ARCADE Project: The CAD Knowledge Base represents a step towards the successful integration of autonomous mobility
AustriaTech as an Agency of the Austrian Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology acts as an interface between industry, research and policy. We have been active in various projects on automated and connected mobility since 2014. As national contact point (NCP) on automated mobility, we also accompany national lighthouse projects and test-environments and we actively support knowledge exchange for and with the national and European eco-system. The collaboration within the project ARCADE with its knowledge base is a great example of how we can accelerate innovative trends and transformational processes. To collect and provide all relevant knowledge is a challenge in itself – as it has not only been about gathering from many different sources, but also about linking to practical actions and communities. International exchange is vital for us to harmonise the various approaches and to integrate connected and automated mobility into our transport system.
In addition, the testing of automated vehicles on public roads is another way of gathering knowhow and shaping common understanding for the development of the needed framework for connected and automated mobility. As NCP, AustriaTech is actively engaged in the process of providing test exemptions on the Austrian road network, as well as in various European projects addressing safe testing, evaluation of impacts or providing necessary digital infrastructures. The adjustment of our infrastructure to support and benefit from automated mobility is one of the key essentials – besides being clear on impacts on environment and society – which you can only guarantee if you have the digital tools. It is important to remember that automation is actually much more than just “hands off the wheel”. A distinction must be made between what drivers or vehicles are already allowed or able to do in various situations today and what will be possible with Level 4 connected mobility services in the future. The EU-funded project INFRAMIX – coordinated by AustriaTech – is a prominent example of recent efforts regarding the role of digital infrastructure and a respective new understanding of traffic flows and traffic management solutions. In order to be able to define and classify all needed components, we’ve developed a scheme of so-called ISAD classes. ISAD – Infra Support for Automated Driving – is a simple classification scheme that indicates the level of support given by the infrastructure to automated vehicles. There are five possible levels A to E, where A represents the highest level, while E means that there is no digital infrastructure at all. The scheme is intended to support the timely introduction of infrastructure networks suitable for automation. Our first version of the scheme is focusing more or less on our European highway network. As a next step, it could be incorporated at further levels of mobility and infrastructure planning.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) for example, has just recently established a working group on “Preparing the transport infrastructure for autonomous mobility”, which we are co-chairing. Within that working group we want to achieve a common understanding on the role of different infrastructure aspects – physical, digital, data as well as regulatory and institutional – and to define common next steps together with the industry.
Source: CAD
Attachments
In: Connectivity & Automation