Skip to main content

Cooperative driving will become common by 2020, say researchers

The international Celtic Plus Co-operative Mobility Services of the Future (CoMoSeF) project which, involved the development of data exchange between vehicles and infrastructure, has just presented its findings. The resulting communication system provides drivers with real time information on road weather, road conditions and incidents. During the project a cooperative roadside weather monitoring station run by the Finnish Meteorological Institute relays the latest reports – and weather updates covering
July 1, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
The international Celtic Plus Co-operative Mobility Services of the Future (CoMoSeF) project which, involved the development of data exchange between vehicles and infrastructure, has just presented its findings. The resulting communication system provides drivers with real time information on road weather, road conditions and incidents.

During the project a cooperative roadside weather monitoring station run by the Finnish Meteorological Institute relays the latest reports – and weather updates covering larger road areas – to vehicles in the vicinity, using short-range WLAN-based ITS-G5 technology and the mobile phone network. This data is received by a vehicle system developed by 814 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The system can receive multichannel data either via ITS-G5 mediating between vehicles, or the mobile phone network. The switch from one signal reception technology to another is so fast that there are no breaks in contact with the station.

Data transfer techniques of this kind, which seamlessly combine several radio systems, have recently emerged as a potential model for the ITS solutions of the future.

”As it proliferates, cooperative driving based on communication and data exchange between vehicles and road network systems will noticeably improve traffic safety,” says Johan Scholliers principal scientist at VTT.

Cooperative traffic systems will extend the electronic horizon of vehicles, so that drivers can prepare in advance for hazards which they know are lurking behind corners. This will help drivers and vehicles to anticipate traffic more effectively and to decide accordingly on issues such as the right speed and choice of route.

These solutions represent a step towards automated, smart traffic. It is predicted that cooperative driving will be part of everyday life by the 2020s. One objective which is likely to accelerate uptake lies in markedly lowering the price of the required vehicle infrastructure.

One of the project's test sites has been the Hervanta feeder road and E63 exit ramp close to Tampere, where a cooperative road side unit with camera and laser scanner has been installed on the ramp for fog surveillance purposes. Another station relaying weather data to vehicles has been installed along the E75 road south of Sodankylä town centre.

In addition to Finland, intelligent traffic solutions and services have been developed and tested under the CoMoSeF project in France, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Turkey and South Korea, where road traffic faces different challenges to those of Finland.

The three-year CoMoSeF project was led by the Tampere company DDS/Mobisoft which, in addition to project coordination, gathers real-time traffic information from taxis in the city and relays processed traffic and road condition information to in-vehicle devices in taxis. Finnish participants included the Finnish Meteorological Institute, VTT, Infotripla, Taipale Telematics and Centria. There were also enterprises and research institutions from six other countries: France, Spain, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey and South Korea.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Connected Vehicles test vehicle to vehicle applications
    January 19, 2012
    In the US, the ITS Joint Program Office is about to conduct a series of Driver Clinics intended to gauge public reaction to Connected Vehicle safety technologies and applications. Starting in August, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will test Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) applications with everyday drivers in what it describes as 'normal operational scenarios'. These Driver Clinics are being carried out at six locations across the US and together with the subsequent model deployment beginning in 2012,
  • VTT appoints autonomous systems subsidiary CEO
    November 15, 2019
    VTT has appointed Jere Laaksonen as CEO of a new subsidiary aimed at developing autonomous systems. The company says VTT Sense Way will provide autonomous systems for transport, logistics and mobile work machines. VTT’s CEO Antti Vasara says the company is looking for solutions to tackle challenges such as resource sufficiency and industrial renewal. “We want to ensure that the results of cutting-edge research reach the markets and become a part of the business world and people’s everyday lives more rapi
  • Lufft sensors help German smart city
    August 10, 2020
    Using data can increase efficiency. Jerg Theurer of Mhascaro explains how one German town is becoming a smart city – with some help from Lufft sensors in a winter roads project
  • Innovative road app delivers real time roads conditions
    March 3, 2015
    The Alberta Motor Association (AMA), IBI Group and GreenOwl Mobile have joined forces to deliver a big leap forward in keeping drivers in Alberta, Canada, informed of traffic issues. The next generation AMA Road Reporter app allows motorists to share their own reports, adding shared real-time road condition and traffic information to the already useful road condition data available. Available to both Android and Apple device users, the app is free and can be used to receive and share immediate, real-time ro