How can automated vehicles be smoothly coordinated in complex traffic situations? This was demonstrated at an event on connected cooperative driving, held on 9 April at Ulm University and at a test junction in Lehr, a suburb of Ulm, as part of the PoDIUM project. The event showcased new networking and cooperative technologies for highly automated driving. It was organised by Ulm University, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the companies Bosch and Nokia. The four partners are part of the EU PoDIUM project’s German Living Lab.
The day´s highlight was a live demonstration. The scenario: a road lane is blocked by a stationary vehicle. Two automated vehicles must carry out a cooperative manoeuvre to pass the obstacle. To ensure traffic continues to flow in the blocked lane, the oncoming vehicle in the free lane – although it has the right of way – must give way to the vehicle stuck behind the obstruction. ‘For human drivers, a cooperative manoeuvre like this is nothing unusual. From a technical standpoint, however, it presents a significant challenge for automated vehicles,’ explains Professor Michael Buchholz from the Institute of Measurement, Control and Microtechnology at Ulm University, who is coordinating the work in the German Living Lab.
Server in Mobile Network Actively Controls Cooperative Manoeuvre
For automated vehicles to interact safely, they require as much data as possible about their surroundings – such as information on other road users and the traffic environment. They access a wide array of camera and sensor data, which is processed to create an accurate environmental model. In initial trials, the researchers used data from sensors not only within the automated vehicles but also in traffic infrastructure. To this end, light poles at the Ulm Lehr test junction were fitted with sensors and cameras. The vehicles use radio communications to access not only the data, but also a computing unit that supports the generation of the environment model and actively controls the cooperative behaviour. During the project and demonstration, it was shown that this kind of cooperative manoeuvre planning could even be carried out on the server using only the vehicles’ sensor data. Approaches such as this demonstrate that road traffic can be made more efficient without the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.
A so-called ‘cooperation planner’, developed by Bosch as part of the project, planned the cooperative driving manoeuvre on the server and issued instructions to the participating vehicles accordingly. ‘Our technology ensures that the vehicles interact safely with one another during the overtaking manoeuvre,’ explains Dr Tobias Müller from Bosch. Both mobile communication and a special Wi-Fi were used for data transmission. ‘Normal’ 5G mobile communications (cm-wave) were employed, as well as the even faster 5G variant in the so-called millimetre-wave range (mm-wave). ‘This allows very high data rates to be transmitted in the shortest time, although it has only a limited range,’ says Steffen Schulz from Nokia. In addition, a Wi-Fi pilot system for a 60-GHz network developed jointly by Ulm University and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) was also used. ‘A control unit that we specifically developed for an adaptive data routing system allows multiple channels to be switched in parallel or selects the least busy channel,’ explains Professor Amr Rizk, formerly with UDE. In the first case, this ensures faster reception, and in the second, greater bandwidth during transmission. Ulm University has also contributed: researchers there have developed methods to enhance environmental modelling and assess the quality of the models and underlying data. The technologies used were explained in more detail during the technical discussions following the demonstration drives and were discussed within the project consortium.
The results from PoDIUM’s German Living Lab will feed into further research aimed at optimising connected, cooperative and automated mobility (CCAM). With the successful demonstration in Ulm, the researchers and developers have also reached a key milestone for the overall project. The final chapter of PoDIUM is expected at the closing event in Barcelona, likely to be held in September. There, results from the Italian and Spanish Living Labs will also be presented, and all findings will be brought together. Until then, research into cooperative driving will of course continue, with the aim of making road traffic safer and more efficient.
Background:
PoDIUM (PDI connectivity and cooperation enablers building trust and sustainability for CCAM) is a European joint project researching the communication and collaboration of connected and automated vehicles. Its goal is to develop a highly reliable physical and digital infrastructure (PDI) for safe and efficient mobility. The overall project is coordinated by Dr Angelos Amditis, Director Research & Development at the Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS) in Athens. PoDIUM has a budget of more than 12 million Euros and is funded by the European Union with nearly 9 million Euros as part of Horizon Europe. A total of 24 research institutions, universities and companies from eight different European countries are involved. In three Living Labs located in Germany, Spain and Italy, partners from industry and academia have developed and tested various use cases. PoDIUM began in 2022 and will run until 2025. The aim is to develop innovative technologies for real-time communication, data processing and networked control to support future mobility solutions.
Further information:
Prof. Dr Michael Buchholz, Institute of Measurement, Control and Microtechnology, Ulm University, e-mail: michael.buchholz(at)uni-ulm.de
Text and media contact:Andrea Weber-Tuckermann
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