Abstract

This paper gathers experiences and results from several demonstration projects in the field of grid integration of electric vehicles. The analyzed research projects are selected among research institutes and universities that are part of the European Energy Research Alliance Joint Program on Smart Grids. The paper provides an overview of recent trends in the field of electric vehicles integration issues and then dives deeper into specific aspects of each project. Twelve research projects are presented in general terms, while detailed information can be retrieved from the references and the websites. Although each project has its focus, a common element that can be devised is that the charging process can be technically controlled based on different interests and algorithms, but its role in the market is still under development. Particular focus is always given to the behavior of the user, which ultimately determines the possible level of flexibility that the electric vehicle can provide to the grid.

Abstract

Keynote.- Ambient Intelligence 2.0: Towards Synergetic Prosperity.- Sensing.- Behavior Analysis Based on Coordinates of Body Tags.- MobiDiC: Context Adaptive Digital Signage with Coupons.- Slice&Dice: Recognizing Food Preparation Activities Using Embedded Accelerometers.- Reasoning and Sensing.- The Ambient Tag Cloud: A New Concept for Topic-Driven Mobile Urban Exploration.- Constructing Topological Maps of Displays with 3-D Positioning Information.- Activity Recognition for Personal Time Management.- Getting Places: Collaborative Predictions from Status.- Ambient Technology.- Place Enrichment by Mining the Web.- Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition in a Multi-user Scenario.- Amelie: A Recombinant Computing Framework for Ambient Awareness.- Bug-Free Sensors: The Automatic Verification of Context-Aware TinyOS Applications.- Semi-automatic Story Creation System in Ubiquitous Sensor Environment.- SAGE: A Logical Agent-Based Environment Monitoring and Control System.- Using Video with Active Markers.- Ambient Assisted Living.- An Event-Driven Approach to Activity Recognition in Ambient Assisted Living.- EMon: Embodied Monitorization.- Interoperation Modeling for Intelligent Domotic Environments.- Intertwining Implicit and Explicit Awareness of Wellbeing to Support Peace of Mind and Connectedness.- NICA: Natural Interaction with a Caring Agent.- Applications and Studies.- Ambient Rabbits Likeability of Embodied Ambient Displays.- Contextual Interaction Design: The Case of Pause Buddy.- Creating a Development Support Bubble for Children.- I Bet You Look Good on the Wall: Making the Invisible Computer Visible.- AmIQuin - An Ambient Mannequin for the Shopping Environment.- Designing an Awareness Display for Senior Home Care Professionals.- Methods and Tools.- A Framework to Develop Persuasive Smart Environments.- Measuring the Response Bias Induced by an Experience and Application Research Center.- The Assisted User-Centred Generation and Evaluation of Pervasive Interfaces.- Reasoning and Adaptation.- Increased Robustness in Context Detection and Reasoning Using Uncertainty Measures: Concept and Application.- Synthetic Training Data Generation for Activity Monitoring and Behavior Analysis.- Adaptive User Profiles in Pervasive Advertising Environments. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

This paper presents the tools that have been developed in the IST-Anemone project, a large European testbed deployed for testing and validating IPv6 mobility protocols and products. The testbed is available to third parties, which may include research projects and companies seeking to validate IPv6-ready products. "br/"This tested is particularly suitable for ITS experimentation as it includes several private roads and various network access technologies, IPv6 mobility support and a set of tools for testing IPv6 and performing demonstrations. "br/"Several ITS-related experiments have been performed by Anemone partners.

Abstract

This article focuses on testing and investigating further development needs for LiDARs in self-driving cars in adverse weather. The article compares two different LiDARs (Ibeo Lux and Velodyne PUCK), which both use the 905 nm wavelengths, which are used in more than 95% of currently available LiDARs. The performance was tested and estimated in stabilized fog conditions at Cerema fog chamber facilities. This provides a good basis for repeating the same validation procedure multiple times and ensuring the right development decisions. However, performance of the LiDARs suffers when the weather conditions become adverse and visibility range decreases. A 50% reduction in target detection performance was observed over the exhaustive tests. Therefore, changing to higher wavelengths (1550 nm) was considered using redesigned 'pre-prototype LiDAR'. The preliminary results indicate that there is no reason to not use 1550 nm wavelength, which due to eye safety regulations gives an opportunity to use 20 times more power compared to the traditional 905 nm. In order to clarify the expected benefits, additional feasibility studies are still needed.

Abstract

ITS Applications have in recent years assisted in reducing the number of fatalities in Europe. However, Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) have not benefited as much as vehicle users. The EU-sponsored VRUITS project assesses the safety and mobility impacts of ITS applications for VRUs, assesses the impacts of current and upcoming ITS applications on the safety and mobility of VRUs, identifies how the usability and efficiency of ITS applications can be improved, and recommends which actions have to be taken at a policy level to improve ITS"br/"safety and mobility. This paper describes the results of the first phase of the project, in which the critical scenarios for VRUs are identified starting from accident data analysis, and following a user needs based on focus groups and expert interviews. From this basis, the most promising ITS applications for VRUs are selected according to their potential to address the specific needs of VRUs.

Abstract

This article discusses the results of supporting transition towards fully automated driving with remote operator support via the novel V2X channels. Automated passenger cars are equipped with multiple sensors (radars, cameras, LiDARs, inertia, GNSS, etc.), the operation of which is limited by weather, detection range, processing power and resolution. The study explores the use of a dedicated network for supporting automated driving needs. The MEC server latencies and bandwidths are compared between the Tampere, Finland test network and studies conducted in China to support remote passenger car operation. In China the main aim is to evaluate the network latencies in different communication planes, whereas the European focus is more on associated driving applications, thus making the two studies mutually complementary.5G revolutionizes connected driving, providing new avenues due to having lower and less latency variation and higher bandwidths. However, due to higher operating frequencies, network coverage is a challenge and one base station is limited to a few hundred meters and thus they deployed mainly to cities with a high population density. Therefore, the transport solutions are lacking so-called C-V2X (one form of 5G RAT) to enable data exchanges between vehicles (V2V) and also between vehicles and the digital infrastructure (V2I). The results of this study indicate that new edge-computing services do not cause a significant increase in latencies $(\\lt 100$ ms), but that latency variation (11 - 192 ms) remains a problem in the first new network configurations.

Abstract

When a human ages, the functional abilities could weaken, which can lead to isolation from the society. Applying technological aid for improving the quality of life of the elderly helps them to stay independent and active in their community across their life. This article introduces a system, which is empowering the elderly by aiding them in using public transportation in both rural and urban environments, and helps them in this way to maintain the mobility and activity. The ASSISTANT system provides a simple, yet effective, route info for user and shows only relevant information, at the right time and in the appropriate format. The system is communicating with the user via audio and visual guidance. In addition, it has an error detection functionality, which helps user in case of common navigation errors. End user evaluation performed in Helsinki (Finland), Vienna (Austria) and Donostia-San Sebastian area (Spain) confirms that the service works as intended and helps older people to use public transport by guiding them all the way from the start to the end of their journeys. The system was found to be particularly helpful on unfamiliar routes.

Abstract

One of the main challenges of introducing Augmented Reality technology into industrial applications is fast, reliable, low-cost authoring of animated AR content of product data created in 3D CAD systems. In this paper we present a product data information pipeline from industry used commercial CAD systems to a marker-based augmented reality system. The pipeline utilizes ISO 10303 (STEP) data protocol, DFA-Tool (Design For Assembly), and VTT’s proprietary content creation and augmenting software. The pipeline is verified with a real industrial application.

Abstract

This article aims to outline the key results of testing and encountered challenges of various LiDARs, radar and stereo camera in arctic weather conditions. The test session was conducted in two different urban areas in Finland in the middle of January 2019. The arctic conditions turned out to be challenging for the sensors dedicated more to areas where temperature stays relatively warm. The aim of this one-week test session was to assess performance deterioration when powdered snow, salted road, snowy ground and sun light influence reliability of the future automated driving functions. This study focuses mainly on the issues with hardware that are basic building blocks for the situation awareness software modules. Furthermore, the countermeasures such as protecting sensors and mounting positions have been proposed.The test results indicate that some sensors significantly lose performance when temperature drops to less than -10 degrees centigrade. The problem is not merely mechanical freezing of the spinning LiDAR components but properties of laser illumination may change due to temperature variation, too. Since LiDAR is an optical device, they also suffer when there is turbulent snow in front of the sensor. The turbulence looks like a noise and partially blocks the laser echoes from surrounding environment. The performance, measured by laser pulse echo count, can with some sensors drop more than 50 percent. This seriously diminishes the sensing range and furthermore, makes pattern recognition unreliable. The two other sensor types which were taken into account are stereo vision and radar. They have a role in automated driving to compensate performance degradation of LiDARs due to arctic conditions.

Abstract

Research to inform policy is often challenged with how to genuinely use and implement research findings in decision-making and policy-planning. To begin with, the dialogue between researchers and decision-makers is essential to ensure profound understanding and legitimate interpretations of the results. Furthermore, the step to drawing practical conclusions and process them into actions can only succeed if research findings are diffused to decision-making levels with influence on the matter and mechanisms to knowledge transfer in the presence of a stable, favourable policy environment exist. Research investments into the topic of electromobility in Europe are substantial, and subtopics aiming to inform national policy-makers address a complex set of aspects from environmental and societal to technological and economic. This paper has a two-fold objective, the first of which is to present the results of scenarios to explore electromobility deployment in Finland, Germany and the European Union. The second is to discuss the challenges and solutions to bridge the gap from research findings towards decision-making and policy-planning, using our electromobility scenario work as an example. The electromobility scenarios were built using the VECTOR21 model (Mock, 2010), and the rationale was to simulate vehicle sales and markets under different policy settings and calculate the most economical solution to fulfil regulation on CO2 emissions as set by the European Commission (2009). The model allows calculating the market diffusion of alternative powertrain technologies to the European market until 2030, taking into account different taxation schemes, incentives and other country-specific characteristics. We also present the cost-benefit-analysis of the modelling results to assess the different scenarios and to show variation between regions regarding profitability of alternative technological or political support and interventions. To proceed from research findings towards decision-making and policy-planning, we made observations relating to transfer of research knowledge and interpretation of our electromobility scenario results in national policy contexts. An evaluation of how the function of research to inform policy in this case succeeded is provided. In addition, the influence of expert opinions on the political decision-making process will be discussed through experiences from an expert questionnaire conducted to survey the importance of costs, time requirement, acceptance and other criteria of promotion measures of electromobility.