Skip to main content

5G-Safe project developing road weather services based on vehicle data

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is coordinating the 5G-Safe project, which is part of Tekes’ Challenge Finland competition. It is focused on the identification of local weather and road conditions on the basis of data collected from vehicles, and the sending of warnings to road users. In addition, real-time video and radar data will be exchanged between passing vehicles. Other issues being investigated include the use of data on local road weather conditions to improve the situational awareness of
April 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
814 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is coordinating the 5G-Safe project, which is part of Tekes’ Challenge Finland competition. It is focused on the identification of local weather and road conditions on the basis of data collected from vehicles, and the sending of warnings to road users. In addition, real-time video and radar data will be exchanged between passing vehicles.


Other issues being investigated include the use of data on local road weather conditions to improve the situational awareness of autonomous vehicles and the enhancement of autonomous operation in harsh weather.

The services currently being developed require no action during driving in order to send data or warnings. Instead, the prevailing local weather and road conditions are automatically identified based on data collected from vehicles. Warnings and other useful information are sent in real-time to road users, road operators and autonomous vehicle control systems. The new network and cloud computing technologies being researched under the project aim to reduce delays in data exchange and be more scalable than current services.

According to Tiia Ojanperä, a project manager from VTT, the wide introduction of real-time services, based on sensor and video data collected from vehicles, is being made possible by next-generation 5G mobile network technology and new solutions supporting optimal data collection and exchange.

As an example, he says 5G will form the cornerstone of interaction between autonomous cars. Contemporary driver support systems are mainly vision-based, relying on signals generated by the vehicle’s sensors. 5G and short-range radios will also bring the power of speech and hearing to vehicles, taking their capabilities to a new level, he claims.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The future of in-vehicle navigation systems
    February 3, 2012
    TRL's Alan Stevens looks at the evolution and future prospects of in-vehicle navigation devices. Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) plays a crucial role in the safety of vehicles on our roads. Until we achieve full automation (and that's a debatable prospect anyway) a driver's interaction with the vehicle - all the controls, information and systems - holds a pivotal role in safe driving.
  • Is DSRC progressive enough for future connected mobility?
    February 3, 2012
    Dedicated Short Range Communications technology, says Cisco's Paul Brubaker, is not by itself progressive enough to sustain long-term innovation in the connected mobility environment - and yet IPv6 and other developments remain largely ignored by policy-makers
  • The move towards shared telematics platforms
    February 27, 2013
    Is the end for dedicated, in-vehicle telematics systems now in sight? Some seemed to think so at the recent Telematics Munich 2012 conference… Geoff Hadwick reports. Forget smartphone apps – leave that sort of thing to Apple and Google,” Roger Lanctot, associate director of the global automotive practice at consultancy Strategy Analytics told more than 700 delegates in Munich last month at the Telematics Munich 2012 conference. They are a waste of time and money, he said. Forget putting too much data on das
  • Buses services benefit from seamless Wi-Fi data transfer
    April 9, 2014
    Ted Bowser explains how the almost total Wi-Fi coverage at Ride-On’s new bus garage is providing big benefits for the operator and passengers alike. The ability to download and upload data to and from the various systems on board buses has become central to mass transit operators’ business model. So when Ride-On, the public transportation system in Maryland’s Montgomery County, was moving one of its three depots into a bigger and purpose-built facility, connectivity was a key consideration.