The third InterCor TESTFEST took place from Monday 8 – Thursday 11 October 2018 at Buckmore Park in Chatham, Kent (UK) with thirty three participants from more than six countries, as well as automotive companies.
The goal of the Hybrid TESTFEST was to test the delivery of Day-1 services operating in a “hybrid” combination of ITS-G5 and cellular communication systems. The TESTFEST also investigated the cross-border interoperability of these services through a separate deployment of two distinct C-ITS systems into “Country A” and “Country B” systems.
First day of the TESTFEST kicked off with bench tests followed by track testing while the afternoon saw participants started testing on the live strategic road network, with basic functions of ITS-G5 and cellular operations.
Tuesday saw more complex testing with the day’s events split into two half day testing’s. Specifically, Hybrid served In-Vehicle Signage (IVS) and Roadworks Warning (RWW) services were trialed by participants in the morning, to explore the utility of these functions through both ITS-G5 and cellular technology. The afternoon focused on cellular served interoperability to demonstrate the capacity of cross-border operability of the technology on the road network. Tuesday afternoon also saw the interoperability test which incorporates a virtual border between two sections known as ‘country A’ and ‘country B’. The virtual border tests the cellular interoperability using IVS speed advice alongside a free text to indicate the change of service provider. The test demonstrated the effective use of C-ITS across borders and works towards achieving the aims of InterCor.
On the third day of the TESTFEST participants travelled to the Kier depot in Greenwich for remote urban tests delivered by Transport for London (TfL) with the aim to test utilising cellular technology for the delivery of day one services in urban areas.The area surrounding the Kier depot ran as a single cellular site for testing and establishing communications with vehicles. IVS, RWW and Green Light Optimised Speed Advice (GLOSA) were tested in a single scenario route. The GLOSA services and IVS signs replicated real traffic control and traffic management indications, offering a huge range of measurement opportunities. As such, the day’s trial scenarios delivered substantive data.
Final day of the TESTFEST was originally divided into two testing scenarios, Rural ITS-G5 GLOSA and Hybrid Served IVS and RWW (through ITS-G5 and cellular), to trial the delivery of these services on a rural road network. However, as a result of the week’s test scenarios, the UK team updated technical systems to facilitate running regulatory and informative message codes. This development enabled greater participation as services could be viewed on additional HMIs. As a result, testing became more fluid and all services were run over both of the testing scenarios. Representatives from Cisco, Vodafone, AESIN, ITS UK, RAC Foundation and other organisations were welcomed for test drives prior to the plenary session.
The plenary session ran for the remainder of Thursday afternoon with presentations from Richard Silvester of Transport for London, Mark Cracknell from Meridian Mobility Technology and Phillip Proctor of Highways England. The objectives of the A2M2 InterCor project and TestFest were outlined and the future developments for connected vehicles explored alongside the potential benefits they offer.
The end of the UK TESTFEST marked the next stage of the project as it moves into pilot and data is gathered for evaluation. The next and final TESTFEST will take place during three weeks in March 2019 to test the interoperability of user devices from all four Member states at each other’s pilot locations.
