SAFE STRIP project held its first Pan-European workshop on September 27 in Thessaloniki, Greece with around 40 participants. The workshop, which was hosted by CERTH/HIT, provided an opportunity for various stakeholders representing SAFE STRIP’s target clusters to discuss goals and priorities of the project in the context of EU priorities and roadmaps in the field of C-ITS and beyond. Experts from the field presented the latest advancements and recognised priorities focusing on the project’s targeted use cases and applications.
SAFE STRIP aims to introduce a disruptive technology that will embed C-ITS applications into existing road infrastructure, including I2V and V2I communications as well as VMS/VSL functions into low-cost, integrated strip markers on the road. These strips will support intelligent transport systems (ITS) services and apps as they provide personalised in-vehicle messages for all road users (trucks, cars and vulnerable road users, such as PTWs riders) and all vehicle generations (non-equipped, C-ITS equipped, autonomous), at a reduced maintenance cost, fully recyclability and containing added-value services, as well as supporting real-time predictive road maintenance functions.
Phillippe Gougeon (Valeo), Coordinator of the collaborative projects for the Comfort & Driving Assistance business group in Valeo, joined via Skype to present four examples of automotive applications at Valeo: Scoop@F, XtraVue, Cyber Valet Parking, Mov’InBlue. These solutions aim to address user needs arising from statistics showing that 90% of accidents are due to human errors, drivers in Paris spend 78 minutes per day in their car, vehicles are parked, rather than being driven, 95% of the time, and that 45% of the French population has no direct access to public transport. Through efficient connectivity these applications seek to bring more safety, provide better traffic information, reduce wasted time and improve shared mobility.
SAFE STRIP is fully in line with those priorities, as it aims to deliver four different functions for automated vehicles (Dynamic trajectory estimation for automated vehicles, Definition of lane-level virtual corridors, Tollgate management, Workzone detection) through the participation of Valeo in the Consortium.
Prof. Mauro di Lio (University of Trento), Coordinator of the EU Horizon 2020 Dreams4Cars Research and Innovation Action, presented a look at future (co)-driving agents going from human-robot interactions to learning by dream-like simulation mechanisms. The Dream4Cars architecture uses Deep Neural Network implementations to map high-level intentions of autonomous co-drivers.
The co-driver concept of Dreams4Cars will be embedded in SAFE STRIP cooperative safety applications and will be further enhanced through the accuracy that will be provided through the smart strips installed in the road.
Bill Halkias (HELLASTRON – Hellenic Association of Toll Roads Network), being also the Managing Director and CEO of ATTIKES DIADROMES S.A., talked about the roll of co-operative systems in infrastructure operation with a view to improving road safety and motorway management. Some proposals for C-ITS applications on motorways include: National Action Plan development and implementation for TMC real-time data collection & dissemination (incidents, traffic, CCTV, meteo & pollutants); C-ITS Proof Of Concept (pilot applications, e.g. Road Work Warning, Improved Traffic management by Vehicle Data, Road Hazard Warning, In Vehicle Info); Virtual Tunnel Integration; and Speed limit control and fine submission.
Mr. Halkias stressed that cost-effective maintenance and the conceptualization of future intelligent roads by a complementary mobility think-tank are currently the key priorities. The discussion following his speech stressed that interoperability and personalization are also matters of high priority. The infrastructure must be ready to host the next generation vehicles including electric and autonomous. SAFE STRIP is happy to have ATTIKES DIADROMES as one of its test sites where the system will be tried in real traffic conditions with real users (of both equipped and non-equipped vehicles). As a primarily infrastructure oriented project, SAFE STRIP is aiming at providing a low-cost solution for replacing time and cost consuming interventions and investments in infrastructure while promoting road safety and traffic efficiency.
Xavier Leal (Ortelio Ltd.), Coordinator of H2020 funded NEWBITS project, noted that many of the most promising ITS applications have failed to make it beyond trial phases because they fail to take proper stock of consumer needs, business models, existing solutions or cooperation frameworks. NEWBITS (New Business Models for ITS) aims to improve understanding of the conditions affecting C-ITS innovations by applying a business ecosystem concept to ITS, implementing a holistic intelligence process and shaping novel business models.
SAFE STRIP and NEWBITS will discuss more specific synergies, after the end of the 2nd year of the project, in view of its exploitation phase, as SAFE STRIP aims to be an exception and claim its position in the market.
Dr. Maria Gkemou (CERTH/HIT), Technical & Innovation Manager of SAFE STRIP, presented the vision, concept, implementation approach and expected impacts of the project and gave an overview of the SAFE STRIP intended use cases.
The well-attended workshop concluded with a roundtable discussion led by Dr. Evangelos Bekiaris (CERTH/HIT). At the end of the session, participants were invited to complete a survey on SAFE STRIP’s use cases prioritisation and enrichment as well as potential extensions and exploitation.
The SAFE STRIP Consortium would like to open thank all the key note speakers and participants that supported its 1st workshop and is committed to keeping them in the loop regarding upcoming progress.
Click here for more information about the workshop programme and the speakers.
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