Article
Methodological solutions for increased efficiency of modelling and simulation of seaports and inland freight terminals
The paper outlines the results of research aimed at developing an efficient simulation modelling capability for seaports and inland freight terminals. By providing the domain-oriented process of simulation modelling with a uniform and coherent methodological basis and integrating it with artificial intelligence concepts, it was possible to construct a powerful tool-TRANSNODE. This is a decision-support expert system which enables efficient and fast modelling and simulation of any seaport or inland freight terminal, or a group of terminals, large or small, multipurpose or specialized, at optional scale. It produces simulation results which enable a comprehensive analysis of the port or inland terminal to be made as an element of the total transportation framework. Both methodological aspects of the developed solutions and practical features of the TRANSNODE system are discussed in the paper.