dynamics and the traffic control intelligence is mostly centralised making it susceptible to overload and failures. The autonomous and distributed nature of multi-agent systems is well-suited to the transportation domain which is dynamic and geographically distributed. This paper reviews existing congestion management techniques and discusses their limitations. The paper, further, comprehensively surveys multi-agent techniques for congestion management in ITS and describes their advantages over other existing techniques. The paper classifies the multi-agent techniques based on the locus of decision control intelligence and focuses on their suitability of application in congestion management. We conclude with outstanding issues and challenges.

SmartVANET: The Case for a Cross-Layer Vehicular Network Architecture

Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) based Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) provides an opportunity to enable communication-based cooperative safety systems in order to decrease road traumas and improve traffic efficiency. VANET also offers a wide range of commercial and infotainment applications. VANET exhibits unique characteristics that create new challenges. This paper discusses the DSRC technology and its shortcomings in order to achieve reliable content dissemination. To optimise the performance of the vehicular networks, a novel network architecture using the cross-layer paradigm is presented. The architecture is called Smart Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (SmartVANET) architecture. The proposed SmartVANET architecture can support safety, traffic management and commercial applications. The SmartVANET architecture complies with the DSRC channel plan. The architecture divides road into segments and assigns a service channel to each segment. The SmartVANET combines a segment based clustering technique with a hybrid Medium Access Control (MAC) mechanism (termed as the Smart MAC protocol). Using cross-layer integration, SmartVANET also provides a solution for broadcast storm problems and offers scalability. The paper presents the SmartVANET architecture and argues its advantages.

Development of multifunctional cotton fabric using atmospheric pressure plasma and nano-finishing

The possibility of using atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment for textile surface activation to facilitate deposition of nano TiO2/SiO2 onto cotton fabric is investigated. It is aimed to develop a multifunctional cotton textile using plasma and nanotechnology. The treated fabric is evaluated through measuring the ultraviolet protection factor, antimicrobial activity, and flame retardancy as functional finishes. Surface morphology (Scanning electron microscopy, SEM), thermogravimetric analysis, and mechanical properties were also studied. SEM shows deposition of nanoparticles onto the fabric. He–O2 plasma pretreatment improves the flame retardancy, antibacterial activity, and thermal stability of the samples were compared with the untreated samples.

Investigating vehicle-to-vehicle communication for cooperative car parking: The CoPark approach

Significant time is wasted and fuel consumed as a result of vehicles cruising inside carparks looking for vacant carpark spaces, especially with an increasing number of vehicles on the road. This could lead to traffic congestion and delay in finding appropriate parking space as the vehicles traverse the same parking areas. In this paper, we investigate a smart car parking system using a largely decentralized approach called CoPark, which explores the advantages of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication for vehicles to find and choose car park spaces. Based on observations of the carpark environment through information gleaned from other vehicles, each vehicle can “negotiate” with other vehicles that come within its V2V communication range and decide on the proposed search areas. We show by simulations and experimentation that there are significant effects of this approach on reducing parking search time; for instance, the CoPark approach can achieve a reduction in the average search time of up to 57% compared to a non-cooperative approach.

Geotextiles made from natural fibres

This chapter discusses the concept of using natural fibres in geotextile applications. A review of the background and the need for natural fibre geotextiles is followed by a description of the different types of natural fibres, their extraction and the properties and manufacture of natural fibre geotextiles. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the areas of application of natural fibre geotextiles with current and future market trends for natural geotextiles.

Cooperative vehicles for robust traffic congestion reduction: an analysis based on algorithmic, environmental and agent behavioral factors

Traffic congestion continues to be a persistent problem throughout the world. As vehicle-to-vehicle communication develops, there is an opportunity of using cooperation among close proximity vehicles to tackle the congestion problem. The intuition is that if vehicles could cooperate opportunistically when they come close enough to each other, they could, in effect, spread themselves out among alternative routes so that vehicles do not all jam up on the same roads. Our previous work proposed a decentralized multiagent based vehicular congestion management algorithm entitled Congestion Avoidance and Route Allocation using Virtual Agent Negotiation (CARAVAN), wherein the vehicles acting as intelligent agents perform cooperative route allocation using inter-vehicular communication. This paper focuses on evaluating the practical applicability of this approach by testing its robustness and performance (in terms of travel time reduction), across variations in: (a) environmental parameters such as road network topology and configuration; (b) algorithmic parameters such as vehicle agent preferences and route cost/preference multipliers; and (c) agent-related parameters such as equipped/non-equipped vehicles and compliant/non-compliant agents. Overall, the results demonstrate the adaptability and robustness of the decentralized cooperative vehicles approach to providing global travel time reduction using simple local coordination strategies.

Determination of maternal pedigree and ewe–lamb spatial relationships by application of Bluetooth technology in extensive farming systems

The objectives of this study were to validate the application of Bluetooth technology to determine maternal pedigree and to determine ewe-lamb spatial relationships in extensive farming systems. A total of 35 first-cross Merino ewes (Merino × Border Leicester and East Friesian) and 23 of their lambs aged 1 to 3 wk were fitted with activity monitors equipped with Bluetooth (BT) technology (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) by means of halters and collars, respectively. The BT devices on lambs were programmed to receive wireless signals once every minute from nearby BT units on ewes, which were programmed as beacons sending BT signals 4 times every second. Ewes and lambs fitted with sensors were dispatched into the paddocks, and after 10 d, the sensor units were retrieved and the BT signals received by lambs were downloaded using the ActiGraph software. The maternal pedigree of the lambs was determined as the ewe from which the lamb received the most BT signals. The distance between the lamb receiving the signal and the ewe sending the signal was estimated from the strength of BT signal received. The pedigree determined by BT was compared with the pedigree determined by DNA profiling and verification. The results showed that the accuracy of maternal pedigree determined by BT signals reached 100% within the first 15 min of returning animals to pasture of ewes and lambs fitted with sensors. Maternal signals (counts/d) received by 1-, 2-, and 3-wk-old lambs were 617 ± 102, 603 ± 54, and 498 ± 36, respectively, and the corresponding nonmaternal signals received were 140 ± 27, 106 ± 30, and 155 ± 39, respectively. Maternal signals received during the dark period were significantly higher than the maternal signals received during the light period ( < 0.05). Maternal signals received during the light period by 3-wk-old lambs were significantly lower when compared with those received by 1- and 2-wk-old lambs. Over 90% of the BT signals received from within 2 m of the lamb were from its mother. The maternal BT signals expressed as a portion of total BT signals decreased with increasing distance from the lamb. The results show that BT wireless networking is a fast and reliable method for the determination of maternal pedigree of lambs in extensive farming systems. In addition, wireless BT technology is also useful in determining mother-offspring spatial relationships.

Smart energy management system

Peak and average energy usage in domestic and industrial environments is growing rapidly and absence of detailed energy consumption metrics is making systematic reduction of energy usage very difficult. Smart energy management system aims at providing a cost-effective solution for managing soaring energy consumption and its impact on green house gas emissions and climate change. The solution is based on seamless integration of existing wired and wireless communication technologies combined with smart context-aware software which offers a complete solution for automation of energy measurement and device control. The persuasive software presents users with easy-to-assimilate visual cues identifying problem areas and time periods and encourages a behavioural change to conserve energy. The system allows analysis of real-time/statistical consumption data with the ability to drill down into detailed analysis of power consumption, CO2 emissions and cost. The system generates intelligent projections and suggests potential methods (e.g. reducing standby, tuning heating/cooling temperature, etc.) of reducing energy consumption. The user interface is accessible using web enabled devices such as PDAs, PCs, etc. or using SMS, email, and instant messaging. Successful real-world trial of the system has demonstrated the potential to save 20 to 30% energy consumption on an average. Low cost of deployment and the ability to easily manage consumption from various web enabled devices offers gives this system a high penetration and impact capability offering a sustainable solution to act on climate change today.