Skip to main content

University to develop intelligent in-cab lorry routing system

Technology developed by the UK’s University of Leicester is to play a vital part in a new million-euro transport project of the European Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation programme of the European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance. The SATURN (SATellite applications for URbaN mobility) project, coordinated by the Aerospace Valley in France, is a large-scale demonstrator of innovative solutions for better mobility, less congestion, more safety and security. The university will build and
May 20, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Technology developed by the UK’s University of Leicester is to play a vital part in a new million-euro transport project of the 1690 European Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation programme of the European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance.

The SATURN (SATellite applications for URbaN mobility) project, coordinated by the Aerospace Valley in France, is a large-scale demonstrator of innovative solutions for better mobility, less congestion, more safety and security.

The university will build and demonstrate a new application for use in lorry cabs to provide directions to HGV drivers on preferred and safe routes in urban areas that minimise congestion, noise and air pollution for residents as well as drivers.

The application draws on data from space navigation satellites and geographical information systems and will be made available on a range of portable devices.

The results of large-scale demonstrations will be presented in Bordeaux during the 2015 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems.

SATURN aims to set up a regional geo-information platform bringing together Earth observation images and other sources of data to foster the emergence of new services for the mobility of citizens.

Professor Paul Monks from the University of Leicester said: “Intelligent solutions for managing HGVs as part of our logistical infrastructure in urban areas are essential. Bringing space into the picture could change the game for both hauliers and urban dwellers in routing lorries more efficiently. This is a great opportunity to work on a real-life demonstrator of this technology.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • US IntelliDrive cooperative infrastructure programme
    February 2, 2012
    The 'rebranding' of the US's Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration programme as IntelliDrive marks an effort to make the whole undertaking more accessible both in terms of nomenclature and technology. Shelley Row, director of the ITS Joint Program Office within USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, talks about the changes
  • 'Conservatism hampering ITS technical evolution'
    November 13, 2012
    Nick Lanigan, managing director of Clearview Traffic, considers the current outlook in the ITS sector from an SME's perspective. Interview with Jason Barnes. When times are hard, businesses can invest or cut. Either way, they need guidance from customers – governments – on where best to concentrate their efforts. Prolonged economic slowdown is currently an issue. A short recession, however sharp, would have left many industry players able to ride the bow-wave of governments’ multi-year spending on strategic
  • EU to support the deployment of common ITS
    January 29, 2015
    Twelve European road operators and authorities have teamed up with the European Commission in the EasyWay initiative to foster European harmonisation and interoperability of ITS through a range of projects on common standards and procedures. The EU’s Ten-T programme will contribute almost US$2.3 million to the initiative, which follows up the on-going European ITS Platform and will continue its activities towards ITS harmonisation across the continent. The EIP+ project will monitor the EasyWay deplo
  • AI is creating road maintenance savings
    July 30, 2021
    Artificial intelligence is starting to create savings for hard-pressed local authorities when it comes to road maintenance. David Crawford reviews recent advances in cost and performance control