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Volpe Center Highlights - November/December 2003
Published & Presented
Director's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment
Security |
Organizational Excellence |
Awards |
Published and Presented
Dr. Judith Bürki-Cohen, Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, and Dr. Tiauw Go, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivered a paper, "The Effects of Enhanced Hexapod Motion on Airline Pilot Recurrent Training and Evaluation," at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference in Austin, Texas, on August 13, 2003. The paper was authored by Dr. Bürki-Cohen, Dr. Go, Dr. Jeffery A. Schroeder of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Thomas Longridge of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Mr. Sean Jacobs of the Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, Mr. William W. Chung of SAIC, and Mr. Ghislain Saillant of Northrop Grumman. The paper describes how Volpe and NASA reengineered the FAA/NASA Boeing 747-400 simulator to improve on the motion cues typically provided by training simulators to test the effect of enhanced motion on recurrent training and evaluation of airline pilots. In contrast to an earlier study using "as-is" motion, enhanced platform motion was found to make a difference in recurrent evaluation, but was still not found to benefit recurrent training. Results of this study and the previous hexapod motion research should assist the FAA in determining future research directions in its effort to develop motion requirements for today's airline evaluation and training needs.
In September 2003, the Volpe Center published a final report for the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting (CCCEF) entitled "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Through State and Local Transportation Planning." The CCCEF, formed in May 1999 by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), addresses issues associated with climate change and variability. The report, written by Mr. William Lyons of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division, with co-authors Ms. Kimberly Noerager, formerly of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division, and Mr. Scott Peterson, formerly of on-site contractor EG&G Technical Services, evaluates how states and local areas might contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction through transportation planning. The report uses seven case studies, focusing research on the broad transportation planning process, strategies and other actions selected, and GHG emissions reductions accomplished or projected. The report can be found at http://climate.volpe.dot.gov/papers.html. A Volpe team consisting of Mr. Michael Dyer and Mr. Mario Caputo of the Technology Applications and Deployment Division, Dr. Alan Rao of the Railroad Systems Division, and Mr. Paul Zebe of the Environmental Engineering Division have been supporting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in its efforts to better manage its resources on the inland navigable rivers. The team recently completed the final draft report "Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway: Non-Structural Measures Cost-Benefit Study," which complements the USACE's efforts to investigate and enhance the efficiency of the waterways by assessing proposed scheduling and fee collection regimes as alternatives to capital construction projects. On September 10, 2003, Mr. Dyer presented the study's results in Washington, D.C., at a meeting of the Federal Principals Group, comprised of representatives of the USACE and several partner agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Maritime Administration. On September 12, Mr. Dyer delivered the report to the USACE for presentation to the National Research Council and public review as a component of the USACE Feasibility Study for Navigational Improvements in the Waterway.
Trespassers on a rail bridge in Pittsford, New York. Volpe is developing and testing a video-based trespass monitoring and detection system. |
A Volpe team presented a paper and a poster session at the 6th World Congress on Railway Research in Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 29 and 30, 2003. The World Congress promotes international sharing and cooperation in the fields of railway innovation and research covering operational, environmental, and safety management, as well as more traditional engineering issues. This year's conference, which brought together more than 800 delegates from 33 countries, emphasized the need to revitalize busy existing conventional railways, as well as build new ones, to improve railway systems of the future.
Mr. James Lamond, Railroad Systems Division, presented "The Aerodynamic Effects of High-Speed Trains on Surroundings, Train Operations, and People," co-written by Mr. Harvey Lee, Structures and Dynamics Division, and Mr. Tom Tsai, Federal Railroad Administration. The paper assessed the potential safety issues associated with the aerodynamic forces created by high-speed trains as they pass people standing on platforms and lightweight empty container cars operating on adjacent tracks. Ms. Anya A. Carroll, Railroad Systems Division, presented a poster session, "Railroad Infrastructure Security Systems," which presented work performed by Ms. Carroll, Mr. Marco daSilva of the Accident Prevention Division, and Mr. William Baron of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division that assessed the potential implementation issues associated with an automated prototype trespass monitoring and deterrent system currently being tested on a rail bridge in Pittsford, New York.
In October, the final report on the District of Columbia Tour Bus Management Initiative was delivered to the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the National Capital Planning Commission, and partner agencies. The Volpe study addressed tour bus problems such as congestion, parking shortages, accidents, air pollution, and neighborhood intrusion. Potential solutions were identified and analyzed, leading to the recommendation of actions and an implementation strategy that can form the basis of a tour bus management plan. Ms. Melissa Laube of the Service and Operations Assessment Division led the study team, which consisted of Mr. David Spiller and Ms. Sara Secunda, also of the Division, and Ms. Esther Lee of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division. In support of the Volpe Center's various marine security projects, Mr. Robert Hoaglund of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division authored "Practice Makes Perfect?" an article featured in the October inaugural issue of Cargo Security International Magazine. The article highlights the upcoming publication of International Cargo Industry Best Security Practices, an analysis of foreign port security survey data collected by Mr. Hoaglund and Mr. Charles McCarthy, also of the Division, between 2001 and 2003. In developing this report, Volpe staff traveled to more than a dozen megaports worldwide in support of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, learning about procedures and techniques that can be applied to reduce the threat of cargo theft and terrorism. This report follows the Division's Intermodal Cargo Transportation: Industry Best Security Practices, published by the Center in 1999. It also complements the U.S. Coast Guard's Port Security Assessment Program, which is supported by staff members from Volpe's Technology Applications and Deployment Division and Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division. October 14 and 15, 2003, Mr. Chris Daskalakis of the Surveillance and Assessment Division participated in the Digital Avionics System Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Daskalakis chaired the session "Future CNS Applications and Architecture" which addressed communication, navigation, and surveillance in the National Airspace System. He also presented the paper "A Technical Evaluation of Multilateration and ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico." The paper assessed technologies for offshore helicopter and high-altitude commercial aircraft applications and presented results from flight tests performed in the Gulf of Mexico over the past 13 months in support of NASA and the FAA.
Dr. Rao discussed the Volpe-developed model RISK2, which answers questions such as "How safe is safe?" and "How many trains can safely run through this territory?" |
Dr. Alan Rao of the Railroad Systems Division attended the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science Conference October 20 to 22, 2003, in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to chairing a Transportation Session, he presented "Safety Standards for Computer/Processor-based Signal and Train Control Systems," discussing the Volpe Center's recent work on Base Case Risk Assessment (a performance-based model named RISK2) for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The presentation, co-authored by Mr. Frank Roskind of the FRA, detailed RISK2 and how it applies both linear and non-linear methods to analyze failure rates and accident consequences in different railroad territories. The model studies the per-train-mile risk for future railroad development. On October 29 and 30, 2003, Mr. Seamus McGovern of the Airport Surface Division participated in the 2003 International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) International Symposium on Photonics Technologies for Robotics, Automation, and Manufacturing held in Providence, Rhode Island. This event attracts experts from industry, academia, and government to exchange information on emerging technologies and address the increasing synergy between traditional component technology areas of robotics sensors, controls, computing, and platform mechanization design. Mr. McGovern served as Chair for the Green Manufacturing Session, which addressed innovative practices in environmental management and manufacturing technology. He also presented two peer-reviewed technical papers for publication in the Symposium Proceedings: "2-Opt Heuristic for the Disassembly Line Balancing Problem" and "Use of Data Envelopment Analysis for Product Recovery." Dr. Michelle Yeh of the Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division co-authored the paper "Head-Up vs. Head-Down: The Costs of Imprecision, Unreliability, and Visual Clutter on Cue Effectiveness for Display Signaling," published in the fall issue of Human Factors, the Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Volume 45, Number 3). The paper describes research conducted while Dr. Yeh was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that bears on a number of new and ongoing Volpe projects related to cockpit displays and driver collision warning systems. The other contributors were Major James L. Merlo, U.S. Army; Dr. Christopher D. Wickens, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Mr. David Brandenburg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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