Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-223).

Automobility refers to the continued, self-perpetuating dominance of privately-owned, gasoline-powered vehicles used primarily by single occupants—a system which clearly has broad environmental and societal impacts. Despite increasing societal interest in transitions to more sustainable transportation technologies, there has been little consideration of how such innovations might challenge, maintain or support different aspects of automobility, and what that means for technology deployment, transport policy, and user practices. To bring attention to the complexity and apparent durability of the automobility system, in this paper we develop a conceptual framework that explores automobility through a categorization of frames, or shared cultural meanings. This framework moves beyond the typical focus on private, functional considerations of user choice, financial costs and time use to also consider symbolic and societal frames of automobility that exist among users, non-users, industry, policymakers and other relevant social groups. We illustrate this framework with eight particular frames of automobility that fall into four broad categories: private-functional frames such as (1) cocooning and fortressing and (2) mobile digital offices; private-symbolic frames such as (3) gender identity and (4) social status; societal-functional frames such as (5) environmental stewardship and (6) suburbanization; and societal-symbolic frames such as (7) self-sufficiency and (8) innovativeness. Finally, we start the process of discussing several transportation innovations in light of these automobility frames, namely electrified, autonomous and shared mobility—examining early evidence for which frames would be challenged or supported by such transitions. We believe that appreciation of the complex and varied frames of automobility can enrich discussion of transitions and policy relating to sustainable transportation.

To achieve the widespread diffusion of autonomous electric buses (AEBs) and thus harness their environmental potential, a broad acceptance of new technology-based mobility concepts must be fostered. Still, there remains little known about the factors determining their acceptance, especially in the combination of vehicles with alternative fuels and autonomous driving modes, as is the case with AEBs. In this study, we first conducted qualitative research to identify relevant factors influencing individual acceptance of autonomously driven electric buses. We then developed a comprehensive research model that was validated through a survey of 268 passengers of an AEB, operated in regular road traffic in Germany. The results indicate that a mix of individual factors, social impacts, and system characteristics determine an individual’s acceptance of AEBs. Notably, it is important that users perceive AEBs, not only as advantageous, but also trustworthy, enjoyable, and in a positive social light. Our research supplements the existing corpora by demonstrating the importance of individual acceptance and incorporating it to derive policy implications.

Orientador: Janito Vaqueiro Ferreira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T14:52:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HernandezBeleno_RubenDario_M.pdf: 6591392 bytes, checksum: fd4c66b4e3769739bb1a4283c418d2d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Com o avanço da tecnologia refletida nos sistemas eletrônicos e de computação, os métodos do controle de trajetória no sistema de navegação se tornaram importantes nas diversas aplicações de veículos autônomos, como na geração de mapas, desvio de obstáculos e tarefas de posicionamento. Além disso, o controle pode proporcionar um ganho significativo na confiabilidade, versatilidade e precisão das tarefas robóticas, questões cruciais na maioria das aplicações reais. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal apresentar a criação de um veículo autônomo em escala. Para tanto foi desenvolvido um sistema de função sensorial que provê informações sobre a posição e orientação do carro a partir de quatro sistemas sensoriais como GPS, acelerômetro, giroscópio e a bussola (IMU), para que o veículo autônomo possa realizar a rota corretamente, de forma eficiente e segura. Neste projeto foi desenvolvido um software que integra os sistemas de controle e de sensoriamento. Além disso, foi projetado um módulo que controla a posição e orientação do veículo. O robô antes de realizar a manobra calcula a distância mínima relacionada ao próximo ponto da coordenada planejada para trocar sua referência de trajetória satisfazendo a orientação do caminho e do veículo. Para fins de avaliação, foram realizados experimentos em ambientes reais onde o carro percorre um conjunto determinado de coordenadas geográficas sem nenhuma intervenção humana, apresentando resultados do seguimento de trajetórias proposto e validando os sistemas sensoriais, além do algoritmo de controle projetado / Abstract: As electronic and computational systems technology advances, the use of path control methods in navigation systems become very important for different autonomous vehicles applications such as generating maps, avoiding obstacles and carrying out positioning tasks. In addition, controls can help increase the reliability, versatility and precision level of programmed tasks, which is exceedingly significant regarding real applications. The first aim of this work is to present the creation of an autonomous scale vehicle. We have developed a sensor system that provides information about the vehicle's position and orientation through four sensor systems such as gps, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass so that it can effectively and safely cover the right route. This project developed a software, which integrates the control and sensors systems. In addition, a control module was projected for the positioning and orientation of the vehicle. Before the robot turns to any direction, it calculates the minimal distance to the next step of the programmed coordinate, in order to change its own referenced trajectory, satisfying the orientation of the trajectory and the vehicle. For the task validation were done experiments in real life scenarios, where the vehicle follows a determined group of geo-coordinates without any human intervention, presenting results of the purposed following trajectories, validating the sensors systems and the control algorithm / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

Deep decarbonisation of road transportation is challenging. One of the most potentially beneficial approaches is electrification which is the subject of this PhD thesis. A widespread penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) across a large proportion of road transport demand is needed to realise the benefits of an electrified transport sector. However, this is dependent on overcoming significant barriers. This study performs a systematic analysis of how proven power charging technologies could be used to unlock the barriers to widespread electrification of road transportation. Various road transport sectors and type of journeys are explored including aspects of autonomous operations and novel wireless power transfer technologies. For each operation, a framework is proposed that allows the exploitation of current and potential future electrification technologies to enable shifting towards EVs. Based on that, simulation tools and methods are developed to calculate the power requirements of EVs and determine a suitable charging infrastructure. The additional power demand, electric load and the implications for the electricity supply network are explored. The total expenditure needed and the CO2 emission savings are also calculated for each investigated operation. Transitional strategies include the electrification of bus routes, refuse collection functions, home deliveries and aspects of autonomous operations for public transportation within the boundaries of the cities. In the long-term, focus is given on passenger cars and freight vehicles for both urban and inter-urban journeys. A nationwide adoption of all electrification strategies proposed in this thesis would increase the peak power demand of Great Britain by approximately 38 GW (72% of the current peak) and the electricity consumption by 180 TWh per year (45% of current consumption). The total capital cost required is calculated at £225 billion which is similar to the cost of other large infrastructure projects of the country. The impact would be a significant aggregate saving of approximately 2,000 MtCO2 between the numbers calculated for today's norms (2018) and those calculated for 2050.