Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AUGMENTED CCAM (Augmenting and Evaluating the Physical and Digital Infrastructure for CCAM deployment)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-06-30
According to the evolving ERTRAC roadmap, the key enablers to resolve the Vision 2050 challenges are namely infrastructure, AI and validation that will need a permanent development in parallel to market solutions, as technologies, investments and business models need to go hand in hand. According to the vision, in Year 2050, vehicles are expected to have 100% real-time connectivity on the relevant road network, in order to allow the greatest possible extension of AVs ODD and, at the same time, the maximum benefits for all other connected vehicles, and, finally, through the use of a sharing and actuation enabling service framework, that will connect all road users and will deploy AI sophisticated techniques, the possibility to achieve a holistic situational awareness of the network, thus being able to apply granular traffic management strategies on vehicle and road user level. PDI merit in the transport paradigm of tomorrow and the efficient penetration of CCAM is significant. Still, the lack of understanding and clear guidance to the PDI adaptors on which are the priority and worth investing adaptations for their specific application context and considering the current and target CCAM readiness is considered as the first fundamental barrier in this direction. Current PDI classification and support schemes can work only on complementary basis and, even in that case, they still fail to provide a seamless multidimensional support, able to foster the context specific needs and priorities of all stakeholders and those imposed by evolving regulations. Next to that, PDI adaptors need to have a clear insight on the proven costs and benefits associated with the priority PDI interventions, prior to deployment, as interventions of this type are often tremendously expensive to install/integrate and maintain, with a much longer life cycle, which may prove them redundant in medium and long-term. To respond to the above, the project aims to understand, harmonise and evaluate in an augmented manner, adapted and novel support concepts of PDI, to advance its readiness for large scale deployment of CCAM solutions for all, by providing a new meticulous PDI support classification schema and an open sharing technology agnostic service operational framework for PDI enabled CCAM services and solutions. It develops, deploys and validates novel PDI support solutions for CCAM aiming to enhance the AVs ODD and the whole transport system functional safety by deploying AI and Big Data. Validation will employ a vast spectrum of physical and virtual (DT, AV and driving simulators) test beds, supported by HD maps and microscopic and macroscopic traffic simulation activities. The impact assessment on all layers, including socioeconomic aspects, will finally lead to a roadmap and recommendations towards a harmonised PDI for large scale CCAM demonstration and deployment will emerge along with a risk-aversion decision making tool.
The project kicked off successfully in September 2022. It has prepared a detailed inception report (WP1, D1.1) where the specific methodological approach has been defined. The quality, ethics and risk assessment manuals have been also defined (D1.2) and applied since then for the quality review of all outcomes of the project. Project technical and financial progress has been monitored leading progressively to the overall M1-M22 progress report. The Advisory Board of the project has been established and the first (on-line) meetings have been held. Synergies with international entities have been recognized and already 2 NDAs are under signature. 4 Partner Board meetings have taken place in this period, along with a series of virtual calls on several levels. The prioritized PDI support classification schema has been released (D2.1) the initial insight on the governance models and the reporting of the three local stakeholder groups convened in this context are available in D2.2 and the project Use Cases (D2.3). The infrastructure readiness assessment tool & the infrastructure support tools have been produced and published (WP2). In WP3, the global architecture of the project has been finalized and instantiated across the different test sites solutions (D3.1). The development of all PDI services in field and in virtual demonstration platforms is closing in this period (D3.3). Technical verification and validation activities will take place at the beginning of the next period and in view of the first pilot round to kick-off in September 2024. A taxonomy following the ODD approach, anticipating the support of PDI, has been built in the project and has been applied in all PDI solutions of the project (D3.3; D4.1). The DT (and virtual demonstrators) framework has been developed (D3.3). 2 project DMPs have been issued (D3.2 D3.4). The iterative implementation and validation plan has been developed whereas full experimental plans have been issued for the two pilot rounds upcoming in the next period (D4.1). The impact assessment framework with the project KPIs is released (D5.1). Two versions of the project exploitation plans have been released (D6.2 & D6.4) encompassing the first list of project KERs and the methodology for the assessment of their Innovation Readiness, whilst the project has created its web site, its social media accounts and dissemination material (leaflets, posters, first version of project video) and has been already active in several conferences through sessions, speeches and publications (D6.1 D6.3). The 1st Pan-European workshop of the project has been held in Riga on 13.09.2023. The project is considered to have achieved all its objectives for the period.
The PDI schema developed goes beyond SoA as it builds and leverages on all relevant past work in the field whereas it addresses all vehicle cohorts, design however in the basis of “Sense –Plan - Act” of CAVs. The ODD approach has included for the first time the PDI support (vs past works), and the ODD based design and development of services will make accurate the specific impact of the developed PDI services on it and depending the type of the CAV demonstrator it assumes them. The impact assessment and validation framework of the project aims to outlive the project as it provides essential research information on which are the KPIs that are relevant for the PDI for CCAM validation, how they can be calculated and how they can be validated in field and all relevant virtual test platforms. A DT framework has been developed in the project to encompass CCAM and PDI support for CCAM as well as interconnection to all the virtual demonstration platforms.