Engineering Commons^™

Crash Prediction Modeling For Curved Segments Of Rural Two-Lane Two-Way Highways In Utah, Casey Scott Knecht

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains the results of the development of crash prediction models for curved segments of rural two-lane two-way highways in the state of Utah. The modeling effort included the calibration of the predictive model found in the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) as well as the development of Utah-specific models developed using negative binomial regression. The data for these models came from randomly sampled curved segments in Utah, with crash data coming from years 2008-2012. The total number of randomly sampled curved segments was 1,495. The HSM predictive model for rural two-lane two-way highways consists of a safety performance function …

Thermally Responsive Polymer Electrolytes For Inherently Safe Electrochemical Energy Storage, Jesse Kelly

All Dissertations

Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries have emerged as premier candidates to meet the rising demands in energy storage; however, such systems are limited by thermal hazards, thermal runaway, fires and explosions, all of which become increasingly more dangerous in large-format devices. To prevent such scenarios, thermally-responsive polymer electrolytes (RPEs) that alter properties in electrochemical energy storage devices were designed and tested. These RPEs will be used to limit or halt device operation when temperatures increase beyond a predetermined threshold, therefore limiting further heating. The development of these responsive systems will offer an inherent safety mechanism in …

The Relationship Between Bicycles And Traffic Safety For All Road Users, Jasmine A. Martin

Master's Theses

Over the past twenty years bicycle use as a mode of transportation has grown considerably in the United States. Other studies have examined the individual bicyclist’s risk in proportion to the growth in cycling across cities, a phenomenon referred to as ‘safety in numbers.’ This study expands from that research and examines the effect of cyclists on road safety for all road users.

The study examines the roles of bicycle modal split, a city wide analysis, and bicycle infrastructure, a site based analysis, in road safety outcomes. For the city based analysis, twenty years of crash data in 12 California …

Investigating Teenage Drivers' Driving Behavior Before And After Lag (Less Aggressive Goals) Training Program, Jingyi Zhang

Masters Theses

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during adolescence, with the fatal crash rate per mile-driven for 16-19 years old drivers being nearly 3 times larger than the rate for drivers age 20 and older. High gravitational events among teenage drivers, such as quick starts, and hard stops, have been shown to be highly correlated with crash rates. The current younger driver training programs developed in the late 1990s, however, do not appear to be especially effective in regard to many skills which are critical to avoiding crashes. With this in mind, a simulator-based training program aimed at …

Fault Tree Analysis For Safety/Security Verification In Aviation Software, Andrew J. Kornecki, Mingye Liu

Andrew J. Kornecki

The Next Generation Air Traffic Management system (NextGen) is a blueprint of the future National Airspace System. Supporting NextGen is a nation-wide Aviation Simulation Network (ASN), which allows integration of a variety of real-time simulations to facilitate development and validation of the NextGen software by simulating a wide range of operational scenarios. The ASN system is an environment, including both simulated and human-in-the-loop real-life components (pilots and air traffic controllers).Real Time Distributed Simulation (RTDS) developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a suite of applications providing low and medium fidelity en-route simulation capabilities, is one of the simulations contributing to the ASN. …

Development Of A Master Of Software Assurance Reference Curriculum, Andrew J. Kornecki, James Mcdonald, Julia H. Allen, Mark Ardis, Nancy Mead, Richard Linger, Thomas B. Hilburn

Andrew J. Kornecki

The Next Generation Air Traffic Management system (NextGen) is a blueprint of the future National Airspace System. Supporting NextGen is a nation-wide Aviation Simulation Network (ASN), which allows integration of a variety of real-time simulations to facilitate development and validation of the NextGen software by simulating a wide range of operational scenarios. The ASN system is an environment, including both simulated and human-in-the-loop real-life components (pilots and air traffic controllers).Real Time Distributed Simulation (RTDS) developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a suite of applications providing low and medium fidelity en-route simulation capabilities, is one of the simulations contributing to the ASN. …

2014 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green, Tony Fields

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of the survey summarized in this report was to establish a statewide safety belt usage rate in Kentucky for 2014. This rate can be compared to those determined from previous surveys. The 2014 statewide survey continues to document the increase in usage associated with the change in the law to allow primary enforcement and related education and enforcement.

Compositional Model Checking Of Concurrent Systems, Hao Zheng, Zhen Zhang, Chris J. Myers, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Yingying Zhang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a compositional framework to address the state explosion problem in model checking of concurrent systems. This framework takes as input a system model described as a network of communicating components in a high-level description language, finds the local state transition models for each individual component where local properties can be verified, and then iteratively reduces and composes the component state transition models to form a reduced global model for the entire system where global safety properties can be verified. The state space reductions used in this framework result in a reduced model that contains the exact same …

Development Of Safety Performance Functions For Non-Motorized Traffic Safety, Hamidreza Ahady Dolatsara

Masters Theses

This study investigates the factors which affect the safety of non-motorized transportation within the influence area of intersections to enhance development of safety performance functions (SPFs). The scope of this study is limited to the four Michigan cities of Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids. Due to the current lack of research regarding the appropriate size of the influence area, this study investigates the distance of crashes relative to the center of 148 intersections to identify the most probable area of influence for different crash types. For motorized and non-motorized crashes, 240 ft. and 137 ft. are proposed, …

Design And Optimization Of The Steering Braking And Drivetrain For The Asme Human Powered Vehicle, Marjorie Chee

Honors Theses

The Union College Human Powered Vehicle Team has designed, built and tested Chester’s Chariot for the 2014 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. The goal of this year’s team was produce an efficient, sustainable, and practical human powered vehicle with a high degree of safety. The team conducted gear ratio analysis, beam bending analysis, aerodynamic analysis using computational and analytical methods. In addition, physical testing was completed to demonstrate the safety and performance of Chester’s Chariot. Chester’s Chariot has the capability of obtaining higher speeds due to an optimized gear set. Last year’s vehicle did not have …

Improved Forensic Medical Device Security Through Eating Detection, Nathan Lee Henry

Masters Theses

Patients are increasingly reliant on implantable medical device systems today. For patients with diabetes, an implantable insulin pump system or artificial pancreas can greatly improve quality of life. As with any device, these devices can and do suffer from software and hardware issues, often reported as a safety event. For a forensic investigator, a safety event is indistinguishable from a potential security event. In this thesis, we show a new sensor system that can be transparently integrated into existing and future electronic diabetes therapy systems while providing additional forensic data to help distinguish between safety and security events. We demonstrate …

Development Of Safety Standards For Cubesat Propulsion Systems, Liam Jon Cheney

Master's Theses

The CubeSat community has begun to develop and implement propulsion systems. This movement represents a new capability which may satisfy mission needs such as orbital and constellation maintenance, formation flight, de-orbit, and even interplanetary travel. With the freedom and capability granted by propulsion systems, CubeSat providers must accept new responsibilities in proportion to the potential hazards that propulsion systems may present.

The Cal Poly CubeSat program publishes and maintains the CubeSat Design Specification (CDS). They wish to help the CubeSat community to safety and responsibly expand its capabilities to include propulsive designs. For this reason, the author embarked on the …

U.S. Construction Worker Fall Accidents: Their Causes And Influential Factors, Sohaib Siddiqui

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the main causes of fall accidents and, to pinpoint the factors that influence the risk of falls in the U.S. construction industry. This study employed the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to examine 9,141 fall accidents, recorded for the period of last 20 years. The results show that specialty trade contractors working on low-budget, residential housing and commercial building projects are more susceptible to fall accidents. In terms of fall height, 85% of the fall accidents occurred on heights less than 30 ft., …

Keeping The Skies Safe, Massood Towhidnejad, Andrew J. Kornecki

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Daytona Beach

Professors Massood Towhidnejad and Andrew Kornecki shine a light on how their lab is helping government and the aviation industry to enhance the safety and security of software-intensive systems.

Safety Measures For Trucks: A Comparison Between Eu And U.S., Jan Kapusta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Road transportation is playing an important role in almost all of the freight movements and contributes to the economy. It has the highest share in the modal division of transported goods. This situation is not about to change in next years to come. Therefore, it is necessary to change the current situation and create rules and regulations that would lead to decrease in number of accidents either in EU or in U.S. The goal of this research is to analyze selected parameters related to the safety of truck transportation in EU and in U.S. This thesis also identifies and compares …

The Impact Of Electronic Health Records On Client Safety In Aged Care Homes, Tao Jiang, Ping Yu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This study collects and critically reviews the published literature to synthesize the risk factors for client safety in residential aged care and the potential contributions of electronic health records to reducing these risks. Three major types of risk factors for client safety were identified: risk factors related to the person's health; those related to the health and aged care system serving the person and those related to human error. Multiple strategies at all levels of an aged care organization are needed to reduce risks and improve client safety. Electronic health records can be one of the effective organizational mechanisms because …

Communication Protocol Design Considerations For Highway Vehicle Platoons And Enhanced Networked Robustness By Stochastic Dithers, Lijian Xu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Highway platooning of vehicles has been identified as a promising framework in

developing intelligent transportation systems. By autonomous or semi-autonomous

vehicle control and inter-vehicle coordination, an appropriately managed platoon can

potentially offer enhanced safety, improved highway utility, increased fuel economy,

and reduced emission. This thesis is focused on quantitative characterization of impact

of communication information structures and contents on platoon safety. By

comparing different information structures which combine front sensors, rear sensors,

and wireless communication channels, and different information contents such

as distances, speeds, and drivers' actions, we reveal a number of intrinsic relationships

between vehicle coordination and communications in …

Investigation Of Rural/Suburban High-Speed Multilane Roundabouts, Aemal Khattak, Eric Thompson, Shanshan Zhao

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This research was focused on two issues related to multilane roundabouts on high-speed highways (speed limit 45 mph or greater) in rural and suburban areas. The first was the tradeoff between converting a traditional stop-controlled or signalized intersection to a multilane roundabout while the second was the safety of newly constructed high-speed multilane roundabouts in rural and suburban areas. The research team reviewed information from diverse published documents and conducted a survey of state and local transportation agencies. Crash data on multilane rural roundabouts were not available for this research. Therefore, the research team relied on crash and other data …