Applying battery electric buses (BEBs) in the city is a good means to reduce the increasing greenhouse gas emissions and crude oil dependence. Limited by the driving range and charging time, battery swap station seems to be the best option for battery electric buses to replenish energy currently. This paper presents a novel method to plan and design an electric public transport system under battery swap mode, which comprised of battery electric buses, routes, scheduling, battery swap station, etc. Thus, new routing and scheduling strategies are proposed for the battery electric bus fleets. Based on swapping and charging demand analysis, this paper establishes an algorithm to calculate the optimal scales of battery swap station, including scales of battery swapping system, battery charging system and battery packs, and power capacity of output. Regarding the case of Xuejiadao battery swap station serving 6 BEB routes in Qingdao, China, a numerical simulation program is established to evaluate the validity of our methods. The results reflect that our methods can optimize the system scales meeting an equivalent state of operation demand. In addition, sensitivity analyses are made to the scales under different values of battery capacity and charging current. It suggests that the scales and cost of battery swap station can be effectively reduced with the development of power battery manufacture and charging technology in future.

In recent years, emissions from the road transportation industry in China have been increasing rapidly. To evaluate the reduction potential of greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions of the industry in China, its emission inventory was calculated and scenario analysis was created for the period between 2012 and 2030 in this paper. Based on the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model, the development of China’s road transportation industry in two scenarios (the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and the comprehensive-mitigation (CM) scenario) was simulated. In the Comprehensive Mitigation scenario, there are nine various measures which include Fuel Economy Standards, Auto Emission Standards, Energy-saving Technology, Tax Policy, Eco-driving, Logistics Informatization, Vehicle Liquidation, Electric Vehicles, and Alternative Fuels. The cumulative energy and emission reductions of these specific measures were evaluated. Our results demonstrate that China’s road transportation produced 881 million metric tons of CO₂ and emitted 1420 thousand tons of CO, 2150 thousand tons of NO_x, 148 thousand tons of PM₁₀, and 745 thousand tons of HC in 2012. The reduction potential is quite large, and road freight transportation is the key mitigation subsector, accounting for 85%–92% of the total emission. For energy conservation and carbon emission mitigation, logistics informatization is the most effective method, potentially reducing 1.80 billion tons of coal equivalent and 3.83 billion tons of CO₂ from 2012 to 2030. In terms of air pollutant emission mitigation, the auto emission standards measure performs best with respect to NO_x, PM₁₀, and HC emission mitigation, and logistic informatization measure is the best in CO emission reduction. In order to maximize the mitigation potential of China’s road transportation industry, the government needs to implement various measures in a timely and strict fashion.

Cats have protractible claws to fold their tips to keep them sharp. They protract claws while hunting and pawing on slippery surfaces. Protracted claws by tendons and muscles of toes can help cats anchoring themselves steady while their locomotion trends to slip and releasing the hold while they retract claws intentionally. This research proposes a kind of modularized self-adaptive toe mechanism inspired by cat claws to improve the extremities' contact performance for legged robot. The mechanism is constructed with four-bar linkage actuated by contact reaction force and retracted by applied spring tension. A feasible mechanical design based on several essential parameters is introduced and an integrated Sole-Toe prototype is built for experimental evaluation. Mechanical self-adaption and actual contact performance on specific surface have been evaluated respectively on a biped walking platform and a bench-top mechanical testing.

Urban intersections are the locations where traffic fleets produce heavy emissions. The locations of bus stations at intersections have a certain effect on the energy consumption and emissions in this area. In this paper, in order to simulate the energy consumption and emissions of the entire intersection under different circumstances of site selection of bus stations, the simulation platform VISSIM-PERE was built on the basis of the microscopic simulation software VISSIM and the micro-energy consumption model PERE. As a case study, the operation states of the Moyu Road-Zepu Road intersection under different bus station layouts were simulated, and corresponding consumption and emissions were evaluated. The influence of bus station layouts on traffic flow was analyzed. Under low-flow conditions, it is recommended that a bus station be set near the intersection entrance, which can reduce the average number of bus stops and contribute to the reduction of energy consumption and emissions. Under high-flow conditions, the reverse is true. Energy consumption will be when a bus station is set near the exit because of the congestion reduction.

Normalizing the driving behavior of drivers, especially those operating vehicles, is an important measure for ensuring road traffic safety. Its prerequisite is accurately assessing the safety of driving behavior. In this paper, we considered the space-time characteristics of road traffic, and grouped the GPS data of taxis according to road section and time period. First, the parameters that characterize driving behavior were extracted, and the safety indexes were obtained after standardization. Then the Delphi method was used to determine the weight of indicators. Finally, the driving behavior safety evaluation model was established. This evaluation method can be used to obtain the driving behavior safety map and the safety index of taxi drivers at different times, so as to facilitate the supervision of taxi drivers.