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Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / John W. Keller / In the 2009-2010 academic year at the Kansas City Design Center, four students undertook a design project seeking to transform an underutilized traffic median into a usable urban public space. The space, known as “Triangle Park,” is located at Avenida Cesar E. Chavez (West 23rd Street), West Pennsylvania Avenue, and Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. This report describes the existing site conditions and challenges to creating an inviting public space. The report explains how the students arrived at the finalized design using precedent studies, multiple design iterations, and community input from the Westside and Crossroads neighborhood stakeholders. The finalized design focuses on providing connectivity between people, the site, and the city as a whole. Opportunities for connection are offered by improved pedestrian circulation and a comfortable, well-defined outdoor space. Three major structural interventions are proposed: an illuminated overhead canopy beneath the Interstate-35 overpass provides shelter for pedestrians; a raised walking path enhances an already prominent pedestrian route; and a wooden deck provides opportunities for sitting and lingering. The ability of the design to meet the community’s stated needs and to serve as a social public space is evaluated to determine the likelihood of positive and worthwhile project outcomes.

In dieser Arbeit wird das Verhalten der Fahrer vor, während und nach dem Spurwechsel anhand eines Datensatzes untersucht. Dieser wurde im Jahr 2006 in den USA erhoben und enthält die genauen Trajektoriendaten für jedes Fahrzeug. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass schnellere Fahrzeuge ihren Spurwechsel auch schneller abschließen. Es ist auch erkennbar, dass bei einem Wechsel nach rechts kein kleinerer Abstand zum Vorderfahrzeug in Kauf genommen wird. Eine Untersuchung der freiwilligen und notwendigen Wechsel konnte keine signifikanten Unterschiede feststellen. Im zweiten Teil der Auswertung wurden die Spurwechselentscheidungen mittels eines generellen Modells und MOBIL untersucht. Die einzusetzenden Werte wurden mit den Fahrzeugfolgemodellen OVM, Gipps-Modell und IDM erzeugt. Die Entscheidungen der Spurwechselmodelle fielen nur selten so aus, wie sie in der Realität getroffen wurden. Damit werden die Modelle ihrem eigenen Anspruch nicht gerecht, die Realität möglichst gut nachzubilden. / The topic of this master thesis is the investigation of the behaviour of the drivers before, during and after lane changes on highways. For this purpose a data set of the I-80 in the USA was used. It was collected in 2006 and contains the trajectories of all vehicles. It could be shown that faster cars even do a faster lane change. The drivers also do not accept a smaller gap to the preceding car after a lane change to the right. A comparison of voluntary and necessary lane changes did not show significant differences. In the second part of the analysis the lane change decision was examined using a general model and MOBIL. The data to be inserted were generated using the car-following models OVM, Gipps-model and IDM. But the outcomes of the lane change models only rarely matched reality. Therefore, the models did not fulfill their own standards to picture the existing reality.

Fuel cost represents a significant operating expense for owners and fleet managers of hydraulic off-highway vehicles. Further, the upcoming Tier IV compliance for off-highway applications will create further expense for after-treatment and cooling. Solutions that help address these factors motivate fleet operators to consider and pursue more fuelefficient hydraulic energy recovery systems. Electrical hybridization schemes are typically complex, expensive, and often do not satisfy customer payback expectations. This paper presents a hydraulic energy recovery architecture to realize energy recovery and utilization through a hydraulic hydro-mechanical transformer. The proposed system can significantly reduce hydraulic metering losses and recover energy from multiple services. The transformer enables recovered energy to be stored in a high-pressure accumulator, maximizing energy density. It can also provide system power management, potentially allowing for engine downsizing. A hydraulic test stand is used in the development of the transformer system. The test stand is easily adaptable to simulate transformer operations on an excavator by enabling selected mode valves. The transformer’s basic operations include shaft speed control, pressure transformation control, and output flow control. This paper presents the test results of the transformer’s basic operations on the test stand, which will enable a transformer’s full function on an excavator.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: With the increased focus on the use of innovative and state-of-the-art technology in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), the need for more accurate and more detailed road traffic flow data has become apparent. Data obtained from vehicle detector loops, which merely act as vehicle presence sensors, is neither reliable nor accurate enough anymore. This type of sensor poses the problem that it has to be inserted into the road surface; temporarily obstructing traffic flows, and has to be replaced after pavement reconstruction. One of the solutions to this problem is to develop a traffic surveillance system that uses video image processing. In cities where Intelligent Transport Systems are used extensively, roadways are monitored through Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) that are closely watched by traffic control centre personnel. These cameras are mounted on posts on the roadside. These cameras can serve a dual purpose, being used for both human monitoring and as inputs to Video Image Processing Systems. In this study some of the digital image processing techniques that could be used in a traffic surveillance system were investigated. This report leads the reader through the various steps in the processing of a scene by a traffic surveillance system based on feature tracking, and discusses the pitfalls and problems that are experienced. The tracker was tested using three image sequences and the results are presented in the final chapter of this report. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Met die toenemende fokus op die gebruik van innoverende oplossings en gevorderde tegnologie in Intelligente Vervoerstelsels, het die noodsaaklikheid van akkurater en meer gedetailleerde padverkeer vloeidata duidelik geword. Data wat verkry word d.m.v. voertuig deteksie lusse, wat alleenlik voertuig teenwoordigheid/afwesigheid meet, is nie meer akkuraat of betroubaar genoeg nie. Hierdie tipe sensors het egter die nadeel dat dit in die plaveisel ingesny moet word, dus vloei tydelik kan belemmer, en moet vervang word elke keer as plaveisel rekonstruksie gedoen word. Een van die oplossings vir hierdie probleem is om 'n verkeers waarnemingstelsel te ontwikkel wat van videobeeldverwerking gebruik maak. In stede waar van uitgebreide intelligente verkeerstelsels gebruik gemaak word, word paaie gemonitor d.m.v. geslote baan televisiekameras wat op pale langs die paaie aangebring is. Personeellede van die verkeers beheer sentrum hou dan die inkomende televisiebeelde dop. Hierdie kameras kan 'n dubelle rol vervul deurdat dit vir beide menslike waarneming en as invoer in 'n video-beeldverwerking stelsel gebruik kan word. In hierdie studie was verskeie digitale beeldverwerking tegnieke wat gebruik kan word in 'n verkeers waarnemingstelsel ondersoek. Hierdie verslag lei die leser deur die verskeie stappe in die verwerking van 'n toneel deur 'n verkeers waarneming stelsel wat gebaseer is op die volg van kenmerke. Die verslag beskryf ook die slaggate en probleme wat ondervind word. Die voertuig volger was getoets deur van drie reekse beelde gebruik te maak en die resultate word weergegee in die finale hoodfstuk van hierdie verslag.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Permeable friction course (PFC) is a porous asphalt pavement placed on top of a regular impermeable roadway. Under small rainfall intensities, drainage is contained within the PFC layer; but, under higher rainfall intensities drainage occurs both within and on top of the porous pavement. This dissertation develops a computer model—the permeable friction course drainage code (PERFCODE)—to study this two-dimensional unsteady drainage process. Given a hyetograph, geometric information, and hydraulic properties, the model predicts the variation of water depth within and on top of the PFC layer through time. The porous layer is treated as an unconfined aquifer of variable saturated thickness using Darcy’s law and the Dupuit-Forchheimer assumptions. Surface flow is modeled using the diffusion wave approximation to the Saint-Venant equations. A mass balance approach is used to couple the surface and subsurface phases. Straight and curved roadway geometries are accommodated via a curvilinear grid. The model is validated using steady state solutions that were obtained independently. PERFCODE was applied to a field monitoring site near Austin, Texas and hydrographs predicted by the model were consistent with field measurements. For a sample storm studied in detail, PFC reduced the duration of sheet flow conditions by 80%. The model may be used to improve the drainage design of PFC roadways. / text

Communities throughout the country are faced daily with growth and development pressures. Although such growth is vital to community economic health, its impact on the built environment is long lasting and much more difficult to address. Maintaining the identity or unique features of the community must be balanced against the effects of urban and suburban sprawl. Columbus, Indiana, a community world-renowned for its collection of modem architecture, is not immune to such pressures. This study is intended to serve as a tool for the citizens of Columbus as part of the never-ending process to create a better community and a more attractive urban setting.With Columbus serving as the setting, this urban design study explores how growth has evolved and reshaped the primary corridor running through the community--U.S. 31. Following a theoretical study of the traditional street corridor, and one's interaction with such a setting from both the motorist's and pedestrian's perspective, a detailed analysis of the 31 Corridor is conducted. The analysis encompasses a broad range of pertinent subjects including natural features, land use patterns, and urban design. Such analyses form the framework for the final section of this study.Following this analysis, recommendations for improving the 31 Corridor, and thus, Columbus as a whole are explored. The recommendations center on two primary goals. One focuses on stimulating and improving the motorist's perspective along the 31 Corridor and at the urban edges in the form of community gateways, while the second examines redevelopment strategies which intensify existing land uses and respect the established gateways. To support these goals, a series of objectives and methods are proposed. Both goals, and the supporting objectives are a means to maintain and strengthen the identity, or sense of place of Columbus. / Department of Urban Planning

Highway runoff, as a nonpoint source, may exert significant pollutant load on the catchment. Finding ways to mitigate nonpoint sources of pollutants is a matter of great concern for improving water quality. It was cited by the Environment Agency in 2005 that more than 80% of English rivers were at risk of failing to achieve Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives through diffuse pollution (Faram, 2007; p.14). The presence and behaviour of metals were analysed and compared through seasonal sampling from one of the most trafficked roads in the Midlands, M1. These were compared with other sources: local streams and sewage works. The concentration of metals in stormwater from the M1, three neighbouring rural brooks and three local sewage works, all in the same catchment, were sampled. Three metals (Fe, Cu and Zn) were used as an indicator because of their predominance and potential harmful effect on biodiversity. The data was analysed to establish any links between the total and dissolved metals and standard water quality parameters. The thesis also examines the performance of a standard highway treatment system of interceptor and lagoon for removing metals. The results indicate that evaporation and de-icer salts had the strongest effect on metal concentrations and their solubility in the runoff from the M1. As additional factors, rainfall intensity and antecedent dry weather period (ADWP) had the most important influence on metal concentrations. Fe was always at the highest concentrations for all weather conditions (total and dissolved) and all sampling locations. The results also showed that Fe was affiliated with the particulate matter; however, it was also suggested that it was solubilised by anaerobic conditions. Zntot during wet weather exceeded the environmental quality standards (EQS) both on the M1 and in Woodbrook. The sewage work effluent did not exceed the EQS at any time of sampling. It was also found that Zn solubility was increased by the presence of de-icer salts which released it from the sediment by a process of ion-exchange, as suggested by the literature. Cu concentrations had the most erratic values and varied widely but were in the lowest concentrations compared to other metals. During wet weather Cudis from the M1 runoff exceeded the EQS. It was also concluded that the analytical and sample preservation methods chosen could have an effect on the concentrations of copper. Filtration with recycled glass and pea-gravel was able to remove particles down to 5 μm, but at the typical flow rate (5 m/hr), and solids loading the filters would need regular washing. The adsorption studies showed that metals are more effectively removed by alkaline conditions than acid conditions which release metals into the environment.

Manual video analysis is apparently a tedious task. An efficient solution is of highly importance to automate the process and to assist operators. A major goal of video analysis is understanding and recognizing human activities captured by surveillance cameras, a very challenging problem; the activities can be either individual or interactional among multiple objects. It involves extraction of relevant spatial and temporal information from visual images. Most video analytics systems are constrained by specific environmental situations. Different domains may require different specific knowledge to express characteristics of interesting events. Spatial-temporal trajectories have been utilized to capture motion characteristics of activities. The focus of this dissertation is on how trajectories are utilized in assist in developing video analytic system in the context of surveillance. The research as reported in this dissertation begins real-time highway traffic monitoring and dynamic traffic pattern analysis and in the end generalize the knowledge to event and activity analysis in a broader context. The main contributions are: the use of the graph-theoretic dominant set approach to the classification of traffic trajectories; the ability to first partition the trajectory clusters using entry and exit point awareness to significantly improve the clustering effectiveness and to reduce the computational time and complexity in the on-line processing of new trajectories; A novel tracking method that uses the extended 3-D Hungarian algorithm with a Kalman filter to preserve the smoothness of motion; a novel camera calibration method to determine the second vanishing point with no operator assistance; and a logic reasoning framework together with a new set of context free LLEs which could be utilized across different domains. Additional efforts have been made for three comprehensive surveillance systems together with main contributions mentioned above.