United Kingdom
TRL will lead the program to create a CAV infrastructure structure for highways
Traffic Technology Today 09.09.2021
TRL, the global center for innovation in the field of transport and mobility, has been appointed project manager for the Digital Road for Evolving Connected and Autonomous Driving (DiREC) program. DiREC, a two-year program that is part of the CEDR European Transnational Research Program (TRP), aims to create a vehicle automation system (CAV) to prepare motorways for safe and intelligent CAV driving. TRL will also provide technical support to a number of work packages involved in the program.Within the framework of DiREC, the ability of road infrastructure to support connected and automated driving (CAD) will be studied. The project aims to provide a common vision for improving interaction between national road authorities, service providers and equipment manufacturers, and will include tools to help road authorities understand the costs and benefits of providing various types of infrastructure services to support CAD.
Alex Wright, TRL's chief technology officer, said: "DiREC provides the road authorities with a framework to develop innovative strategies to address the challenges of connected and automated driving. We believe that the creation of a CAV-ready infrastructure will draw attention to what is important for the road authorities and their partners when adapting the infrastructure."As CAD availability increases, there will be a growing demand for infrastructure and services to improve safety and reduce congestion. The DiREC program aims to provide a clear understanding of the risks, opportunities, impacts, responsibilities and obligations associated with CAD, setting out a clear roadmap to address them, along with tools to measure progress made in creating CAD-ready networks.
Other members of the consortium include Delft University of Technology, the Forum of European National Road Research Laboratories (FEHRL), Arup, the Swedish National Institute of Road and Transport Research (VTI) and the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT).
Find out about all the latest CAV research at the upcoming UK CAV Infrastructure Symposium in London (October 4-5).
A new report confirms that Smart Motorways AllLane Running are the safest roads in the UK
Traffic Technology Today 09.09.2021
A report released this week by the UK Railways and Highways Authority for an independent review of safety data from National Highways (formerly Highways England) regarding smart motorways concluded that multi-lane motorways are indeed the safest in the UK.
The All Lane Running Motorway Data Quality Assurance (ORR) report analyzed detailed information from relevant employees at both National Highways and the Ministry of Transport, and also examined data provided as part of the Transport Selection Committee study, which began in February 2021.
The ORR report contains several recommendations that will improve the understanding of road safety. National Highways agreed with all of his recommendations and developed an action plan in response, which is already being implemented based on a progress report published in April 2021.
The information in the progress report on the development of national highways is based on data and analysis of the official statistics STATS19 for 2019, prepared by National Highways.
Germany
PSI Group will present software for smart cities at ITS World Congress
Traffic Technology Today 10.09.2021
PSI Group will present its intelligent and integrated software solutions for cities at ITS World Congress in Hamburg, Germany, next month.At the event, which will take place from October 11 to 15, PSI will focus on how artificial intelligence and cloud-based software can help municipalities manage their infrastructure reliably, intelligently and sustainably.
The PSI Smart City ecosystem consists of software solutions for predictive traffic management, monitoring and maintenance management, intelligent underground communication networks, integrated depot and loading management for electronic vehicles, automated rail transport and efficient baggage handling at airports.
The decision support program optimizes traffic management, electrical networks, as well as workflows in bus and tram depots. It is based on the analysis of business process data with self-learning by processing historical data using artificial intelligence.
The PSI depot and charging management system provides control, charging and disposal of all emission-free vehicles of the bus fleet. It takes into account all the necessary factors of influence and dependence, and also ensures optimal accessibility of vehicles.
PSI also applies a multi-criteria decision support approach that actively influences traffic on highways and city streets, ensuring efficiency and safety. In addition, the maintenance management system provides monitoring of road infrastructure for their operators. PSI Group will take part in ITS World Congress at booth B5002 in Hall 5.
Ioki, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, has joined the EU's flagship AV project AVENUE
Traffic Technology Today 07.09.2021
Intelligent mobile solutions provider ioki has become a technology partner in the framework of the EU flagship project to create self-driving cars for the development of new urban transport (AVENUE).
The AVENUE project, funded by the EU under the Horizon 2020 program, which began on May 1, 2018 and will last four years, aims to develop and conduct full-scale demonstrations of urban transport automation by deploying, for the first time in the world, fleets of autonomous minibuses in areas with low and medium demand in four European demonstration cities (Geneva, Lyon, Copenhagen and Luxembourg), and then in three replicator cities.
"Thanks to ioki, we get an experienced partner and take a big step towards our goal of making Europe a world leader in connected and autonomous mobility. We are looking forward to working with ioki and launching the first autonomous shuttles in Geneva," said Professor Dimitri Konstantas, coordinator of the AVENUE project at the University of Geneva, who is responsible for managing the 22 million euro project.
The German company ioki will provide a specially designed technical interface for the project, which will create the prerequisites for combining autonomous driving and on-demand booking. In addition, ioki software provides deep integration into the existing public transport system and MaaS applications.
Deutsche Bahn subsidiary ioki has been a pioneer in autonomous driving in public transport since its founding in 2017. The first autonomous car in Germany has been operating since 2017 using the company's technologies. The Ioki intelligent platform also provides the first on-demand autonomous transport services in Europe: passenger transportation of autonomous shuttles on request began in Karlsruhe in May 2021.
Switzerland
WayRay aims to replace car dashboards with holographic displays
Traffic Technology Today 06.09.2021
WayRay's new Deep Reality Display is a new system that was demonstrated at the IAA Mobility 2021 exhibition in Munich on September 7-12, capable of replacing the traditional dashboard of a car with a new immersive holographic display that can display different parts of a virtual image at different distances.
The new generation of True AR holographic displays from WayRay transforms entire windshields into a virtual world where information about the vehicle, navigation system, infotainment system and environment can be displayed, perfectly combining with the real world.
Deep Reality Display can display different parts of a virtual image at different distances. The display will display near-field information with all the necessary dashboard elements placed at a convenient distance from the driver's eyes, which are easy to follow when driving in the city or on the highway.
It includes True AR planes with multiple levels of depth, filled with AR applications, from ground navigation to infotainment and gaming content. This revolutionary feature further reduces the mismatch errors between the virtual image and the real world and leads to an even more impressive and secure user experience.WayRay's Deep Reality Display can change the way drivers and passengers perceive the world through any glass surface and radically improve the driving experience. It could also revolutionize the interior design potential of cars that no longer need a physical dashboard. The HUD industry is estimated at $866 million in 2020 and is projected to reach $3.37 billion by 2025, so it will clearly become an important part of the automotive industry.
"Deep Reality Display is an extremely important implementation of the most advanced WayRay technologies, which will be commercially deployed and scaled by the beginning of 2023," says WayRay founder and CEO Vitaly Ponomarev.
The deep reality display is the result of WayRay's extensive research. The laser unit creates a red-green-blue (RGB) light beam passing through a special optical fiber to the imaging unit (PGU) with a unique optical system. Its volume is much smaller than that of other technologies on the market, and it is suitable for any vehicle - about 3 liters compared to traditional Head-Up Display (HUD) with a volume of about 18 liters. Passing by the PGU, a beam of light hits the holographic windshield, a key component of the Deep Reality Display. It consists of holographic optical elements recorded on an individual photopolymer and functional layers that meet automotive glazing requirements. Unlike traditional HUDs, WayRay technology is immune to the effects of bright sunlight.
For drivers, the Deep Reality Display means extra attention to the road with the help of an advanced driver assistance system. The system ensures that the driver will be shown only selected True AR applications that are most suitable for the traffic situation at a particular moment.
In autonomous vehicles, the driver and passengers can immediately see whether the autopilot has detected the source of danger, and, accordingly, react quickly.
The innovative and unique WayRay technology has been developed in close cooperation with exclusive international partners. To develop a transparent photopolymer film for volumetric holographic optical elements (vHOE), WayRay has entered into an exclusive partnership with one of the world's leading suppliers of high-tech polymer materials Covestro AG, based in Leverkusen, Germany. AGP eGlass, a leading global leader in the development and production of high-tech automotive glazing from Ghent, Belgium, is responsible for integrating this special thin layer into the lamination of curved windshield, which allows you to use the full potential of the vHOE.