Within the first period of the project, macro statistical and in-depth accident studies involving VRUs have been performed in Europe, focused mainly in pedestrians and cyclists. The most relevant accident scenarios have been obtained and clustered in use cases or target scenarios addressed by the project, which is the basis for the system specification. Naturalistic urban observations have been carried out in order to provide additional information with respect to the defined Use Cases. Typical behavioral schemes of traffic participants have been studied. Based on VRU detected and captured information over time, first models of determination of critical situation and collision risk estimation have been obtained. Based on HMI studies within the project, a basic HMI was under study; conceptual plans have also been designed for regarding vehicle control strategies for braking, steering or combined braking / steering interventions for implementation into the demo vehicle. Advanced articulated dummies, the driving simulator were also under study. Finally, a collection of test cases that are representative for all accident scenarios has been defined and specified. The first complete test protocol as a proposal for consumer has been obtained.
During the second period, the Consortium came up with a development of active safety solutions that address barriers of current advanced driver-assistance systems. The developed sensors intend to support a larger coverage of accident scenarios by means of: a) An extended sensor field of view (e.g. frontal stereo vision coverage increased to about 90°, radar coverage increased up to 270° covering vehicle front and one side); b) High-resolution and sensitive microwave radar sensors with enhanced micro-Doppler capabilities for a better radar-based VRU classification.
In the last stage, improved VRU sensing and situational analysis functions (enlarged sensor coverage; earlier and more robust VRU detection and classification; sophisticated path prediction and reliable intent recognition) were shown in three vehicle demonstrators at the final project event at IDIADA proving ground (Spain) in October 2018. All vehicles are able to automatically steer and / or brake to avoid accidents. Special emphasis was placed on balancing system performance in critical scenarios and avoiding undesired system activations. Each of mentioned technologies were demonstrated in three demonstrators that have their unique focus. A mobile driving demonstrator was used to present and evaluate the results of PROSPECT in a realistic setting applying a real car as a mock-up. Based on the results of the accident analysis it was possible to integrate common accident scenarios between car drivers and cyclists into the Audi driving simulator in order to demonstrate the circumstances of car-to-cyclist-accidents. Finally, in the context of testing tools development, advanced articulated dummies - Pedestrian and Cyclist - prototypes were completed by partner 4activeSystems to obtain higher degrees of freedom (head rotation, torso angle, pedaling, side leaning, etc.) and an improved behavior during the acceleration- and stopping-phase.
PROSPECT took a step forward in defining test and assessment methods for Euro NCAP AEB VRU systems. Euro NCAP directly benefits from the project’s findings and results, especially by being supplied with deliverables including test protocol as a proposal for consumer testing (final deliverable was shared during AEB/AES Working Groups meetings and will be discussed even beyond of the project), the above mentioned dummy and verification testing. The baseline tests, consumer tests with demo-cars were concluded and analysed in summer 2018. The independent acceptance and simulator studies were concluded in July 2018 in D7.3. Finally, the project consortium implemented the benefit estimation methodology that includes an assessment of the combined effect of active and passive safety measures (i.e. integrated safety).
The industrial partners focused on exploitation of PROSPECT results in the context of next generation active VRU safety system with main focus on passengers cars. The academic partners improved the state of the art knowledge at European level from real world accidents involving vehicles and VRU. This know-how was published in recognized conferences proceedings and journals.
