Categories
Dissemination

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of the COPE (Collective Perception) project was to achieve a significant reduction in accidents involving vulnerable road users by significantly improving the effectiveness of the driver assistance systems of (partially) automated vehicles by networking the vehicles with each other and with the infrastructure in order to enable them to better exchange their own intentions for the cooperative adjustment of their driving manoeuvres and to expand the sensory acquisition with the sensor and object information from other vehicles and the infrastructure with other viewing angles on the critical road users.

The project investigated how the appropriate information is exchanged in order to safely make the right decisions for the most effective actions to avoid collisions and dangerous situations. An essential element was to formulate the intentions of the road users in a suitable form so that they can be clearly interpreted by the other road users and taken into account in the manoeuvre planning.

In the course of the project, a data fusion platform available to all partners was developed in the form of an OPC server, which made it possible to process sensitive data via infrastructure sensors and connected cars. In the process, the historical, current and predicted status was made available to the modules of the different partners. The experiences in the project showed that special attention must be paid to a uniform and continuous data transmission of the sensed scene to the common data platform. In this context, a stable source, for example for position and orientation data, is necessary for the acquisition of real-time data. Depending on the quality of the sensor technology or the processing software, failures occur in the determination of position and orientation, which could be compensated by integrating plausibility checks in real time using combined UHD map material, for example particle filter-based map matching.

The above-mentioned common data platform including its input modules was operated decentrally at the physical locations of the partners during the development phase of the demonstrator. For example, the sensing of position data at the Hallein/Pernerinsel junction took place in the form of edge computing on an embedded system. The generation of test data for the Connected Cars was partly carried out in Vienna. The common data platform in the form of an OPC server was operated in Graz. This mode allowed flexible and efficient further development of the individual components without the need for constant on-site integration tests. Naturally, tests of the latency of the entire system could only be carried out to a limited extent. A possible solution would be to containerise the entire system and operate it as a unit at a common location. Software development methods from the field of Continuous Integration would be suitable for this.

The technical developments were successfully implemented in Hallein and Linz. COPE was demonstrated (and also presented to representatives of the city of Linz) at an ATTC event (C-ITS Verkehrslösungen in der Autobahnmeisterei, https://www.attc.at/c-its-demo-18-10-2022/) in Vienna that was visible throughout Austria. The project partners will continue to work together on the project results (an application is currently being prepared). The following topics will be addressed in this project: How can a crossroads of the future with an open and secure exchange of information look like? It will be investigated how an actual effectiveness evaluation can be demonstrated by means of actual execution and evaluation of a concrete function implementation with different vehicle and motorcycle OEMs at a real intersection. This implementation includes both a refined technical implementation (e.g. UHD map with simultaneous low latency of real-time data and VRUs) and generally valid improved behavioural models of all road users.

The COPE project was implemented within the framework of the call for proposals “Mobility of the Future – 14th Call for Proposals” (FFG number 879622). Project partners were: ANDATA, JOANNEUM RESEARCH, HITEC, SWARCO FUTURIT, FH OÖ – LOGISTIKUM (project management).

Categories
Digital Twin Dissemination

COPE at the ATTC event about the topic on current C-ITS achievements

On October 18, the ATTC members met with invited guests from research, development, implementation and operation to show and discuss the latest achievements and developments in the field of C-ITS, Car2X, V2X, Future’s Mobility, #CCAM (Cooperative, Connected, Automated Mobility), Intelligent Road.

FH-OÖ/Logistikum, Joanneum Research, HiTec and Swarco, ANDATA presented results from the project COPE – Collective Perception on collision avoidance with vulnerable road users. Two of our vehicles drove in real life in the city of Hallein and were displayed live in Vienna in the Kaisermühlen motorway maintenance department via a digital twin of the model region and an ongoing estimation of the collision risks was carried out in order to intervene in the traffic situation at an early stage, prevent accidents and reduce dangers.

The digital twin of the transport system of the city of Hallein was implemented in accordance with the DIGEST project, which has also just been successfully completed. In doing so, the requirements of formal information modeling were strictly followed in order to prepare a basis for later services such as ISAD/ODD (Infrastructure Support for Automated Driving with distributed ODD awareness) and subsequently expand it into a CCAM Decision Support Platform.

Categories
Dissemination

Conference Announcements for May 2022

In May 2022, live events and conferences will finally start again, at which we will be present directly on site.

The first event will be the 35th VDI Conference for Driver Assistance Systems and Automated Driving on May 17th in Aachen. There, ANDATA will present the project COPE and its solutions for the cooperative avoidance of collisions and dangers with vulnerable road users utilizing C-ITS communication.

It continues on May 19th at the SafetyWeek 2022 in Würzburg with a talk about the “Criticality assessment of driving situations for ADAS Level 2”. We will report in depth on various possibilities of how exactly collision and danger avoidance mathematically works and can be evaluated.

Finally various members of the project consortium are invited to represent the approaches of the projects COPE and DIGEST with digital twins and the cooperative sharing of information in several Special Interest Sessions at the ITS Europe Congress 2022 in Toulouse, beginning at May 30th.

Categories
Digital Twin

OPC-UA as foundation for a Collective Perception Map

Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist Screenshot-2022-03-29-at-11.02.52-1024x412.png

Within the Project COPE a central database named Collective Perception Map, which provides interfaces following the Open Platform Communications – Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) is developed. These allow for the secure and correct transmission of the variables denoting the intersection’s current traffic situation. These data is available in real time in a machine readable format.

Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist Screenshot-2022-03-29-at-11.21.56-1024x483.png

The COPE map, after having been initialised with a static UHD map, is refreshed constantly with position traces of vehicles and VRUs, determined by local traffic infrastructure. These data is considered by a trajectory prediction module, which feeds collision predictions back. Consequently, a machine-readable image of the current and the next status is obtainable through the OPC server.

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Digital Twin Dissemination

COPE methods presented at automotive Grand Challenge 2021

At carhs – the #1 information platform for automotive safety – the automotive Grand Challenge 2021 on 19/20 October was once again about the latest trends in virtual product development and computer aided engineering.   

The methods for scenario- and data-based development and validation of connected, cooperative, automated driving functions, as they are currently being intensively applied, constantly expanded and refined in the project COPE, were presented by ANDATA.

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Digital Twin Dissemination

COPE at the ACIMobility Summit in Braunschweig

In Braunschweig – the German hotspot for connected driving – the newly arranged ACIMobility Summit took place on 21 and 22 September 2021 under the organisation of NFF, DLR and ITS mobilty.

ANDATA presented the project COPE (Collective Perception) and the methodological approaches it pursues for the development of networked algorithms for the development and avoidance of collisions with vulnerable road users. The development and safeguarding of such dirstributed algorithms require new forms of cooperation and collaboration, for which Braunschweig with the accomapnying test field of Lower Saxony offers excellent conditions.

Categories
Bike

Winner of the Race Across Germany 2021

(C) Team MIA4

The winner of the Race Across Germany 2021 is Dominik Meierhofer!

That way “our” development and test bike rider for the project COPE pursues his success story of 2021 and continues to deliver invalueable data for the develoment of collision avoidance systems for vulnerable road users.

We congratulate cordially on the safe way to Vision Zero!

Categories
Dissemination

Virtual ATTC Event

Topic:
“C-ITS in urban areas with a focus on vulnerable road users”

Wolfgang Schildorfer / Logistikum der FHOÖ,
Andreas Kuhn / ANDATA,
Thomas Novak / Swarco Futurit and
Patrick Luley / JOANNEUM RESEARCH

presented the project COPE in the context of the virtual ATTC event on March 24, 2021.

The project team presented different topics like project context, goals, challenges, use cases, system design, UHD maps and C-ITS-related topics.

Furthermore, first results were presented to the 35 participants from industry, politics and research. And at the end, COPE’s main goal to increase traffic safety in urban intersections with C-ITS were highlighted by all presenters.

Categories
Digital Twin

First Recordings for Digital Twins in Hallein and Linz

The teams of Joanneum Research and ANDATA executed their first recordings for a high-precision “Digital Twin” of Hallein this week. The subsequent day, equivalent measurements were done in Linz with the support of DigiTrans.

The above 3D pictures illustrate an exemplary excerpt of the recordings from the Pernerinsel in Hallein including the according infrastructure with a precision in the range of centimetres. (C) Joanneum Research

The 3D models serve as a fundament for vehicle and traffic simulations, in which the effects of the various vehicle algorithms for collision avoidance with the help of vehicle-to-motorcycle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication in combination of different vehicle and infrastructure sensors are investigated in a wide variety of configurations with different behavioural patterns of the vulnerable road users.

The meassurement team…
…with the high precision unit of JR…
…in action during the recording session.
Categories
Bicycle Project Info

Race Around Austria winner delivers data for the development of new, connected vehicle safety systems

This year’s Race Around Austria starts on Wednesday, Aug. 13th, 2020. Last year’s winner Dominik Meierhofer will be back, now supported also by ANDATA and the project COPE.

The project COPE is about developing new vehicle safety systems to prevent collisions and dangerous situations with vulnerable road users (cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians), starting in September 2020. This is to be done with the help future’s increased connected mobility by interconnecting road users with each other and with the infrastructure. The methodology for this is carried out by means of artificial intelligence for the assessment and cooperative awareness of traffic situations with collective perception.

With an average of more than 15,000 kilometres on the bike per year, Dominik is the ideal candidate for the collection of the relevant bicycle scenarios and situations to develop future’s networked, cooperative, automated vehicle functions. ANDATA will incorporate the situations collected by Dominik into the scenario database of the project COPE.  

For the RAA 2020 we wish all the best! Drive save at full speed, being inspired by your pace! The race progress can be watched at https://race.perfect-tracking.com/race/raa2020/live