European Driver's desk advanced concept implementation - Contribution to Foster Interoperability

Projektinformationen

EUDDPLUS

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 31555

Startdatum 1 Juli 2006

Enddatum 31 Januar 2010

Finanziert unter

• Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems: thematic priority 6 under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006.

Gesamtkosten € 3 230 886,00

EU-Beitrag € 1 799 198,00

Koordiniert durch

TSB INNOVATIONSAGENTUR BERLIN GMBH / FORSCHUNGS - UND ANWENDUNGSVERBUND VERKEHRSSYSTEMTEC
Germany

Final Report Summary - EUDDPLUS (European Driver's desk advanced concept implementation - Contribution to Foster Interoperability)

The project EUDDPLUS aimed at the development, in-field testing and validation of the interoperable, harmonised and modularised train driver's desk. More specific, EUDDPLUS project aimed at the reduction of the life cycle costs (LCC) of the system driver's desk of about 15 % compared to today's reference cases. Moreover, the project aimed to justify the ergonomic advantages of the new desk configuration by scientific analysis and to prove the technical and operational feasibility of the desk layout and therefore the practical implementation of the operational requirements specification (ORS) 612 resulting from the MODTRAIN project.

The general objectives of the project EUDDPLUS were the following:
- to achieve a reduction of the LCC of the system driver's desk of at least 15 % compared to the reference case (given by the test locomotive with conventional desk). The LCC calculations shall consider all elements of the product's lifetime, which are: to justify the ergonomic advantages of the EUDD desk layout during in-field tests;
- to prove the technical and operational feasibility of the EUDD concept and MODTRAIN ORS 612 implementation;
- to facilitate the future series homologation procedure of the EUDDPLUS desk layout for all European networks by involving the European Rail Agency (ERA) and the national authorities for the entire project duration via a user platform.

At an early stage of the project the precision and the specification of the desk concept were performed according to the available drafts of the ORS 612 from the MODTRAIN project. The further work plan consisted of the following major steps:
- Specification compliant to ORS/FRS/SyRS/FIS, development and vehicle integration of the new desk including software development.
- In-field tests on the Wildenrath railway test ring by re-enacting cross-border operation involving drivers from several European operators to test the advantages of the driver's desk (usability testing).
- Draft of recommendations for future broad scale exploitation and future certification.

After the in-field tests took place the test results gathered by questionnaires, by an eye tracking system and by operational data recorded has been scientifically evaluated by the ergonomics' point of view.

The project was structured into eight work packages (WPs), as follows:

WP 1: Project management
The WP 1 was dedicated to perform the project management tasks. It comprised the technical as well as the administrative coordination.

WP 2: EUDDPLUS user platform
Train operating companies (TOCs) outside the project consortium (namely SBB, SNCF) were involved in the final discussions about the EUDDPLUS concept precision and specifications as well as during the preparation of the in-field tests. UNIFE involved the system, subsystem and component suppliers via different UNIFE groups: the technical plenary and the topical group CAB. Several presentations were given to inform the members of these groups with the current status of the project. As several project partners are members of CEN WG 37, this group was also informed continuously about the project's progress.

WP 3: Homologation support
In WP 3 the preparatory work for the in-field test certification started right after the kick-off. The following tasks had been fulfilled within WP 3:
- Proof that the EUDDPLUS specifications meet the essential requirements defined in the Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC and specified in the conventional rail technical specification for interoperability locomotive and passenger rolling stock (CR TSI Loc&Pas RST).
- Integration of the EUDDPLUS specifications in a spreadsheet which contains a detailed list of parameters and their link to the requirements of certification authorities and network operators of several European countries.

WP 4: EUDDPLUS concept precision and specification
First result of the work within WP 4 was an analysis of critical aspects for final concept decision. The work within WP 4 had been continued with the following tasks: elaboration of the EUDDPLUS desk configuration according to EUCAB and former EUDD results, comparison of the Alstom PRIMA II desk design with the UIC 612, adaption of the design for the tests, elaboration of different drawings of the desk and specification of the four display screens (TRD, ETD, CCD, TDD), specification of hardware and software for set point values of speed, dynamic braking and automatic braking and for the travel direction selector.

WP 5: System engineering
Within WP 5 the specification of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic and TCMS interfaces according to the concept requirements, the development and adaption of hardware desk components including the electrical traction brake controller, the automatic brake, the automatic speed control and the auxiliary desk, and the development and testing of software for the four displays / terminals have been done.

WP 6: Construction and desk integration
The work within WP 6 included the implementation and evaluation of the EUDDPLUS demonstrator desk according to the specifications given by WP 4 and WP 5 into the PRIMA II locomotive test platform, the construction of the desk including the cabling, the mounting of equipment, the testing before vehicle integrating into the locomotive and the vehicle integration of the prototype desk according to the specification.

WP 7: In-field test programme and evaluation
Based on the decision to perform the in-field tests at Wildenrath test centre the test programme has been specified according to the needs of the project (scientific evaluation from the ergonomics' point of view and input for authorisation activities) on the one hand and the technical, operational and organisational constraints on the other hand. The test scenarios had been designed in a way that made the drivers able to use all the driving equipment at least one time, including different operational modes (normal operation, degraded modes, shunting). The scenarios had been scheduled to enable the nearly same test conditions for every test driver.

Certain methods for collection of objective and subjective data have been applied during and immediately after the test runs:
- measurement of the luminance in the cab;
- recording of the driver's eye movements;
- recording of driving data;
- observation of the actions of the driver;
- questionnaires for assessment of the desk ergonomics, the display units, the interaction of the software and hardware;
- stress and strain assessments;
- comments of the driver while driving on the locomotive or on the simulator.

An eye tracking system was used to register the eye movements of the test drivers during the driving, which allows the extraction of the following information:
- number of visits on an area of interest (e.g. how often the display TDD was looked at?)
- number of fixations in an area of interest (e.g. how intensive the TDD has been regarded during the whole registration time?)
- duration of attention (e.g. the analysis of the relative time the test drivers look at the control elements or displays in comparison to the relative time they look at the track)
- transitions between areas of interest (e.g. how many percent of test drivers look immediately up at the track after having looked at the TDD?)
- reception sequence between areas of interest (e.g. which way goes the eye flow from a starting point like e.g. the TDD over two or more areas of interest?)
Eye movement registration data of all test drivers were cumulated to:
- show how much attention test drivers need for control devices and display information during the operating of the scenarios;
- help to determine the reasons for the possible reports of high mental effort;
- help to analyse if the appearance of a special symbol on a display can be perceived by test drivers.

WP 8: Conclusions for broad scale exploitation
WP 8 activities have to be seen with a strong relation to WP 2, WP 3 and WP 7. On the basis of user platforms important input to WP 8 came from the TOCs, the system, subsystem and component suppliers, and from authorities, notified bodies and standardisation bodies. A realistic scenario about the exploitation and market penetration of the EUDD/EUCAB layout based on the in-field testing results as well as on the updated LCC considerations, taking into account international cross-acceptance and standardisation has been prepared. As a precondition therefore necessary test items for authorisation and LCC consideration to be verified during the infield tests had to be defined. Within WP 3 had been proved whether the EUDDPLUS specifications meet the essential requirements defined in the Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC and specified CR TSI Loc&Pas RST. The EUDDPLUS specifications had been integrated in a spreadsheet which contains a detailed list of parameters and their link to the requirements of certification authorities and network operators of several European countries.

Generally, the analysis has shown that the tested EUDDPLUS driver's desk is in conformity to a huge part of the CR TSI Loc&Pas RST. It has been demonstrated that the EUDDPLUS driver's desk and thus, major parts of the UIC 612 are in conformity to this TSI (all the items of the EUDDPLUS driver's desk that have been assessed against the CR TSI Loc&Pas RST are in conformity to UIC 612). It has been shown that UIC 612 is - at least for all the parts realised and tested in EUDDPLUS - a sound basis to ensure that the essential requirements are met by a driver's desk and therefore appropriate to enhance interoperability.

The EUDDPLUS results will actively be used in the following standardisation activities on European level:
- technical recommendation of the driver-machine-interface as an agreed paper between UIC and UNIFE, based on the UIC 612, EUCAB and EUDDPLUS results, which contributes to the CEN WG37 activities and to the implementation of the EUDDPLUS desk prototype.
- prEN CAB with a part based on the results of the EUDDPLUS project in close interaction with CEN TC256.

Verwandte Dokumente

• Final Report - EUDDPLUS (European Driver's desk advanced concept implementation - Contribution to Foster Interoperability)