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Traffic congestion is a constantly growing problem, with a wide array ofnegative effects on the society, from wasted time and productivity to elevated air pollution and increased number of accidents. Classical traffic control methods have long been successfully employed to alleviate congestion, improving the traffic situation of many cities and highways. However, traffic control is not universally employed, because of the necessity of installing additional equipment and instating new legislation.  The introduction of connected, autonomous vehicles offers new opportunities for sensing and controlling the traffic. The data that most of the vehicles nowadays provide are already widely used to measure the traffic conditions. It is natural to consider how vehicles could also be used as actuators, driving them in a specific way so that they affect the traffic positively. However, many of the currently considered strategies for congestion reduction using autonomous vehicles rely on having a high penetration rate, which is not likely to be the case in the near future. This raises the question: How can we influence the overall traffic by using only a small portion of vehicles that we have direct control over? There are two problems in particular that this thesis considers, congestion wave dissipation and avoidance, and platoon catch-up coordination. First, we study how to dissipate congestion waves by use of a directly controlled vehicle acting as a moving bottleneck. Traffic data can help predict disturbances and constraints that the vehicle will face, and the individual vehicles can be actuated to improve the overall traffic situation. We extend the classical cell transmission model to include the influence of a moving bottleneck, and then use this model to devise a control strategy for an actuator vehicle. By employing such control, we are able to homogenize the traffic without significantly reducing throughput. Under realistic conditions, it is shown that the average total variation of traffic density can be reduced over 5%, while the total travel time increases only 1%. Second, we study how to predict and control vehicles catching up in order to form a platoon, while driving in highway traffic. The influences of road grade and background traffic are examined and vehicles attempting to form a platoon are modelled as moving bottlenecks. Using this model, we are able to predict how much the vehicles might be delayed because of congestion and adjust the plan accordingly, calculating the optimal platoon catch-up speeds for the vehicles by minimizing their energy consumption. This leads to a reduction of energy cost of up to 0.5% compared to the case when we ignore the traffic conditions. More importantly, we are able to predict when attemptingto form a platoon will result in no energy savings, with approximately 80% accuracy. / Trafikstockning är ett ständigt växande problem, med ett brett utbud av negativa effekter på samhället, från bortkastad tid och produktivitet till ökade mängd luftföroreningar och antal olyckor. Klassiska metoder för trafik kontroll har länge använts framgångsrikt för att lindra detta problem, med förbättrad trafiksituation för många städer och motorvägar. Trafik kontrollen är emellertid inte universellt tillämpad eftersom den är beroende av ytterligare utrustning och ny lagstiftning som behover instaleras och införas. Införandet av uppkopplade, autonoma fordon medför nya möjligheter att mäta och kontrollera trafiken. Data som de flesta fordon tillhandahållar redan idag används allmänt för att mäta trafikförhållandena. Det är naturligt att överväga hur fordon också skulle kunna användas som ställdon, genom att driva dem på ett visst sätt så att de påverkar trafiken positivt. Men många av dagens strategierna för trängselnedsättning med hjälp av autonoma fordon är beroende av att de tillämpas av en stor del av fordonen, vilket sannoliktinte kommer att bli fallet inom en snar framtid. Det väcker frågan: Hur kan vi påverka den totala trafiksituationen genom att kontrollera en liten del avfordonen? Det finns två problem specifika problem som den här avhandlingentar hänsyn till, trängselvågsavledning och –undvikande samt koordinering av fordonståg av lastbilar. I det första problemet studerar vi hur vi kan skingra trängselvågor med hjälp av ett direktstyrt fordon som fungerar som en rörlig flaskhals. Trafikdatakan hjälpa till att förutsäga störningar och begränsningar som fordonet kommer att stöta på, och de enskilda fordonen kan styras för att förbättra den totala trafiksituation. Vi utvidgar den klassiska cellöverföringsmodellenför att inkludera påverkan av en rörlig flaskhals och använder sedan denna modell för att utforma en kontrollstrategi för ett styrbart fordon. Genom att använda sådan styrning kan vi homogenisera trafiken utan att avsevärt minska genomströmningen. Under realistiska förhållanden visar vi att den genomsnittliga totala variationen i trafiktäthet kan minskas med över 5%, medan den totala körtiden ökar med endast 1%. I det andra problemet studerar vi hur vi kan förutsäga och styra fordonens hastighetsprofiler vid formering av fordonståg under körning i motorvägstrafik. Påverkan av väglutning och motorvägstrafik undersöks, och fordon som försöker bilda en fordonståg modelleras som rörliga flaskhalsar. Med denna modell kan vi förutsäga förseningar på grund av trängsel och justera planen i enlighet med dessa, samt beräkna de optimala hastigheterna för fordonengenom att minimera energiförbrukningen. Detta leder till en minskning av energikostnaden på upp till 0,5% i jämförelse med fallet när vi ignorerar trafikförhållandena. Ännu viktigare är att vi kan vi förutsäga när försök att bildaett fordonståg kommer att resultera i utebliven energibesparing, med ungefär 80% noggrannhet. / <p>QC 20181212</p><p>The research leading to these results has received fundingfrom the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 674875, VINNOVA within the FFI program under contract 2014-06200, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The author is affiliated with the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP).</p>

The background for this thesis work emanates from a desire to drive the production of the VBG Truck Equipment factory in Vänersborg a step further to catch up with the Industry 4.0 standards. Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is a widely adopted tool within industries to model real-world systems to improve their processes. The concern of bottlenecks is a vital problem in optimizing and improving the efficiency of production processes. Finding and investigating bottlenecks is one of the primary considerations of all manufacturing industries.The company aims to enhance its logistics by using automation in its processes. This work focusses on the Paint shop part of the VBG factory. Thus, the VBG would like to analyse the methods to reduce the bottlenecks and the waiting time in the Paint shop production process. There were no simulation models available to analyse the existing paint shop pro duction flow; therefore, a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model of the VBG Paint shop was built to investigate the bottlenecks and improvement methods. In this thesis work, the DES model of the existing Paint shop that uses the Last in First Out (LIFO) method was investigated to find the throughput and lead time for the products. In comparison, a First in First Out (FIFO) method was used to get a balanced production flow, and its effects were studied. The company currently uses two shifts in their Paint shop, so the alternate arrangement of shifts using the same number of operators was analysed. The analysis of three shifts with the same number of operators gave more efficiency than the existing one, and three shifts with an increasing number of operators were also compared. The shift arrangements were compared with both the LIFO and FIFO methods, and FIFO provided more throughput and balanced production flow. The main bottleneck was identified in the forklift transport waiting time, so an alternate layout using a power and free conveyor system was developed. This alternate arrangement reduced the bottlenecks and produced an increased output. The alternate layout was also compared with LIFO and FIFO methods; FIFO was the most efficient one. The shift patterns were also analysed, and the three shifts with a 50 percent increase in staff can reduce the stock build-up during the start of the first shift. As of this study, it was identified that the alternate model with FIFO is the most suitable solution for the company, and in the coming years, they intend to implement that. From the experimental results obtained, DES can be chosen as a method to analyse the problems associated with limiting the capacity of production. The DES modelling can be extended to the other processes in the factory and can be used for improving logistics and inventory management. The company production flow can be further advanced by evaluating the changes that can be implemented in the factory with real-time data.

The changing topology of a network is driven by the need to maintain or optimize network function. As this function is often related to moving quantities such as traffic, information, etc., efficiently through the network, the structure of the network and the dynamics on the network directly depend on the other. To model this interplay of network structure and dynamics we use the dynamics on the network, or the dynamical processes the network models, to influence the dynamics of the network structure, i.e., to determine where and when to modify the network structure. We model the dynamics on the network using Jackson network dynamics and the dynamics of the network structure using minimal specialization, a variant of the more general network growth model known as specialization. The resulting model, which we refer to as the integrated specialization model, coevolves both the structure and the dynamics of the network. We show this model produces networks with real-world properties, such as right-skewed degree distributions, sparsity, the small-world property, and non-trivial equitable partitions. Additionally, when compared to other growth models, the integrated specialization model creates networks with small diameter, minimizing distances across the network. Along with producing these structural features, this model also sequentially removes the network's largest bottlenecks. The result are networks that have both dynamic and structural features that allow quantities to more efficiently move through the network.

El presente trabajo de investigación ha sido desarrollado en la empresa de Corporación Arellano Perú SAC la cual se dedica a la fabricación y distribución de pegamento para mayólica gris, dentro de su proceso tienen cuellos de botella de 2 y 5 min en las áreas de pesado y mezclado. Lo que no les permite satisfacer con la demanda establecida y a su vez generando pérdidas económicas a la empresa. Por ello se planteó como objetivo general simular el proceso de producción del pegamento gris de para aumentar la productividad, iniciando con un diagnóstico de la situación actual en que se encuentra el área de producción de la empresa Corporación Arellano Perú SAC, donde se propuso mejoras del proceso actual de producción a través del software ProModel y finalmente, se evaluó la productividad del antes y después de los cambios propuestos. La metodología de la presente investigación es de tipo aplicada, es decir, analiza cada etapa del proceso, tomando nota los tiempos de llegada de la materia prima hasta la finalización del producto. La simulación arrojo como resultado que aumento a 10 la cantidad de bolsas producidas por minuto, con una producción total de 82,73 bolsas gris al día y una reducción en los tiempos de 15,52% / The present research work has been developed in the company of Corporación Arellano Perú SAC which is dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of glue for gray majolica, within its process they have bottlenecks of 2 and 5 min in the areas of weighing and mixed. What does not allow them to meet the established demand and in turn generating economic losses to the company. For this reason, the general objective was to simulate the production process of gray glue to increase productivity, starting with a diagnosis of the current situation in which the production area of the company Corporación Arellano Perú SAC is found, where improvements to the process were proposed. current production process through the ProModel software and finally, the productivity of before and after the proposed changes was evaluated. The methodology of the present investigation is of an applied type, that is, it analyzes each stage of the process, taking note of the arrival times of the raw material until the end of the product. The simulation showed as a result that the number of bags produced per minute increased to 10, with a total production of 82.73 gray bags per day and a reduction in times of 15.52%.

Yes / Where do the bottlenecks for information and attention lie when our visual system processes incoming stimuli? The human visual system encodes the incoming stimulus and transfers its contents into three major memory systems with increasing time scales, viz., sensory (or iconic) memory, visual short-term memory (VSTM), and long-term memory (LTM). It is commonly believed that the major bottleneck of information processing resides in VSTM. In contrast to this view, we show major bottlenecks for motion processing prior to VSTM. In the first experiment, we examined bottlenecks at the stimulus encoding stage through a partial-report technique by delivering the cue immediately at the end of the stimulus presentation. In the second experiment, we varied the cue delay to investigate sensory memory and VSTM. Performance decayed exponentially as a function of cue delay and we used the time-constant of the exponential-decay to demarcate sensory memory from VSTM. We then decomposed performance in terms of quality and quantity measures to analyze bottlenecks along these dimensions. In terms of the quality of information, two thirds to three quarters of the motion-processing bottleneck occurs in stimulus encoding rather than memory stages. In terms of the quantity of information, the motion-processing bottleneck is distributed, with the stimulus-encoding stage accounting for one third of the bottleneck. The bottleneck for the stimulus-encoding stage is dominated by the selection compared to the filtering function of attention. We also found that the filtering function of attention is operating mainly at the sensory memory stage in a specific manner, i.e., influencing only quantity and sparing quality. These results provide a novel and more complete understanding of information processing and storage bottlenecks for motion processing. / Supported by R01 EY018165 and P30 EY007551 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In dieser Arbeit wird eine Methode vorgestellt, die erstmalig die durch Staus verursachten Verzögerungszeiten auf Bundesautobahnen mithilfe von Annahmen aus der Verkehrsflussdynamik zu schätzen versucht. Dies geschieht anhand einer GPS-gestützten Vollerhebung aller Staus aus den Jahren 2015 und teils auch 2016, welche vom Navigationsdienstleister TomTom zur Verfügung gestellt wurden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass für das Jahr 2015 rund 190 Mio. Fahrzeug-Stunden (Anzahl betroffener Fahrzeuge × Staustunden) anfielen, was für die betroffenen Autofahrer einen monetären Wert von ca. vier Milliarden Euro ausmachte. Es wurden zudem Engpässe anhand eines Rankings erstellt, womit dauerhafte Schwerpunkte auf Autobahnen aufgedeckt wurden. Unter einer konkret definierten räumlichen, zeitlichen und sachlichen Abgrenzungen kann diese Methodik sowohl für die Forschung als auch für die Weiterentwicklung von Navigationsdiensten dienen. / The estimation of time losses caused by traffic congestions have not previously been assessed by using assumptions of traffic flow dynamics. With a GPS-supported full survey of all jams from the year 2015 and parts of 2016 this master thesis tries to quantify the additional (congested) travel time on German Motorways. The analysis has shown that all jams reported on German highways produced time losses over 190 million vehicle-hours (amount of involved vehicles × congestion hours), which equals a monetary value of four billion euros for the involved drivers. Furthermore the ranking of the respective bottlenecks has been developed over the year and main congestion hotspots on motorways have been revealed. By using a precisely defined local, temporal and objective delimitation, this method could be used for further research and developments of navigation services as well.

Production optimization is a recurring phenomenon, already in industrialism, production was optimized by streamlining the material flow. In 1979 Toyota came with Lean principles and that production should be optimized by streamlining the flow. The study has been carried out at Barlingbo Brewery where the production process was observed and analyzed. Forecast was made for a deeper understanding of customer demand. Then the system's assets and limitations were analyzed for purposes of identifying bottlenecks. Finally, a cyclical production plan was produced that streamlined the planning, which in turn streamlined production. / Produktionsoptimering är ett återkommande fenomen, redan vid industrialismen optimerades produktion genom att effektivisera materialflödet. 1979 kom Toyota med Leans principer där det bland annat påtalades attproduktionerborde optimeras genom att effektivisera flödet. Studienhar genomförts hos Barlingbo Bryggeri där produktionsprocessen observeradesoch analyserades. Prognos framställdes för djupare förståelse avkundernasefterfrågan, och sedan analyserades systemets tillgångar och begränsningar i syfte att identifiera flaskhalsar. Slutligen framställdes en cyklisk produktionsplan som effektiviserarplaneringen ochi sin tur effektiviserar produktionen.

<p>Alternative stable states have been, based on theoretical findings, predicted to be common in ecological systems. Empirical data from a number of laboratory and natural studies strongly suggest that alternative stable states also occur in real populations, communities and ecosystems. Potential mechanisms involve population size-structure and food-dependent individual development. These features can lead to ontogenetic niche shifts, juvenile recruitment bottlenecks and emergent Allee effects; phenomena that establish destabilising positive feedbacks in a system and hence create alternative stable states.</p><p>I studied the consequences of population size-structure for community dynamics at different scales of system complexity. I performed laboratory and ecosystem experiments. Small poecilliid fishes and planktonic invertebrates with short generation times and life spans were used as model organisms. This allowed me to assess the long-term dynamics of the populations and communities investigated.</p><p>The main experimental results are: (a) An ontogenetic niche shift in individuals of the phantom midge <i>Chaoborus</i> made the population vulnerable to an indirect competitive recruitment bottleneck imposed by cladoceran mesozooplankton via rotifers. Consequentially the natural zooplankton food web exhibited two alternative attractors. (b) Body size determined the success of <i>Poecilia reticulata</i> invading resident population of <i>Heterandria formosa</i> and thus the type of alternative stable state that established. Small invaders were outcompeted by the residents, whereas large invaders excluded their competitor by predating on its recruits. (c) External juvenile and adult mortality altered the internal feedback structure that regulates a laboratory population of <i>H. formosa</i> in such a way that juvenile biomass increased with mortality. This biomass overcompensation in a prey population can establish alternative stable states with top-predators being either absent or present.</p><p>The major conclusion is that size-structure and individual growth can indeed lead to alternative stable states. The considerations of these ubiquitous features of populations offer hence new insights and deeper understanding of community dynamics. Alternative stable states can have tremendous consequences for human societies that utilise the ecological services provided by an ecological system. Understanding the effects of size-structure on alternative stability is thus crucial for sustainable exploitation or production of food resources.</p>

<p>This thesis relates modern speciation theory to the effects of sudden changes in the range and size of populations. Special reference is made to the climatic oscillations during the Quaternary ice ages. A meta-analysis of laboratory experiments showed that support for allopatric speciation is weak, especially for the peripatric type of allopatric speciation. Furthermore, factors traditionally believed to increase the likelihood of speciation have had little effect on the generation of reproductive isolation in speciation experiments. However, the method of testing reproductive isolation appeared important, in the sense that experimentally derived sister populations were likely to demonstrate reproductive isolation from each other but not from the unaffected mother population. Raw data from mating tests showed that the poor isolation between mother and daughter populations was an effect of asymmetric mate preferences towards males from the mother population. This suggests that peripatric speciation can be effective in generating reproductive isolation between sister populations. The proposed mechanism is that males become less attractive to females by losing certain secondary sexual traits during population bottlenecks, and that females shift their preferences towards other male traits. Support for this mode of speciation is found in the widespread bird genus <i>Motacilla</i> (wagtails). This genus is characterised by extensive plumage variation and contains a large number of widely distributed taxa in the northern parts of its distribution. This thesis shows that taxonomic diversity of wagtails is inversely related to complexity in song and to diversity in molecular and mitochondrial markers. The northern taxa seem to be descendants of southern populations, which were subjected to bottlenecks during expansions into re-opened habitats after the last ice age. The bottlenecks would not only reduce genetic diversity but also inhibit cultural transmission of song to the leading edge of colonisers, allowing sexual selection on other traits, such as plumage. Rapid plumage differentiation among wagtail taxa appears to be a recurrent process and has lead to convergent evolution, making the currently recognised species <i>Motacilla flava</i> (Yellow Wagtail) polyphyletic.</p>