In earlier work, we developed a xpoint algorithm for automatically generating state invariants, properties that hold in each reachable state of a state machine model, from state-based requirements speci cations. Such invariants are useful both in validating requirements speci cations and as auxiliary lemmas in proofs that a requirements speci cation satis es other invariant properties. This pap...

OBJECTIVE To determine preschool children's response to a commercial back-up warning alarm in a mock setting of an automobile backing up. SETTING Preschool parking lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. METHODS With subjects acting as their own controls, 33 preschoolers were asked to walk behind a stationary vehicle twice. The first time, the control, no warning sound was emitted from the veh...

We introduce a robot-safety device system attended by two di erent repairmen. The twin system is characterized by the natural feature of cold standby and by an admissible “risky” state. In order to analyse the random behaviour of the entire system (robot, safety device, repair facility), we employ a stochastic process endowed with probability measures satisfying general steady-state di erential...

Although the hype surrounding the promise of electronic commerce seems all pervasive currently, there is an absence of research on automobile eCommerce, especially in developing countries, which covers wide-ranging issues beyond contextual imperatives. This paper tries to fill in the gap, by analyzing the impacts of eCommerce on automobile industry in China, and the factors of eCommerce adoptio...

There is a growing need for some kind of personal driving assistant which is likely to become more acute as the free, independent , and very mobile baby boomers continue to age. Up to 86.5% of the US workforce commutes to work every day through personally owned automobile, often driving alone a car, a van, or a truck, at times in a commute as long as two hours. Urban planning and life style are...

A simple obstacle detection device, based upon an automobile parking sensor, was assessed as a mobility aid for the visually impaired. A questionnaire survey for mobility needs was performed at the start of this study. After the detector was developed, five blindfolded sighted and 15 visually impaired participants were invited to conduct travel experiments under three test conditions: (1) using...

For years, public health experts have been concerned about the effect of cell phone use on motor vehicle collisions, part of a phenomenon known as "distracted driving." The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) article "Mobile Device Use While Driving - United States and Seven European Countries 2011" highlights the international nature of these concerns. Recent (2011) estimates from the...