Abstract The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is one of the best-known combinatorial optimization problems. Many methods derived from TSP have been applied to study autonomous vehicle route planning with fuel constraints. Nevertheless, less attention has paid reinforcement learning (RL) as a potential method solve refueling This paper employs RL With (TSPWR). technique proposes model (actions, ...

We studied customer exposure during refueling by collecting air samples from customers' breathing zone. The measurements were carried out during 4 days in summer 1996 at two Finnish self-service gasoline stations with "stage I" vapor recovery systems. The 95-RON (research octane number) gasoline contained approximately 2.7% methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), approximately 8.5% tert-amyl methyl eth...

The largest experience in operating nuclear power plants has been in nuclear naval propulsion, particularly aircraft carriers and submarines. This accumulated experience may become the basis of a proposed new generation of compact-sized nuclear power plants designs. The mission for nuclear powered submarines is being redefined in terms of signal intelligence gathering and special operations. Th...

Southern California has been proposed as a likely site for developing a hydrogen refueling infrastructure. In this paper, we apply dynamic programming to identify optimized strategies for supplying hydrogen over time in Southern California. GIS-based traffic data are used to model the location and magnitude of hydrogen demand over time. Refueling stations are sited based on the location of dema...

Practical autonomous aerial refueling between unmanned tanker and receiver aircraft using the probe-anddrogue method requires a reliable relative position sensor integrated with a robust relative navigation and control algorithm. The system must provide successful docking in the presence of disturbances caused by both the tanker wake vortex and atmospheric turbulence. This paper develops a refe...

Over the last several decades, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have emerged as a zero tailpipe-emission alternative to the battery electric vehicle (EV). There are key questions about consumer reaction and response to operations and refueling of FCVs. This paper presents the results of a “ride-and-drive” clinic series (n=182) held in 2007 with a Mercedes-Benz A-Class “F-Cell” hydrogen FCV. T...

The adaptive value of size changes in different organ and muscle groups was studied in red knots (Calidris canutus islandica) in relation to their migration. Birds were sampled on five occasions: at arrival in Iceland in May 1994, two times during subsequent refueling, at departure toward, and on return from, the high arctic breeding grounds. During their 24-d stopover in May, body mass increas...

Autonomous aerial refueling is a key enabling technology for both manned and unmanned aircraft where extended flight duration or range are required. The results presentedwithin this paper offer one potential vision-based sensing solution, together with a unique test environment. A hierarchical visual tracking algorithm based on direct methods is proposed and developed for the purposes of tracki...