The rapid development of electric vehicles stimulates the development of structures related to their operation. Including the use of the range extending engine for electric vehicles. The use of gas turbine engines for vehicles has always been of interest. The microturbine in the range extending engine is relevant today. However, the possibility of using a microturbine as part of a range extending engine is possible under several conditions. Microturbine should be successfully mated with a high-speed generator, and the whole structure should have a high efficiency and be economically advantageous. To create such a design, it is necessary to develop a simple microturbine with a design, equipped with a highly efficient heat exchanger, which allows to obtain high fuel and operational efficiency. Microturbine should have low temperatures on the turbine wheel to maintain high environmental parameters. The use of composite materials is necessary. The results of the development and technical characteristics of a single shaft microturbine of this class for use with a high-boring generator are presented, and its applicability as a range extending engine is justified. The main problems solved in the design of microturbines are shown: issues of thermal conditions, optimization of blade machines, flow in gas-air pipes. Power plants, based on the microturbine and high-speed generator, can be widely adopted on the basis of their simple and high operating characteristics, including the range extending engine as a range extending engine.

Electric drive systems consisting of battery, inverter, electric motor and gearbox are applied in hybridor purely electric vehicles. The layout process of such propulsion systems is performed on system level under consideration of various component properties and their interfering characteristics. In addition, different boundary conditions are taken under account, e. g. performance, efficiency, packaging, costs. In this way, the development process of the power train involves a broad range of influencing parameters and periphery conditions and thus represents a multi-dimensional optimization problem. Stateof-the-art development processes of mechatronic systems are usually executed according to the V-model, which represents a fundamental basis for handling the complex interactions of the different disciplines involved. In addition, stage-gate processes and spiral models are applied to deal with the high level of complexity during conception, design and testing. Involving a large number of technical and economic factors, these sequential, recursive processes may lead to suboptimal solutions since the system design processes do not sufficiently consider the complex relations between the different, partially conflicting domains. In this context, the present publication introduces an integrated multi-objective optimization strategy for the effective conception of electric propulsion systems, which involves a holistic consideration of all components and requirements in a multi-objective manner. The system design synthesis is based on component-specific Pareto-optimal designs to handle performance, efficiency, package and costs for given system requirements. The results are displayed as Pareto-fronts of electric power train system designs variants, from which decision makers are able to choose the best suitable solution. In this way, the presented system design approach for the development of electrically driven axles enables a multi-objective optimization considering efficiency, performance, costs and package. It is capable to reduce development time and to improve overall system quality at the same time.

Explosive development of computer technologies and their availability made it possible to extensively focus nowadays on emerging state-of-the-art technologies, digitalization, artificial intelligence, and automated systems, including in the field of road safety. It would be reasonable to implement some technical devices in this respect to remove human factor and automate some procedures completed at the scene of a road accident. Automatically filled up road accident inspection records and, mainly, diagrams of the accident will reduce time required for the examining inspector and remove human factor. Ultimately, an automated road accident data sheet is suggested to be established. To tackle the issues above requires a technique to determine whether the produced damages to the car body result from the same road accident. The fact remains that there are circumstances when even vehicle trace examination would not do the job, in case of multiple corrosive damage to the body. In view of the above, a technique designed to determine whether the damages produced are caused at the same point of time gains its ground. A technique for a time-related corrosion examination is offered herein to cut expenditures for diagnostics and expert examination of road accidents. That will also eliminate the matters of argument with respect to the road accident evaluation in court. Among added benefits of the technique are that it is simple, quick to implement, and requires no human involvement. It is a well-established fact that each chemical element or a mixture of substances has its own timeinvariant color attributes which allows to determine availability of one or another substance during corrosion of metal surfaces, by emission from the surface in question.

More than 10 million people are directly employed by the transport industry in Europe, accounting for 4.5 % of total employment and representing 4.6 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This fact, combined with the rapid developments and changes of the sector, makes imperative the need to create, attract and retain appropriate staff. As the overall trend is to increase automation, the sector will depend more and more on specialised equipment and products. Future jobs will therefore require new and advanced skills in engineering as well as in back office operations, but at the same time, the growing interdisciplinary elements of transport activities will also require transport professionals with developed skills in safety, security, logistics, IT, behavioural sciences, marketing and economics. The European Research project SKILLFUL has developed a structured foresight into the vocational and academic qualifications in the Transportation sector of the future and has proposed training schemes and their supportive business models that could ideally be adopted European-wide, to enhance employability and sustainable industrial development in the transportation sector in Europe. The identification of future requirements constituted the basis of the project. The impact of new technologies and game changers, as well as emphasis on intermodality and interdisciplinarity on employability and future worker skills, have led to the development of relevant scenarios on future jobs knowledge and skills requirements, regarding the road transport in Europe. This has led to the identification and design of proper and specific curricula for training (with emphasis on middle-skilled professionals and lifelong learning), while also to the introduction of six novel concepts of business actors, expected to facilitate the training process and enhance the transport-education chain. The project goes a step beyond by addressing also critical issues towards a PanEuropean master curriculum on transport.

The article presents the results of the study of the road traffic safety on the automobile roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We performed the analysis of the main indicators, specifying the state of the road traffic safety on the automobile roads of the republican significance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In many regulatory acts, such as “The Priority Action Plan for Improving the Road Traffic Safety of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2017–2020”, developed with the support of the Asian Development Bank, and in the “National Concept of Road Traffic Safety” project as well , developed by the Interdepartmental Research Institute called “The Academy of Law Enforcement Agencies” of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the urgent need to improve road traffic safety is clearly pointed. At the same time, it is necessary to have the information about the extent of the existing problem in the field of road traffic safety, which is ensured by the constant consideration and analysis of the statistical indicators, as well as by planning appropriate measures aimed at correcting the situation and achieving planned indicators in the framework of, for example, the national concept of road traffic safety. Currently, statistics on road traffic accidents, occurring in Kazakhstan, are published by the Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounting. However in the current situation, this is not enough, especially since the ARC MIID of the Republic of Kazakhstan outlined the program of actions aimed at eliminating the existing shortcomings in the field of the road traffic safety and significant improving its indicators. The analytical investigation of the status of the road traffic safety on the roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan was carried out. This will become a kind of starting point in the consistent work in this direction, which will provide the interested parties, first of all the experts, with the high-quality and reliable information about the main figures, characterizing the state of safety of the road users. Based on objective accident data, it is possible to take the effective measures aimed at improving the situation on the roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In the XXI century, when environmental awareness is growing and the impact of human activity on the planet is more and more noticeable, striving to minimize energy consumption seems to be a necessary direction in the development of technology. This development cannot take place without an initial understanding and describing the relationships influencing specific technologies. It also needs empirical verification of assumed theories. Modern trams play an important role in the functioning of urban transport. Being one of the oldest modes of environmentally friendly transport, in European capitals they are currently perceived as one of the most convenient means of transport. This is due, among other things, to the high velocity of transport along the route. The energy consumed by trams indirectly depends on the driving characteristics, i. e. speed, acceleration and stops on the route, which are also caused by stopping at traffic light controlled junctions. This paper presents the results of an experiment showing the change in the level of electric energy consumption depending on the applied method of traffic light control. This article presents the conditions influencing the power consumption in trams, describes the possible strategies of traffic lights control and their consequences for other traffic participants. The research was carried out in real conditions in everyday traffic, measuring the level of electricity consumption in case of both fixed-time and actuated signaling with full priority for trams. On the examined section there were both modern asynchronous-drive as well as traditional resistor-drive vehicles. The conclusions drawn from the survey confirm the validity of introducing modern solutions and may be useful for estimating investment costs.

In recent years the urbanization to affect many countries of the world has made the significant changes to the material flow at all levels of the supply chain. The last mile logistics operating in the urban area has also changed notably. An increase in the volume of material flow within cities has led to a growth in the number of deliveries and the freight turnover, accordingly. The above-stated processes greatly reduce the sustainability of cities, which while keeping the urbanization trend, can lead to the serious negative results of the social and environmental nature not only for the cities, but also for the countries. One way to solve this problem is to create the green supply chains from the multi-echeloning principles. In the paper, the authors have presented a two-echelon green supply chain using the zero transport emissions within the second echelon. A multi-criteria function has been developed to assess the rational location of a transfer point in order to reduce the negative environmental impact from the transportation system. With the PTV Visum software product, a simulation has been conducted to evaluate the alternative scenarios for generating a green supply chain.

The goal of this paper is to analyse the collected data on energy efficiency of electric vehicles from researches done by other authors and also to summarise all the factors affecting it. The majority of data available are obtained through simulations – therefore the emphasis in this paper will be placed on experimentally acquired data. The results of the analysis will be used for the planned e-bus eco-driving project for the purpose of Belgrade’s public transportation system. Currently there are only 5 (ultracapacitor type) e-buses operating in Belgrade city public transport, which makes only 0.2 % of all vehicles in rolling stock (making 16 % together with other electric-powered vehicles – trams and trolleybuses), but there are plans to acquire new 80 electric buses. With the rise of the number of electric vehicles, appropriate training of drivers is gaining more and more importance, and the results of the presented analysis make the basis for such training. This will hopefully increase the range of the buses used and help save the energy spent by public transportation, thus giving a little contribution to global fight for cleaner planet.

The paper shows results of an experimental and theoretical study of dynamic processes in the vehicle transmission after kinematic alignment of elements during gearshifts. The purpose of the research is increasing the quality of transient processes in the vehicle transmission. Applying an analysis of experimental results obtained through looking into dynamics of a 3-ton vehicle transmission and studying literature sources it was established that dynamic loading of the transmission after the kinematic stage of shifting (i. e. synchronizing speeds of driving and driven elements in the gearbox) is influenced by oscillations which are in the single-node mode. Solving the task of increasing transient processes is achieved by applying a method of control power redistribution. By employing simulation models a number of methods were used to regulate power redistribution. Results of computations made it possible to determine that the efficiency of power redistribution are closely related to initial conditions of the process under the study. In the progress of the research a method for identifying the initial conditions was developed. This method is based determining signatures of the torque and its derivatives. In accordance with the research results it turned out that it is appropriate to apply the ZVD (zero vibration derivation) algorithm of power redistribution for low gears (below 4th) from point of view achieving better overshoot and robustness characteristics and a satisfactory response rate level. For higher gears it is recommended that the Ramp algorithm (linear increase in the control input) be used for the cases when the response rate is not longer than period of the single-node mode of oscillations occurring in the dynamic system during a gear shift. Application of the proposed algorithms allows to bring down dynamic loading of the transmission and also to improve the comfort in vehicles.

Predictive maintenance has become important for avoiding unplanned downtime of modern vehicles. With increasing functionality the exchanged data between Electronic Control Units (ECU) grows simultaneously rapidly. A large number of in-vehicle signals are provided for monitoring an aging process. Various components of a vehicle age due to their usage. This component aging is only visible in a certain number of in-vehicle signals. In this work, we present a signal selection method for in-vehicle signals in order to determine relevant signals to monitor and predict powertrain component aging of vehicles. Our application considers the aging of powertrain components with respect to clogging of structural components. We measure the component aging process in certain time intervals. Owing to this, unevenly spaced time series data is preprocessed to generate comparable in-vehicle data. First, we aggregate the data in certain intervals. Thus, the dynamic in-vehicle database is reduced which enables us to analyze the signals more efficiently. Secondly, we implement machine learning algorithms to generate a digital model of the measured aging process. With the help of Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) the model gets interpretable. This allows us to extract the most relevant signals and to reduce the amount of processed data. Our results show that a certain number of in-vehicle signals are sufficient for predicting the aging process of the considered structural component. Consequently, our approach allows to reduce data transmission of in-vehicle signals with the goal of predictive maintenance.

In the latest study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2018, it was published that human error is still considered the major factor in traffic accidents, 94 %, compared with other causes such as vehicles, environment and unknown critical reasons. Some driving scenarios are especially complex, such as highways merging lanes, where the driver obtains information from the environment while making decisions on how to proceed to perform the maneuver smoothly and safely. Ignorance of the intentions of the drivers around him leads to risky situations between them caused by misunderstandings or erroneous assumptions or perceptions. For this reason, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems could provide information to obtain safer maneuvers in these critical environments. In previous works, the behavior of the driver by means of a visual tracking system while merging in a highway was studied, observing a cognitive load in those instants due to the high attentional load that the maneuver requires. For this reason, a driver assistance system for merging situations is proposed. This system uses V2V communications technology and suggests to the driver how to modify his speed in order to perform the merging manoeuver in a safe way considering the available gap and the relative speeds between vehicles. The paper presents the results of the validation of this system for assisting in the merging maneuver. For this purpose, the interface previously designed and validated in terms of usability, has been integrated into an application for a mobile device, located inside the vehicle and tests has been carried out in real driving conditions.