European Large-Scale Field Operational Test on

Active Safety Systems

Bringing intelligent vehicles to the road…

euroFOT is a research project supported by European Commission DG Information Society and Media, involving 28 organisations. Vehicle manufacturers, automotive suppliers, research institutes and other stakeholders have joined forces in a “smart drive” to test 8 intelligent vehicle systems across Europe, with the aim of making our road transport safer, more efficient, and more comfortable.

Around 1000 cars and trucks equipped with a range of different intelligent technologies will be tested in real-world traffic conditions on European roads.

Bringing intelligent vehicle systems to the mass marketThe results of the field tests will provide a better understanding of the short and long-term impact of the systems on safety, efficiency, the environment and driver comfort. It will also help to raise and increase consumer awareness of the new active safety systems. euroFOT is expected to greatly support the decision-making process to deploy these new transport technologies on the market.

8 systems, 28 partners, 1000 vehicles… 1 field operational test

European wide operations…The European field operational test will be conducted via various operation sites across 4 countries in Europe.

Gothenburg - Volvo Trucks

Intelligent vehicles driving across Europe

Wolfsburg - Volkswagen

Aachen-Cologne - Ford

Paris - CEESAR

Sindelfingen - Daimler

Gothenburg - Volvo Cars

Munich - BMW

Ingolstadt - Audi

Munich - MAN

Torino - Fiat

Who will drive the vehicles?

The euroFOT field test will take place with ‘everyday’ drivers. The various vehicle operations centres distributed across Europe are receiving strong support from fleet owners and car dealers to recruit drivers willing to take part in the euroFOT project.

Longitudinal control functions Lateral control functions Other functions

Testing eight Advanced Driver Assistance Systems…The field test will focus on 8 different functions from various European OEM brands.

The analysis of the data gathered in real traffic conditions with selected drivers is expected to highlight several crucial aspects of the tested functionalities. The project will mainly address the following research issues:

What is the impact of these functions on traffic safety?

What is the impact of these functions on traffic efficiency and on the environment?

How does the driver react to these functions in short and long-term?

Research questions

LDW & IW

MAN

Volvo Trucks

Volvo Cars

VW

Fiat

ACC

Ford

MAN

Volvo Trucks

Volvo Cars

VW

FCW

Ford

MAN

Volvo Trucks

Volvo Cars

BLIS

Volvo Cars

SCS

CEESAR

SafeHMI

BMW

Mercedes

CSW

Ford

FEA

Volvo Trucks

1500 questionnaires to 300 vehicles with LDW

50+ FEA Trucksauto-logging

CAN + Video+ Extra Sensors

CAN + Video

CAN Only

Data Loggers in Total

35

150

275

460

Around 1000 Vehicles

Audi

Audi

A common European methodology…The euroFOT project is applying the common European FESTA methodology, a step-by-step approach which has been developed to improve the comparability and significance of field test results. The euroFOT project is following three major methodological steps.

Preparing...Specification and piloting: First, the fleets are being prepared for the trials. Specifying the functions, defining hypotheses for each of the functions, setting up data management procedures and the selection of drivers are only some of the steps required before the actual field tests can start recording the data.

Driving...Execution: Subsequent steps involve the installation of data loggers and functionalities into the vehicles. The recruited drivers are driving under normal, everyday conditions, and their actions and responses are logged.

Analysing...Socio-economic impact assessment: In the final phase, the data collected from the vehicle monitoring devices (the objective data) and from the driver himself (the subjective data) will be analysed. The collected data is considered representative of ordinary driving conditions on European roads, thus providing valuable insights on the overall effectiveness of intelligent vehicle systems, and the way the drivers use them.

Figure 1: The “Field Operational Test chain” has been designed by the FESTA project and illustrates the various steps of conducting a field operational test. The euroFOT project is following this methodology.

Function Identification & Description

Socio-economic Cost Benefit Analysis

Impact assessment

Research Questions & Hypotheses Analysis

Data AnalysisEthical & Legal Issues

Use Cases

Research Questions & Hypotheses

Measures & Sensors

PerformanceIndicators

Study Design

DataAcquisition

Driving

Measures PerformanceIndicators

Database

AnalysingPreparing

Project set-upIn order to achieve its objectives and ensure a European coordinated approach, the euroFOT project has been divided into 6 sub-projects, each dealing with different aspects of the field test. The tasks that pose the biggest challenge in the development of these large-scale field tests have been allocated to experienced partners.

GROUP A:Longitudinal control

FCW, ACC, SCS

GROUP B:Lateral control

BLIS, LDW, IW

GROUP C:Others

CSW, SafeHMI, FEA

Management and coordination (Ford)SP1

In-vehicle systems for driving support (Volvo Technology)SP2

Data management (Chalmers)SP3

Methodology & experimental procedures (TNO)SP4

Vehicle management centres (ERTICO - ITS Europe) Italian VMC German VMC French VMC Swedish VMCSP5

Evaluation, impact assessment, socio-economic CBA (IKA)SP6

The challenges of euroFOT management and coordination The management and coordination of an international field operational test, across brands and across eight advanced driver assistance functions is a challenging undertaking.

The most important outcome of euroFOT will be to give answers to research questions asked at the inception of the project, and to enable informed decision-making for the deployment of advanced driver assistance systems.

Management and coordination activities are based on a three layer structure illustrated below.

Many countries, functions, brands and interests are combined in one project: This might be one of the most challenging European-wide field operational test for some time ”Aria Etemad, Ford, IP Coordinator

To achieve smooth coordination of euroFOT, efficient communication links between 28 partners in 10 countries, as well as the European Commission are crucial. Major events such as general assemblies ensure proper communication inside the project community.

External communication and PR activities are carried out by a communication expert group who advise the consortium on common tools and activities.

The steering committee and the leaders of the sub-projects meet regularly to ensure proper decisions are made, align the work of the various partners and sub-projects, and ensure that the project is carried out in a collaborative way.

SteeringCommittee Coordinator

EuropeanCommission IP Coordination Level

SP Management Level

IP Management LevelTechnical

Expert GroupIP-Management

Team

EC Reviewers

Sub-project Leaders

General Assembly

Partners

In-vehicle systems for driving support (Sub-project 2)ObjectiveseuroFOT is a European-wide large scale field test involving 28 partners that have committed to test eight different in-vehicle functions. The first objective of this sub-project is to provide common guidelines to the euroFOT project by 1) defining common scientific questions and 2) specifying all systems under examination. Further objectives of this sub-project are: to create the first prototypes able to collect field test data and to perform the pilot tests of the euroFOT project.

ApproachThe eight different in-vehicle functions tested in the euroFOT project have been identified and will be described in detail. In total, 20 different systems will be under test. Differences and similarities among these systems will be taken into account in order to formulate common scientific questions to study the impact that these functions have on traffic safety, efficiency and on driver behaviour.

Following the common guidelines from this sub-project, each of the vehicle manufacturers will be in charge of creating the first prototype vehicles. These prototype vehicles will be tested, according to a common procedure, in a pilot experiment before the real euroFOT data collection begins.

Expected results

and data analysis.

The euroFOT project needs clear objectives, unfailing installation, and a comprehensive pilot test ”Marco Dozza,Volvo Technology

Partners

Data management (Sub-project 3)ObjectivesTo ensure a proper data analysis for euroFOT, robust and flexible data management solutions are needed. The best suited data acquisition systems (DAS) and data storage for euroFOT need to be defined and developed. Sub-Project 3 (SP3) will also develop analysis tools and quality assurance, and support partners through installation and maintenance strategies.

ApproachDue to the complexity and size of euroFOT, data management works in several dimensions. Internally, data management partners work together on different parts of the data management chain. Collaboration with other sub-projects, to provide the right solutions is vital; to determine DAS-components, data management partners need to look at performance indicators (SP4), technical and practical constraints like availability of measurements, installation/safety issues (SP2, SP5), and data quality for analysis (SP6). Partners working on data management are also part of the different vehicle management centres (VMCs). Each VMC tests a different set of safety functions and hypotheses, and therefore needs different data management solutions. As a whole, data management provides common core, as well as specific solutions for each VMC.

Expected resultsThe whole chain of data management is being established: from data collection and storage to analysis tools for a European scale of field operational tests. The specifications, procedures, hardware and software implementation will all be delivered, including data

and software pieces might be limited to euroFOT partners, the knowledge built here (requirements’ specifications and procedures) will be shared with a wider community.

Modern vehicle safety is a data-driven science. Therefore, robust and flexible data management solutions are essential for a successful FOT ”Selpi, Chalmers University of Technology

Partners

Methodology and experimental procedures (Sub-project 4) ObjectivesThe development of a common methodology is crucial for the set-up of a European-wide field operational test.

The methodological issues of euroFOT encompass two aspects:

driving behaviour, driver workload and acceptability, traffic safety, traffic efficiency, and impacts on the environment.

ApproachThe FESTA project delivered a handbook with guidelines on how to conduct a field operational test. This handbook was intended to guide the work of field operational test organisers on a general level. The FESTA methodology is fine-tuned to the specific demands (e.g., systems, research interests) of euroFOT.

SP4 will not only define the performance indicators but extend the FESTA handbook with descriptions of events (e.g., car following) and situation variables (e.g., type of weather). Furthermore, SP4 will focus on experimental design and procedures.

Expected resultsSP4 delivers the experimental method explaining how to investigate the different systems within euroFOT. More specifically, SP4 develops a list of measurements, performance indicators, events, and develops situational variables related to the hypotheses developed in SP2. Furthermore, SP4 will develop the best possible experimental design in order to

handbook produced by FESTA.

Good ‘on-the-road’ evaluations of in vehicle systems are most often underestimated in terms of effort and difficulty ”Rino Brouwer, TNO

Vehicle management centres (Sub-project 5)ObjectivesThe SP5 ensures the smooth operation of the tests, including coordination of the vehicle management centres, the acquisition of the vehicles, the purchase and installation of the data acquisition systems, the relations with the drivers and the data quality monitoring.

Approach

a coordinated approach needs to be taken to ensure a harmonised quality of the data before it can be merged and analysed.

The SP5 operation is organised in four vehicle management centres: Germany, Sweden, France and Italy; divided in five operation centres in charge of the collection of the data and a series of operation sites addressing the practical details such as installation of the data loggers, driver interaction, and pick-up of the data.

Expected resultsThe vehicle management centres play a key role in collecting the data from more than 1000 vehicles. They provide an operational platform for the entire project where practical details are treated in line with the recommendations made by the other SPs during FOT preparation and piloting.

Partners

Making sure that around 1000 vehicles hit the European roads across ten vehicle brands grouped in five operation centres, and at least 11 operation sites is a real challenge ”Maxime Flament,

French VMC

Operation Center 1

140 cars – 100 trucks

12 months

CAN Only

40 cars

12 months

CAN+Video+Radar

German VMC Italian VMC Swedish VMC

Operation Center 2

90-105 cars

12 months (4 x 3 months)

CAN+Video+eyeTracking

300 cars

12 months

Questionnaires only

100 cars – 50 trucks

12-18 months

CAN+Video+extra Sensors

Operation Sites

Figure 2: The various operation sites from the vehicle manufacturers have been grouped into four Vehicle Management Centres (VMC) and corresponding operations centres.

Evaluation, impact assessment and socio-economic cost-benefit analysis (Sub-project 6)

Partners

The positive effects of ADAS have been shown in various studies. Our task is to confirm this by hard facts ”Ahmed Benmimoun,

ObjectivesThe final output of euroFOT is to deliver a comprehensive socio-economic impact assessment study on the various systems under test. The role of SP6 is to analyse and study the data, which is gathered from the field test, in order to evaluate the impact of the tested functions. This task includes the evaluation and analysis of all user related aspects concerning driver behaviour and performance, workload and user acceptance and how these behaviour and user acceptance develop all through the tests.

The impacts of the selected functions on traffic and driving safety, traffic efficiency and environment will be identified. Finally, a socio-economic cost benefit analysis for each of the selected systems and functions will be delivered.

ApproachThe methodology for the evaluation and data analysis in euroFOT is inspired by projects like FESTA, eIMPACT and AIDE. In each vehicle management centre, the data will be collected from the test vehicles and checked according to data quality. The relevant data will be extracted and finally stored on the database. Data processing will start as soon as the data is available on the database. This data processing will include the calculation of relevant performance indicators needed for the analysis of the hypotheses defined initially. These hypotheses will be tested and verified.

A global assessment of the euroFOT functions is conducted, using micro simulation models to scale up the effect and impact of the functions on traffic safety, traffic efficiency and on the environment. The quantified impacts are the input for the next step, in which the socio-economic cost-benefit ratio is determined.

Expected resultsThree main results are expected for this sub-project. First the defined hypotheses on the effects of the functions will be verified. Then the global impacts on safety, traffic efficiency and environment will be analysed. Finally, the socio-economic costs and benefits of the functions will be compared.

The result will be the delivery of a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of active safety systems.

www.eurofot-ip.eu

Consortium

euroFOT is a European Commission DG Information Society co-funded Integrated Project (IP)

Duration: 40 Months, from May 2008 until August 2011Total cost: €22 Million EC contribution: €14 Million

Contact: Project Coordinator: Aria Etemad, aetemad1@ford.com

www.eurofot-ip.eu

Universities and Research Centres

European Center for Informationand Communication TechnologiesEICT GmbH

Other OrganisationsAutomotive SuppliersVehicle Manufacturers