9.9.2024

Nodeon drives the development of autonomous traffic

Infrastructure and digitalization News R&D Smart City Smart Mobility

Nodeon participated in the three-year TRANSACT Project, funded by the EU’s HORIZON 2020 program, which involved 29 companies and organizations from 9 different countries. The project’s goal was to develop a reference architecture for the cloud transition of safety-critical cyber-physical systems (CPS).

Transport is one area where the operation of these systems impacts people’s safety. Nodeon took part in the project’s Revolutionary Urban Public Transport use case, focusing on VTT’s autonomous minibus. Through this, we tested the functionality of data exchange between traffic control systems, situational awareness systems, and the vehicle in various scenarios.

Traffic uncertainties pose challenges for autonomous vehicles

Traffic uncertainties, such as pedestrians and changing conditions, are difficult to predict and detect for autonomous vehicles, which increases the risk of accidents. One potential solution to this problem is a remote driver, who can take control of the vehicle and assist it in challenging situations.

As a solution, we provided the vehicle with real-time data on traffic light status and when the light would change (time to green). This information was transmitted to the vehicle via C-ITS messages through our partner’s TLEX platform and Nodeon’s Asgard platform. This data improves the vehicle’s ability to navigate traffic light-controlled intersections both in autonomous and remote driving modes, even if visual contact with the traffic lights is obstructed.

Using the same systems, we also transmitted AI-based camera footage of pedestrian crossings, captured from blind spots, provided by our partner ViNotion B.V. With this information, the minibus autonomously stopped if a pedestrian was approaching from a blind spot. The remote driver also benefited from the data provided by the cameras.

Situational awareness brings benefits now and in the future

It is important to note that these solutions do not require the vehicle to be fully autonomous. Improved situational awareness will assist both autonomous vehicles and their remote drivers in the future, but these solutions can also be beneficial for traditional drivers today.

Our work continues in the next research program (Smartrail3), where we will apply the knowledge we gained to develop autonomous movement for trams.

Explore our C-ITS solutions.