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Articles 3781 - 3810 of 13937

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Data- Driven Asset Degradation Modeling: An Enterprise-Wide Roof System Case Study, Kurt R. Lamm Mar 2021

Data- Driven Asset Degradation Modeling: An Enterprise-Wide Roof System Case Study, Kurt R. Lamm

Theses and Dissertations

Organizations with large facility and infrastructure portfolios have used asset management databases for over ten years to collect and standardize asset condition data. Decision makers use this data to predict asset degradation and expected service life, enabling prioritized maintenance, repair, and renovation actions that reduce asset life-cycle costs and achieve organizational objectives. However, these asset condition forecasts are calculated using standardized, self-correcting distribution models that rely on continuous functions. This research presents four step wise asset condition forecast models that utilize historical asset inspection data to improve prediction accuracy: (1) Slope, (2) Weighted Slope, (3) Condition-intelligent Weighted Slope, and (4) …

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A State-Based Model For Validating Autonomous Munition Behaviors, Dalton J. Miller Mar 2021

A State-Based Model For Validating Autonomous Munition Behaviors, Dalton J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous munitions provide an opportunity for the Department of Defense (DoD) to extend the capabilities of operators in combat situations. However, there is also a need for a high level of trust in the effectiveness and accuracy of these systems. With the advent of model-based standards in autonomy and munitions, there is a need to implement these techniques toward an effective modeling and simulation (MS) capability. By leveraging modern MS tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler and the DoD's Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration, and Modeling (AFSIM), this thesis proposes a framework for simulating complex autonomy architectures within high fidelity …

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A Decision-Support System For The Deployment Tasking Process Of U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Officers, Kenneth A. Neal Mar 2021

A Decision-Support System For The Deployment Tasking Process Of U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Officers, Kenneth A. Neal

Theses and Dissertations

The Armed Forces frequently deploy their personnel to expeditionary locations around the world. For example, the Air Force tasks its personnel to deploy based on a six-month rotational cycle. In the current tasking process, the deployment makes its way down from combatant commanders to squadron commanders through the chain of command. The commander then has a few days to select an individual from their unit to fill the tasking. The commander may consider an individuals’ dwell time, home-station position, and upcoming significant life events; however, because commanders have little time and information, minimum requirements selection criteria often become the driving …

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An Analysis Of Error Structure And Theoretical First Unit Cost In Learning Curve Theory Models, Alexander D. Pollack Mar 2021

An Analysis Of Error Structure And Theoretical First Unit Cost In Learning Curve Theory Models, Alexander D. Pollack

Theses and Dissertations

The dilemma with learning curves and actual costs is "fitting square pegs into round holes." Alternative regression techniques or further modifications to Y=aXb may address discrepancies in modeling observed data with learning curves. Adequate data permits further analysis of the constants, variables, and factors that make up a learning curve model. The analysis involves trying a nonlinear solver on the traditional learning curve models (i.e., Wright's cumulative average theory and Crawford's unit learning curve theory) and changing the theoretical first unit cost (T1) to the actual first unit cost (A1). Mergers and acquisitions in the aircraft industry may have …

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Optimizing Cost And Performance Of Infrastrucure Alternatives At Contingency Bases In A Hub-And-Spoke Network, Kyle J. Rodriguez Mar 2021

Optimizing Cost And Performance Of Infrastrucure Alternatives At Contingency Bases In A Hub-And-Spoke Network, Kyle J. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

Military contingency bases require substantial resources and funding sustain and are often not connected to an infrastructure grid. Infrastructure assets produce the required outputs for sustainment, but are often expensive and inefficient, producing a significant logistical burden. With the increasing near-peer threats of opposing military forces, there is a need for more self-sufficient contingency bases with alternatives that reduce resources usage and the cost of sustainment. Accordingly, the goal of this research is to develop an optimization model capable of selecting infrastructure alternative combinations that minimize the overall resource usage and cost of sustainment at the contingency base level.

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Assessing The Effectiveness Of Afwerx Ability To Influence Regional Participation Rates And Capture Cluster Specific Technological Innovations, Colin M. Sandor Mar 2021

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Afwerx Ability To Influence Regional Participation Rates And Capture Cluster Specific Technological Innovations, Colin M. Sandor

Theses and Dissertations

The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) emphasized capturing innovation through partnerships with non-traditional defense contractors. Furthermore, the NDS outlined the need to rapidly acquire new technologies to maintain a competitive advantage against our adversaries. The AFWERX program is the Air Forces attempt to accomplish these goals. AFWERX seeks to capture innovations occurring within the private sector of the United States by placing itself geographically within top innovation ecosystems. An approach that creates a setting where the Air Force is one of many investors, who benefit from the learning and investments across the entire network. The research within this paper examines …

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Training Subject Matter Experts To Make Better Estimates, Cameron R. Scott Mar 2021

Training Subject Matter Experts To Make Better Estimates, Cameron R. Scott

Theses and Dissertations

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Elicitation is commonly used as a cost-estimation method when no historical data exists. The elicitation process assumes Subject Matter Experts are the resident experts in their individual fields of study. In addition, the process assumes SMEs provide reasonably trustworthy cost estimates that follow the tenets of probability theory. This last assumption is the subject of this study. A Navy sponsored e-learning course was created to help train SMEs in understanding probability distributions (O'Hagan, 2019). We conducted a study hypothesizing that taking the e-learning course would improve study participant accuracy in estimating confidence intervals for probability distributions.

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A Survey Of The Strategic Alternate Sourcing Program Offices Management Of United States Air Force Diminishing Manufacturing Sources And Material Shortages Subject Matter Experts, David E. Portée Mar 2021

A Survey Of The Strategic Alternate Sourcing Program Offices Management Of United States Air Force Diminishing Manufacturing Sources And Material Shortages Subject Matter Experts, David E. Portée

Theses and Dissertations

The office designated by the Air Force to be DMSMS subject expert program office is known as the Strategic Alternate Sourcing Program Office (SASPO). Aided by the USAF Program Offices and DMSMS Subject Matter Experts, the SASPO is responsible for sourcing DMSMS resolutions as well as the organizing, training, and equipping of the Program Offices DMSMS Programs. Using quantitative research, this study conducts a survey, with the USAF Program Offices as the unit of analysis, to gain insight as to where the SASPO is doing well and where gaps exist in their program management. The analysis and conclusion identify where …

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The Impact Of Threat Levels At The Casualty Collection Point On Military Medical Evacuation System Performance, Nathaniel C. Dennie Mar 2021

The Impact Of Threat Levels At The Casualty Collection Point On Military Medical Evacuation System Performance, Nathaniel C. Dennie

Theses and Dissertations

One of the primary duties of the Military Health System is to provide effective and efficient medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) to injured battlefield personnel. To accomplish this, military medical planners seek to develop high-quality dispatching policies that dictate how deployed MEDEVAC assets are utilized throughout combat operations. This thesis seeks to determine dispatching policies that improve the performance of the MEDEVAC system. A discounted, infinite-horizon continuous-time Markov decision process (MDP) model is developed to examine the MEDEVAC dispatching problem. The model incorporates problem features that are not considered under the current dispatching policy (e.g., myopic policy), which tasks the closest-available MEDEVAC …

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Investigating Manufacturer Selection Decisions For Built Infrastructure Assets Using A Technical Performance Metric, Sarah L. Brown Mar 2021

Investigating Manufacturer Selection Decisions For Built Infrastructure Assets Using A Technical Performance Metric, Sarah L. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Facility and built infrastructure asset management are necessary functions of any organization that utilizes buildings to operate their businesses. However, most organizations require facility managers to ensure the successful operation of their assets without providing sufficient resources to accomplish this task. Therefore, in resource-scarce environments, facility managers require data-driven solutions to manage their assets and make the best decisions. Facility managers need novel solutions to help make asset life-cycle decisions. This research provides such a solution. Capitalizing on available data, a technical performance metric is created, allowing facility managers to calculate their assets' operational performance. This performance metric provides a …

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The Utility Of Modeling An Enterprise Architecture For Air Force Digital Transformation, Mark W. Kassan Mar 2021

The Utility Of Modeling An Enterprise Architecture For Air Force Digital Transformation, Mark W. Kassan

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Materiel Command is undergoing a digital transformation to increase the speed of delivering new warfighter capabilities. This Digital Campaign consists of six Lines of Effort (LOEs) formed with diverse goals to transform the enterprise. This research investigated using the Zachman Framework and Systems Modeling Language to analyze this transformation. Extensive modeling captured the as-is Preliminary Design Review (PDR) process, and mapped LOE goals as primary impacts to Zachman cells. This led to an identification of a to-be digital PDR process. Secondary affected cells were then traced following a relationship analysis. Four discoveries were made. (1) Enterprise modeling …

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An Analysis Of Stability In Software Resources Data Report (Srdr) Computer Software Configuration (Csci), Trevor J. Violette Mar 2021

An Analysis Of Stability In Software Resources Data Report (Srdr) Computer Software Configuration (Csci), Trevor J. Violette

Theses and Dissertations

This research studies cost and schedule stability in programs that utilize Software Resource Data Report (SRDR) reporting standards. We find software programs at the Computer Software Configuration Item (CSCI) level show much lower levels of stability than previously published DoD stability research that focused on aircraft. A comparison of software development methods found little to no difference between Agile and Plan Driven methodologies. Critical Success Factors (CSF) were identified from prior literature and used to examine CSCIs from the SRDR dataset. Focusing on schedule or cost resulted in different variables showing significance. A CSCI is more likely to remain on …

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Examining How Standby Assets Impact Optimal Dispatching Decisions Within A Military Medical Evacuation System Via A Markov Decision Process Model, Kylie Wooten Mar 2021

Examining How Standby Assets Impact Optimal Dispatching Decisions Within A Military Medical Evacuation System Via A Markov Decision Process Model, Kylie Wooten

Theses and Dissertations

The Army medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) system ensures proper medical treatment is readily available to wounded soldiers on the battlefield. The objective of this research is to determine which MEDEVAC unit to task to an incoming 9-line MEDEVAC request and where to station a single standby unit to maximize patient survivability. A discounted, infinite-horizon continuous-time Markov decision process model is formulated to examine this problem. We design, develop, and test an approximate dynamic programming (ADP) technique that leverages a least squares policy evaluation value function approximation scheme within an approximate policy iteration algorithmic framework to solve practical-sized problem instances. A computational …

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Contract Information Extraction Using Machine Learning, Zachary E. Butcher Mar 2021

Contract Information Extraction Using Machine Learning, Zachary E. Butcher

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Sustainment Center assisted by the Data Analytics Resource Team and the Defense Logistics Agency collected four million contracts onto one of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s high power computers. This thesis focuses on the effort to determine if parts are available through those contracts. Some information is extracted using machine learning in combination with natural language processing. Where machine learning methods are unsuccessful or inappropriate, text mining techniques, such as pattern recognition and rules, are used. Upon completion, the information is combined into a Gantt chart for quick evaluation. Only 21% of the contracts have their information …

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Defensive Counterair For Air Base Air Defense Using Directed Energy And Kinetic Energy Weapons, Andrew S. Wilson Mar 2021

Defensive Counterair For Air Base Air Defense Using Directed Energy And Kinetic Energy Weapons, Andrew S. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Air bases in key locations provide a strategic advantage to the countries that access them, and are at constant threat from adversaries. This research seeks to determine the optimal maneuvering of a fixed number of fighter aircraft in a combat air patrol for defensive counterair to maximally and effectively attrit the inbound cruise missile threat to a stationary high value asset such as an air base. The problem formulation identifies multiple objectives for the model: minimize the distance traveled for the fighters, minimize the time utilized to engage the incoming cruise missiles, and maximize the number of cruise missiles destroyed. …

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Guidance For Building Motivation In Space Operator Training, Foster E. Davis Mar 2021

Guidance For Building Motivation In Space Operator Training, Foster E. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Services provided by spacecraft, including communications and global positioning, are integral to small businesses, multinational corporations, and the United States Department of Defense. United States rivals recognize the need to undermine the military advantage provided by the space domain and are exploring ways to degrade these services in their warfare doctrine. In response, the United States will need space systems suited to counter these threats and personnel who are trained to respond to the new reality of a contested space environment. This paper also reviews the academic literature and written guidelines for developing motivation in an interactive environment for improving …

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Examining The Impact Of Logistics On Military Strength Among East Asian Nations Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Meaghan E. Crandell Mar 2021

Examining The Impact Of Logistics On Military Strength Among East Asian Nations Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Meaghan E. Crandell

Theses and Dissertations

The current narrative in logistics revolves around modernization and the rapid development and deployment of capabilities, which is a sentiment echoed across the Air Force and the DoD alike. However, the combination of intangible and tangible aspects of logistics can make it challenging to find a foundational place to start the process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate logistical factors to include land area, infrastructure, labor force, and GDP and their relationship to military power. This foundation will provide a baseline of areas for improvement and replication. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and linear regression were leveraged to analyze …

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Examining The Impact Of Logistics On Military Strength Among European Nations Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Hunter C. Kalin Mar 2021

Examining The Impact Of Logistics On Military Strength Among European Nations Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Hunter C. Kalin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if logistics and economic factors affect how a country achieves its military power. Countries have focused on material factors such as nuclear weapons or massive military presence for far too long. What has not been discussed is, do other factors play a role in achieving military power. This study applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and linear regression to a series of United States European Command (EUCOM) countries and the United States to understand how efficient each country was at achieving its military power. Additionally, the overall relationship between military power and each …

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Stochastic Programming Design For West Africa Logistics Networks, Julius C. Walker Mar 2021

Stochastic Programming Design For West Africa Logistics Networks, Julius C. Walker

Theses and Dissertations

The USAFRICOM is studying methods to increase the resiliency of its West African Logistic Network, a hub-and-spoke network design responsible for sustaining long term humanitarian and security missions in the West Africa region. This paper employs a two-stage stochastic programming network design modeled on the WALN that builds a flexible supply chain capable of responding to periodic disruptions while maintaining peak resiliency. Elements such as cost, probability, and event-based disruption are integrated into the model to mirror challenges the WALN faces. We demonstrate that incorporating resilient based response mechanism provide a 90% reduction in cost compared to meeting the logistical …

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A Simulation Modeling The Effects Of Maintenance Personnel On Aircraft Sortie Generation, Benjamin D. Huffman Mar 2021

A Simulation Modeling The Effects Of Maintenance Personnel On Aircraft Sortie Generation, Benjamin D. Huffman

Theses and Dissertations

Commanders and wargamers lack adequate tools to quickly determine the number of mission-capable (MC) aircraft and number of achievable sorties to support wargames and exercises. Even less understood is the impact of available maintenance personnel on sortie generation. The Expected-Number-of-In-Game-Mission-capable Aircraft (ENIGMA) simulation was recently developed to calculate the number of MC aircraft and number of sorties own accounting for the number and type of aircraft, scheduled sorties, mean-time-between-failure (MTBF), and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR). ENIGMA is extended by replacing the MTTR input with functions derived from actual numbers and types of maintenance personnel available. Functions in the form of response surface …

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Resupply Operations Of A Dispersed Infantry Brigade Combat Team Using Approximate Dynamic Programming, Camero K. Song Mar 2021

Resupply Operations Of A Dispersed Infantry Brigade Combat Team Using Approximate Dynamic Programming, Camero K. Song

Theses and Dissertations

Military sustainment planners must consider the effective employment of Cargo Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (CUAVs) into resupply operations under austere threat conditions. Viewed as an inventory routing problem, the complexities of resupplying dislocated Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) under dangerous and dynamic conditions warrant additional features to the baseline problem. This research models a military stochastic inventory routing problem with multiple routing (MIL SIRP- MR) as a Markov decision process (MDP) model and provides high-quality policy solutions using a combination of approximate dynamic programming and ordinal optimization techniques.

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Evaluating The Impact Of Culture On Customer Satisfaction For Fms Projects, Yaquari A. Adams Ii Mar 2021

Evaluating The Impact Of Culture On Customer Satisfaction For Fms Projects, Yaquari A. Adams Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The cost, time, and quality pillars of the iron triangle in project management are often considered the most important factors for managers to consider when striving to achieve project success. However, recent literature suggests customer satisfaction and end-user benefit are the most important elements to prioritize during project development. This research analyzes the Air Force Security Assistance Center Construction Division and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) joint construction operations in relation to two Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) knowledge areas, project stakeholder management and project risk management. Project stakeholder management is addressed by identifying the relationship between cultural competency and …

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Meta-Heuristic Optimization Methods For Quaternion-Valued Neural Networks, Jeremiah P. Bill Mar 2021

Meta-Heuristic Optimization Methods For Quaternion-Valued Neural Networks, Jeremiah P. Bill

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, real-valued neural networks have demonstrated promising, and often striking, results across a broad range of domains. This has driven a surge of applications utilizing high-dimensional datasets. While many techniques exist to alleviate issues of high-dimensionality, they all induce a cost in terms of network size or computational runtime. This work examines the use of quaternions, a form of hypercomplex numbers, in neural networks. The constructed networks demonstrate the ability of quaternions to encode high-dimensional data in an efficient neural network structure, showing that hypercomplex neural networks reduce the number of total trainable parameters compared to their real-valued …

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Deployment And Control Of Adaptive Building Facades For Energy Generation, Thermal Insulation, Ventilation And Daylighting: A Review, Hani Alkhatib, Philippe Lemarchand, Brian Norton, Dominic O'Sullivan Feb 2021

Deployment And Control Of Adaptive Building Facades For Energy Generation, Thermal Insulation, Ventilation And Daylighting: A Review, Hani Alkhatib, Philippe Lemarchand, Brian Norton, Dominic O'Sullivan

Articles

A major objective in the design and operation of buildings is to maintain occupant comfort without incurring significant energy use. Particularly in narrower-plan buildings, the thermophysical properties and behaviour of their façades are often an important determinant of internal conditions. Building facades have been, and are being, developed to adapt their heat and mass transfer characteristics to changes in weather conditions, number of occupants and occupant’s requirements and preferences. Both the wall and window elements of a facade can be engineered to (i) harness solar energy for photovoltaic electricity generation, heating, inducing ventilation and daylighting (ii) provide varying levels of …

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An Improved Firefly Algorithm And Its Application In Washout Optimization, Wang Hui, Xingshun Lü Feb 2021

An Improved Firefly Algorithm And Its Application In Washout Optimization, Wang Hui, Xingshun Lü

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To improve the accuracy of the firefly algorithm (FA) and solve the problem of fixed iteration step of the algorithm and easy to fall into local optimum, an improved firefly algorithm is proposed, i.e., EOFA. The EOFA algorithm combines the strong local search ability of extremal optimization algorithm with the strong search ability of firefly algorithm, and adopts the iterative step size of inverted s-type function to improve the optimization ability of the firefly algorithm. The simulation results of function optimization test shows that the improved EOFA algorithm has better optimization performance than firefly algorithm and particle swarm optimization …

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Spatio-Temporal Memory Models In Spatial Cognitive Behavioral Modeling, Hu Yue, Xu Kai, Qin Long, Quanjun Yin, Yabing Zha Feb 2021

Spatio-Temporal Memory Models In Spatial Cognitive Behavioral Modeling, Hu Yue, Xu Kai, Qin Long, Quanjun Yin, Yabing Zha

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: It is crucial for military simulation systems to model the layouts of spatial environments and the temporal logic of entity activities. To improve the human-likeness of Computer Generated Forces (CGFs) and the runtime efficiency of the systems, building spatio-temporal memory representations and reasoning mechanisms that accord to mankind cognition is required. The neuro cognition science background of spatio-temporal memory is presented, and the related work on modeling the memory in deep learning and computational intelligence communities is summarized. Following the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop, a general framework of spatial cognitive behavioral modeling is designed and the application of spatio-temporal memory …

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Research On Cgf-Oriented Virtual Human Perceptual Attention Model, Weilong Yang, Xu Kai, Xie Xu, Sun Lin Feb 2021

Research On Cgf-Oriented Virtual Human Perceptual Attention Model, Weilong Yang, Xu Kai, Xie Xu, Sun Lin

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Perception model is an important research field of CGF behavior modeling. As the input of the reasoning module, the information obtained from the perception model has an important influence on the fidelity of the simulation. The CGF perception model is researched, and the attention mechanism, effective time of attention model is analyzed, compared with the traditional model of perception. By modeling the knowledge base and information feedback, a virtual human perception framework based on attention mechanism is proposed, and the experiment is carried out in the simulation environment.

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Modeling Of Adversarial Behavior On Road Network Based On Non-Cooperative Game, Xiangyu Wei, Zhang Qi Feb 2021

Modeling Of Adversarial Behavior On Road Network Based On Non-Cooperative Game, Xiangyu Wei, Zhang Qi

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The modeling of adversarial behavior is the key to the study of various military-like confrontation problems. Existing research mainly focus on the target domain, but in reality, many confrontation problems occur on the road network. Combined with the network flow representation of adversarial behavior, a network adversarial game modeling framework based on non-cooperative games is proposed, and a novel road network confrontation problem—network evasion interdiction game is given based on the framework. Simulation experiments show that the new double oracle algorithm performs better than the original linear solution algorithm. Data experiments based on real road networks further verify …

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Preliminary Research On Verification And Validation For Cgf Behavioral Modeling, Jianbing Tang, Zhang Qi, Jiao Peng, Yabing Zha Feb 2021

Preliminary Research On Verification And Validation For Cgf Behavioral Modeling, Jianbing Tang, Zhang Qi, Jiao Peng, Yabing Zha

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Building computer generated force model is a very important job in combat simulation. Its core content is modeling of complicated human behavior, including cognition behavioral modeling and physical behavioral modeling. The credibility is vital for behavioral model. Verification and validation (V&V) in all life circle of behavioral modeling can insure the credibility of behavioral model. On the basis of explaining V&V of behavioral modeling and other conceptions, the process model of behavioral modeling is proposed. The V&V process of CGF behavioral modeling is studied emphasizly. Many effective V&V methods for CGF behavioral modeling are explored.

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Review On The Construction And Application Of Digital Twins In Transportation Scenes, Zhaohui Wu, Zhenzheng Liu, Shi Ke, Wang Liang, Xiaojie Liang Feb 2021

Review On The Construction And Application Of Digital Twins In Transportation Scenes, Zhaohui Wu, Zhenzheng Liu, Shi Ke, Wang Liang, Xiaojie Liang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Digital twins connect the physical world and the information world, and provide new ideas for the analysis and solution of complex traffic problems. The research and application status of digital twins in transportation scenes are reviewed on the basis of sorting out the basic concepts, development history and key technologies of digital twins. The key technologies for the construction of digital twins in transportation scenes that need to be breakthrough are analyzed from the four aspects of "people-vehicle-road-environment" combined with the characteristics of the elements of traffic operation. The prospect of digital twin transportation applications in the development of …

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