One of the ways of improving the attractiveness of public transport is to bring it closer to its potential users. A long walking distance from a stop is often one of the critical factors limiting its more frequent and extensive use. Studies dealing with the accessibility of transport networks usually work only with the closest stop. This article analyses the actual walking distance from the place of residence to the preferred stop. The survey used a questionnaire method and was conducted in two cities in the Czech Republic—Ostrava and Olomouc. Based on the results of the study, the average walking distance was assessed and the impact of demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, number of members in the household, economic activity, the presence of a child in the household, and car ownership), transport behavior (preferred mode of transportation, car convenience and opinions on public transport), and urban characteristics (prevailing housing type) on the walking distance were analyzed. The main findings prove a significant impact on walking distance by a number of these factors, but the preferred use of a car for commuting or unemployment does not significantly affect walking distance.
Activity-based micro-scale simulation models for transport modelling provide better evaluations of public transport accessibility, enabling researchers to overcome the shortage of reliable real-world data. Current simulation systems face simplifications of personal behaviour, zonal patterns, non-optimisation of public transport trips (choice of the fastest option only), and do not work with real targets and their characteristics. The new TRAMsim system uses a Monte Carlo approach, which evaluates all possible public transport and walking origin-destination (O-D) trips for k-nearest stops within a given time interval, and selects appropriate variants according to the expected scenarios and parameters derived from local surveys. For the city of Ostrava, Czechia, two commuting models were compared based on simulated movements to reach (a) randomly selected large employers and (b) proportionally selected employers using an appropriate distance-decay impedance function derived from various combinations of conditions. The validation of these models confirms the relevance of the proportional gravity-based model. Multidimensional evaluation of the potential accessibility of employers elucidates issues in several localities, including a high number of transfers, high total commuting time, low variety of accessible employers and high pedestrian mode usage. The transport accessibility evaluation based on synthetic trips offers an improved understanding of local situations and helps to assess the impact of planned changes.
The design of the arms of industrial robots and manipulators is a demanding process both in terms of expertise and in terms of the time required. For these reasons, algorithms have been created, with the help of which it is possible to design cross-sections of individual arms of robots and manipulators not only from the point of view of maximum allowed deflection but also from the point of view of minimizing cross-sectional dimensions or minimizing the weight of arms. These algorithms were subsequently used in the development of the software tool RobotArmDesign, with the help of which it is possible to simplify and shorten the arm design process significantly. This tool also has a connection to the SolidWorks CAD system and its simulation tools through its API interface, making it possible to refine robot arms designs while maintaining significantly shorter design times than would be the case with commonly used procedures. This tool's capabilities were demonstrated in the design of a robot arm with an angular structure and five degrees of freedom.
This article describes the simulation method for layering the components of the charge in the blast furnace, including the particle size distribution and gas flow distribution of bell-less top charging systems in blast furnaces. The Burden Distribution application, which simulates the charge in blast furnaces operated by the company Třinecké železárny (ironworks) to optimize the production of pig iron, applied this simulation method. Based on the parabolic trajectory of the material falling from the tilting chute of the bell-less top charging system, the method is calculating the profile of individual charge layers. The material forms after impact according to known angles of repose, segregating into individual granulometric size fractions. The data incorporated into the simulation enables the estimation of charge and gas flow distribution along the radius of the blast furnace shaft. The article presents the used mathematical models and equations, including algorithms of the simulation.
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