Maintenance Stations Research Articles

OVERVIEW OF THE INFLUENCE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON EXPANDING THE FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHTS, ON THEIR PHOTOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND METHODS AND MEANS OF THEIR CONTROL UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF OPERATION

A brief overview of the features and possibilities of innovative technologies in the field of front light-ing systems of mechanical vehicles, in particular, adaptive front lighting systems, intelligent front lighting sys-tems and modern digital lighting systems, was conducted. The main features of the structure and operation of such systems are considered, and some characteristics and capabilities of the front lighting systems used in Mercedes-Benz cars are given. Analyzed the requirements of the UNECE Rules and state standards of Ukraine in force in Ukraine with the requirements for methods and means of monitoring the conformity of installation parameters and photometric characteristics of front lighting systems during the operation of cars and the re-quirements of the manufacturer’s normative and technological documents for the performance of control, di-agnostic and regulatory maintenance work front lighting systems of Mercedes-Benz cars. The results of the work performed were used in the development of methodological instructions for the performance by NTU stu-dents of laboratory work on maintenance and inspection of the condition and adjustments of Mercedes-Benz headlights. Based on the results of the research, proposals and recommendations have been developed regard-ing the expediency of making changes to the state standards and regulatory documents in force in Ukraine, which regulate the performance of works to control the compliance of the technical condition of mechanical road vehicles with safety requirements in terms of external lighting devices. Also, recommendations have been developed for the use of control and diagnostic equipment, with which it is advisable to equip posts for mainte-nance of external light devices of Mercedes-Benz cars by maintenance stations located in Ukraine. Keywords: car headlight, adaptive front lighting system, intelligent front lighting system, digital lighting sys-tem, dynamic cornering lighting, static cornering lighting, low beam headlights, high beam headlights, adaptive low beam, adaptive high beam, city light mode, extra-urban mode light, light mode on highways; advanced fog light mode, fog light, matrix LED light, light with micro-opto-electromechanical system.

Optimization study on the siting of maintenance stations for distributed radars based on an improved K-means algorithm

Optimization study on the siting of maintenance stations for distributed radars based on an improved K-means algorithm

A Multi-Objective Optimization for Locating Maintenance Stations and Operator Dispatching of Corrective Maintenance

A Multi-Objective Optimization for Locating Maintenance Stations and Operator Dispatching of Corrective Maintenance

Methodology for Designing Road Vehicle Service Facilities

In modern methods of technological design, the capacity of service facilities depends on the number of cars entering them per unit of time. At the same time, regardless of the type of service object, the number of visits is somehow associated with intensity of the vehicle traffic on a given road, as well as with one of the characteristics that determine speed of this event. Such a characteristic, for example, for service or maintenance stations is intensity of vehicle failures, for fuelling stations – intensity of fuel consumption, for hotels and parking lots – intensity of the onset of fatigue for drivers and passengers. This gives ground for conclusion that there is a significant similarity between the processes that result in an event that can be called a visit to a service facility. Thus, the purpose of this theoretical study was to develop a common approach applicable to all road service facilities to determine the number of such events, as well as to develop a common methodology for their design.A characteristic feature of operation of service objects is a time-varying flow of demand for the operation of service facilities, as well as variable labour intensity and duration of troubleshooting or the provision of other service services. Systems in which the moments of receipt of requests for service and the duration of the services themselves are variable and random are called a queuing system. Therefore, to justify the number of car arrivals at road service facilities, the authors proposed a probabilistic method, the main tools of which are provisions and mathematical apparatus of the queuing theory.The main condition for functioning of the queuing system is the ratio between the incoming flow of requirements and the absolute throughput of the system. Thus, the mathematical model proposed by the authors considers the performance indicators of service facilities, depending on the size of the incoming flow of requirements and its variation, on the one hand, and on the throughput and performance of service facilities, on the other hand.

Development of a web-based application for organizing the operation of a car service station

The article provides material on the optimization of business processes and document flow automation of car service stations using web-based applications. This will allow to quickly and accurately diagnose malfunctions, plan and control the work of mechanics, provide quality service and increase customer satisfaction. A comparative analysis of the most common CRM systems was carried out according to such criteria as functionality, cost of the program, technical support, integration with other software, as well as features of implementation at the enterprise. It was found that the adaptation of CRM systems to the conditions of a specific business entity requires significant financial costs, which is not appropriate for small business representatives. The most reasonable solution for automating the operation of maintenance stations is the development of their own websites, taking into account the specifics of the business processes of each enterprise. A web application has been developed that allows you to optimize such processes as maintaining a customer account and car diagnostic card, distributing and processing requests for maintenance, as well as creating an archive of requests and rating employees based on customer feedback. The PHP programming language, the PHPWord library for creating text documents and the Bootstrap framework, the MariaDB database and the web interface for its administration, phpMyAdmin, were used for development. The application was created in the PhpStorm software environment from the JetBrains company. The implementation of the developed software will improve the processes of working with customers and increase the quality of services provided by the technical service station

The diagnostics of windings of vehicle alternator units

INTRODUCTION: An alternator unit is a necessary unit in a vehicle, as it provides all the consumers with electricity. Therefore, the operation capability of the whole vehicle depends on the alternator units operational state. The issue of the diagnostics of a vehicle alternator unit by means of determination of alternator phases windings active resistance is addressed.
 AIM: Improvement of diagnostics informativity by means of voltage controllers with a self-diagnostic function.
 METHODS: It is proposed to perform the alternator unit diagnostics without dismantling or disassembly by means of plugging to the diagnostic points.
 RESULTS: The existing and known methods of vehicle alternator unit diagnostics with embedded diagnostic tools and with use of external diagnostic tools were analyzed. The method of diagnostics of phase winding active resistance with use of reference resistance was proposed. The algorithm of implementation of the proposed method was suggested. The recommendations for use of the proposed method were given.
 CONCLUSIONS: The proposed diagnostics method can be used in engine control units or by technicians of maintenance stations during the alternator unit maintenance without dismantling or disassembly.

PERSPECTIVE DIRECTIONS OF RESTORATION OF LUBRICANTS FOR UNIT OF HIGH-ENERGY AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

The authors considered the possibilities of optimizing the promising direction of restoring lubricants for units and aggregates of energy-saturated agricultural machinery. (Research purpose) The research purpose is studying the methods and possibilities of optimizing the recovery of lubricants of agricultural machinery units and aggregates during maintenance. (Materials and methods) Studied promising areas of collection and recovery of lubricating oils in the farms of the agro-industrial complex of Russia. It was determined that the purification of used oils in order to restore its basic operational properties is carried out at specialized sites (points) organized at the facilities of the repair and maintenance base of large enterprises, as well as at maintenance stations, repair plants and other enterprises of the agro-industrial complex with large volumes of fresh consumption and collection of used oils. The regeneration of waste oils serves as one of the sources of replenishment of oil resources. (Results and discussion) It was shown that as a result of processing the waste material at the outlet, it is possible to obtain a purified oil base of the corresponding group containing a composition of additives suitable for use in secondary and auxiliary technological processes as flushing oils, hydraulic fluids, as well as for the lubrication of low-loaded equipment that does not impose high requirements for the quality and purity of lubricants and working fluids. (Conclusions) The operations performed to improve the quality of oils are as follows: washing of oils with subsequent purification from water, mechanical impurities, resinous substances, wear products, oxidation and thermal degradation, addition of active components of the additive composition.

A column generation approach for operational flight scheduling and aircraft maintenance routing

Aircraft is one of the most expensive resources owned by an airline which should be properly planned. The aircraft maintenance routing problem (AMRP) generates aircraft routes to serve scheduled flights, while satisfying the strict maintenance requirements. However, in operations, the pre-determined aircraft routes are usually disrupted due to unplanned maintenance requirements or insufficient remaining legal flying time to maintenance stations. Thus, airlines often have to re-route aircraft in real time. This study proposes a new aircraft re-routing approach to fulfil the maintenance requirements arising in the operational stage. Specifically, maintenance stations are capacity-constrained, while airlines could allocate maintenance resources (like staff and equipment) to other airports with additional costs. Besides, flights could be re-scheduled (i.e., cancelled with a high penalty), while the model endeavors to minimize the impact of recovery actions on the original plan. To achieve this, specialized flight networks are constructed, and a column generation-based algorithm is developed to obtain high-quality solutions within short computational times. Computational experiments show that the solutions obtained by the proposed algorithm are optimal or near-optimal with an optimality gap of 0.3% on average. In addition, some managerial insights on allocating maintenance resources to other airports to fulfil aircraft maintenance demands in operations are discussed.

A multi-objective dynamic covering location problem for hierarchical agricultural machinery maintenance facilities

It is essential to design a product service system with the adequate location of maintenance facilities for guaranteeing the fast and dependable response to failures of extremely busy agricultural machinery during harvest time. This paper aims to optimize where to locate/relocate two hierarchical levels of facilities respectively composed of maintenance stations and mobile service fleets over multiple periods of a harvest season to support the safe and stable operation of agricultural machinery. We formulate a multi-objective dynamic covering location problem for these hierarchical facilities that seeks to maximize the total demand covered within some response radii while minimizing the modification to facility locations between the periods. The augmented ɛ-constraint method based on lexicographic optimization is then developed to obtain a set of non-inferior solutions that allow us to evaluate the trade-off between multiple decision objectives. Lastly, a real-life problem is handled to illustrate the effectiveness of our multi-objective decision model and solution method. Computational results recommend the optimal decision of facility locations for implementation, examine the sensitivity analysis of selected parameters, and compare the solution obtained from the proposed model with the period-specific solutions that take no account of the changing locations of facilities between the periods.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE I.E. ULMAN SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL TO THE CREATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL SERVICE OF MACHINES

The science of repair and restoration of components and parts of agricultural machinery was actively developed in the conditions of the planned economy of the country in the 1950-1980 s. The work of the network of specialized repair plants, maintenance stations, diagnostic points deployed in all regions of the country was based on the scientific and technological basis created by domestic scientists. A great contribution to the accumulation of significant scientific and practical experience in the restoration of agricultural machinery was made by the scientific school of the Chelyabinsk Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture, headed by I.E. Ulman. (The purpose of the study) TTo analyze the directions of research and development in the field of creating a system for organizing and carrying out maintenance and repair of agricultural machinery and to identify its role in the development of the agro-industrial complex of the region. (Materials and methods) Determined that the beginning of work I.E. Ulman is associated with the development of experimental research methods on various friction units of mechanisms and machines in the laboratory of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute named after M.I. Kalinin and industrial training at the Putilov plant. (Results and discussion) The scientific research of the I.E. Ulman school covered the following main areas: research and development of technological processes for the restoration of worn parts by electrophysical methods; evaluation of the reliability of repaired units and restored parts by accelerated testing methods; diagnostics of mobile equipment units in the process of their repair, research and development of organizational bases for maintenance and repair of machines, restoration of worn parts of a wide range. (Conclusions) The scientific school of I.E. Ulman has made a significant contribution to the development of technologies for restoring worn-out machine parts with various coatings (galvanics, vibro-arc surfacing, baking metal powders).

TECHNOLOGICAL CALCULATION OF MAINTENANCE STATIONS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE NUMBER OF ARRIVALS AND THE NUMBER OF SERVICE VEHICLES

TECHNOLOGICAL CALCULATION OF MAINTENANCE STATIONS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE NUMBER OF ARRIVALS AND THE NUMBER OF SERVICE VEHICLES

The depot and charging facility location problem for electrifying urban bus services

• The depot and facility location problem is formulated for deploying electric and diesel buses. • Cost components in the transition from diesel buses to electric ones are evaluated. • Depot locations highlight the trade-off between deadhead mileage and land cost. • The required ratio of electric buses is a key factor in the total operational cost. • The bus fleet size affects the cost and robustness of system operation. The transition from diesel-consuming buses to electric ones entails the problem of determining the locations of bus depots, charging and maintenance stations, which can directly affect the operating cost and efficiency of a bus system. The problem also involves practical concerns, including the selection of fleet size (of electric buses), land acquisition, bus allocation, and the associated deadhead mileage. This study develops an optimization model to systematically locate depots and relevant facilities for deploying mixed types of vehicles. Further, a decomposition-based heuristic algorithm is proposed to enhance computational efficiency. A case study is performed using the data of a bus operator in Taiwan. Sensitivity and scenario analyses are conducted, evaluating major cost components and identifying the factors that affect the trade-offs between them. The proposed methodology enables bus operators/planners to closely and holistically examine their decisions during the transition toward electric bus systems.

Features of land inventory in water protection zones of small rivers of the Oryol region

The paper considers aspects of land inventory in the territories adjacent to water bodies. The object of the study is the land resources of the Oryol region, the territory of water protection zones and coastal protection belts of 28 small rivers of the Oryol region, which need environmental rehabilitation due to prolonged anthropogenic pollution. The need for water protection zones and coastal protection belts on the basis of a thorough land inventory was justified. The land inventory of water protection zones significantly differs from other types of inventory due to the fact that the boundaries of water protection zones may include lands of various categories, types of property, they may belong to different owners. The paper gives suggestions on the sequence of land management measures in these cases. As a result of the study, the paper presents the analysis of the performed land inventory, which forms the basis of the working project on the formation of water protection zones and coastal protection belts of small rivers of the Oryol region. On the basis of the completed land inventory for the Lipovets River, the need for restrictions on human economic activity in water protection zones and coastal protection belts was determined in the following cases: placement of cemeteries, implementation of aviation measures to combat harmful organisms and placement of specialized storage facilities for pesticides and agrochemicals by agricultural enterprises, placement of gas stations, fuel and lubricant warehouses, maintenance stations on roads, discharge of sewage, including drainage water from residential buildings. This experience may be used in practice of regional land administration bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Optimizing dynamic facility location-allocation for agricultural machinery maintenance using Benders decomposition

This paper focuses on optimizing a dynamic facility location-allocation problem with respect to a real-life agricultural machinery maintenance service network that is designed to achieve the prompt and reliable response to malfunctioning agricultural machinery during harvest. We consider a busy farming season divided into several time periods in which the problem is to determine where to locate temporary maintenance stations (TMSs) as well as identifying how many capacitated service-providing facilities to allocate to each TMS to satisfy maintenance demands. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer program (MIP) that seeks to minimize the total service mileage between TMSs and demand points. Additionally, considering that the service flow from a TMS to a demand point in this type of work takes place between potential district locations rather than discrete vertices, we use regional contiguity constraints to enforce agricultural production areas served by a TMS as geographically connected. To solve our MIP problem, an exact algorithm based on Benders decomposition is then developed along with several refinements. Lastly, our model and methodology are illustrated in the handling of a real-world problem in China. Computational results are presented that analyze the optimized facility location-allocation plan, examine the impact of selected parameters, demonstrate the advantage of implementing the contiguity constraints and discuss the performance of solution algorithm.

Research on Multi-Dimensional Optimal Location Selection of Maintenance Station Based on Big Data of Vehicle Trajectory.

In order to rationally lay out the location of automobile maintenance service stations, a method of location selection of maintenance service stations based on vehicle trajectory big data is proposed. Taking the vehicle trajectory data as the demand points, the demand points are divided according to the region by using the idea of zoning, and the location of the second-level maintenance station is selected for each region. The second-level maintenance stations selected in the whole country are set as the demand points of the first-level maintenance stations. Considering the objectives of the two dimensions of cost and service level, the location model of the first-level maintenance stations under two-dimensional programming is established, and the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm and immune algorithm, respectively, are used to solve the problem. In this way, the first-level maintenance stations in each region are obtained. The example verification shows that the location selection results for the maintenance stations using the vehicle trajectory big data are reasonable and closer to the actual needs.

Planning and management of aircraft maintenance using a genetic algorithm

The aim of the article was to develop a tool to support the process of planning and managing aircraft (ac) maintenance. Aircraft maintenance management has been presented for scheduled technical inspections resulting from manufacturers’ technical documentation for ac. The authors defined the problem under investigation in the form of a four-phase decisionmaking process taking into account assignment of aircraft to airports and maintenance stations, assignment of crew to maintenance points, setting the schedules, i.e. working days on which aircraft are directed to maintenance facilities. This approach to the planning and management of aircraft maintenance is a new approach, unprecedented in the literature. The authors have developed a mathematical model for aircraft maintenance planning and management in a multi-criteria approach and an optimisation tool based on the operation of a genetic algorithm. To solve the problem, a genetic algorithm was proposed. The individual steps of the algorithm construction were discussed and its effectiveness was verified using real data.

Digitalization of agricultural industrial complex, application of robotics in agriculture

The article deals with the issues of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex. It is noted that one of the important areas of digitalization is the development of information technologies and robotization of agriculture. High efficiency is achieved by those industries that effectively use robotic means – (Repair and Maintenance Stations) - drones, unmanned agricultural machines (tractors, seeders, cultivators, etc.). The advantages of using RMS in agriculture are shown. Kazakhstan produces, various seeders and cultivators, combines for picking berries, self-driving machines for spraying in fields, gardens and other RMS. Work is underway to create quadrocopters intended for use in agriculture, and the structure and mathematical model of the quadrocopter are described in the following article.

МАТЕМАТИЧНА МОДЕЛЬ ПРОГНОЗУВАННЯ ТА ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ ОБСЯГУ ЗАПАСНИХ ЧАСТИН ДЛЯ СТАНЦІЙ ТЕХНІЧНОГО ОБСЛУГОВУВАННЯ АВТОМОБІЛІВ З УРАХУВАННЯМ ВТРАЧЕНИХ ПРОДАЖІВ

The article deals with the order of formation of the mathematical model of forecasting and determination of the volume of spare parts, taking into account lost sales on the basis of actual expenses for repairs and sales through trade Object of research - system of inventory management of car maintenance stations Purpose of the study - to carry out research of mathematical model of forecasting and determination of spare parts volume taking into account lost sales and to find out the main components of it. Method of the study - the analysis and formalization: quantitative indicators of automobile parts reserves, methods of forming components and parameters of a mathematical model. It is established that the methodology of constructing a mathematical model involves the formalization of the main processes of the cost of automotive spare parts. The mathematical model includes the costs of spare parts: 1) for repairs of cars; 2) through the sale of a spare part in a shop operating at a service station. It was found out that in order to take into account the lost sales of spare parts, it is necessary to clearly register customer inquiries, indicating the factory catalogs of spare parts numbers, their number. In this case, in case of the need for a spare part and its presence in the warehouse of the enterprise, the client refuses to purchase, then such a requirement is not taken into account as dissatisfied. The construction of a mathematical multiplicative model of prediction and determination of the amount of spare parts based on lost sales in which the value of the seasonal component is not a constant, but represents a certain proportion of the trend value. The formulas for determining the need for spare parts in a multiplicative model based on parabolic, linear trends of demand and seasonal variation are considered and given. The importance of the seasonal component in the mathematical model of forecasting is substantiated; it is a factor of forecasting error, it allows to find out the causes of fluctuations and to calculate the insurance stock of parts. To calculate the seasonal component, a method of correction of the trend equation with an asymmetric seasonal wave is presented. The results of the article can be used to increase the efficiency of inventory management at both technical maintenance stations of cars and any subjects of entrepreneurial activity, in the case when there is a problem of dissatisfied consumer demand. Forecast assumptions about the object of study - the specification of the model for determining the volume of spare parts by studying the seasonal fluctuations in demand and studying the main trends in the development of car service services and the existing model range of cars, their age composition. KEYWORDS: DETAIL, SPARE PARTS, PROBABILITY, QUANTITY, MODEL, VOLUME, PERIOD, DEMAND, NEED, FORECAST, SALE, IMPLEMENTATION, EQUATION, SERIES, SEASONAL VARIATION, TREND.

A hybrid DEA-based K-means and invasive weed optimization for facility location problem

In this paper, instead of the classical approach to the multi-criteria location selection problem, a new approach was presented based on selecting a portfolio of locations. First, the indices affecting the selection of maintenance stations were collected. The K-means model was used for clustering the maintenance stations. The optimal number of clusters was calculated through the Silhouette index. The efficiency of each cluster of stations was determined using the Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes input-oriented data envelopment analysis model. A bi-objective zero one programming model was used to select a Pareto optimal combination of rank and distance of stations. The Pareto solutions for the presented bi-objective model were determined using the invasive weed optimization method. Although the proposed methodology is meant for the selection of repair and maintenance stations in an oil refinery Company, it can be used in multi-criteria decision-making problems.

A model with a solution algorithm for the operational aircraft maintenance routing problem

Abstract The operational aircraft maintenance routing problem (OAMRP) determines the route for each individual aircraft while incorporating operational maintenance considerations. This problem is significant for airlines as it determines the routes to be flown in real life. Most studies incorporate particular operational maintenance requirements, like restrictions on the total number of days between two successive maintenance checks, while neglecting other considerations. Such neglected considerations include restrictions on the total cumulative flying time, restrictions on the total number of takeoffs, the workforce capacity and the working hours of the maintenance stations. This can result in the generation of routes that are not feasible for implementation in reality. In this paper, we study OAMRP, with two objectives. First, to propose a model that considers all operational maintenance requirements, and for this purpose, we formulate a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model by modifying the connection network. The proposed model is solved using commercial software for small size problems. Second, to develop a solution algorithm that solves the model efficiently and quickly while tackling medium and large-scale problems. The performance of the proposed solution algorithm is assessed based on real data obtained from EgyptAir. The results demonstrate high quality solutions and significant savings in computational time. The experiments were extended for two reasons. First, to compare the performance of the proposed solution algorithm with existing solution methods. Second, to test the effect of incorporating the operational requirements on profit. The results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing methods, like compressed annealing (CA), in producing better solution quality in much shorter computational time. In addition, the results reveal that considering the maintenance workforce capacity improves the profitability of the airline. Such outcomes provide evidence that the proposed model and solution method have great potential for solving the actual OAMRP.