5G benefits for automated vehicles: first lessons learned by 5G-MOBIX French trial site

The 5G-MOBIX project aims to evaluate the contribution of 5G on connectivity for Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) services and functionalities, under cross-border conditions. The 5G-MOBIX test sites include two cross-border corridors (Greece-Turkey and Spain-Portugal) and six local test sites in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, China and South Korea. The local sites provide additional and complementary contributions to the cross-border trials

 

A safe and efficient driving at highway entry for automated vehicles

5G-MOBIX French Trial Site has four members, VEDECOM (leader), Catapult, Akka, and Valeo, and is located in the Paris region. The French Trial Site (FR TS) has been testing a so-called “Infrastructure-Assisted Advanced Driving” CAM use-case, in which the 5G MEC infrastructure guides automated connected vehicle for safe and efficient driving at a highway entry.

 

A level 4 car with a 5G onboard unit 

Several cross-border issues have been tackled by the FR TS with the solutions of multi-PLMN connectivity, predictive quality of service (QoS), Wave connectivity, and satellite-fallback. 5G NSA networks provided by three French telecom operators, Orange, Bouygues and TDF, have been used to test the target use case and the considered solutions.

During the period of the project, the FR TS has deployed two MEC that were installed with a number of software modules, particularly V2X-application server, data fusion, risk assessment, QoS prediction, KPI manager. Six 5G onboard units (OBUs) designed by VEDECOM and VALEO have been integrated in the two level 4 automated vehicle and the two connected vehicles.

 

Test and trialling in both private and open road, including a cross border corridor

Test and trialling activities of the FR TS started in late 2021 in order to execute a huge number of use-case-specific and agnostic tests cases in closed test tracks and open road. Furthermore, the FR TS made two contributions to the ES-PT cross border corridor:

  1. test and benchmarking of multi-PLMN connectivity
  2. contribution to the ES-PT variant of advanced driving use case. The tests at the ES-PT have been conducted in March 2022.

 

Results and public demonstration on April 21, 2022

The obtained results of the test-cases finalised in France and at the ES-PT CBC show the benefits of 5G for the target CAM use-case especially the great advantages of multi-PLMN connectivity.

On the 21st of the April, the FR TS has organized its public demonstration event with public authorities, industries, SMEs, and academia. The event consisted of a workshop session, demonstrations, and an unprecedented round-table discussion.

Full review of the day with presentations and replays below:

 

5G-MOBIX project presentation

 

General introduction

By Eric Lebeau, CEO of VEDECOM.

REPLAY

 

Introduction to the European 5G-MOBIX project and the activities of the French site

REPLAY

Other European and French projects focusing on 5G and automated vehicles

Presentations of other 5G projects in which VEDECOM is involved:

REPLAY

Track Demonstrations

  • Infrastructure assisted automated lane change at highway entry (demonstration with an L4 automated vehicule prototype)
  • Maintaining continuity of service when a vehicle switches from one network to another
  • Dynamic quality control of 5G communications

Round table “Vision of 5G and CCAM by the market players”.

An unique round-table discussion with all the players in the value chain: vehicle manufacturers, telecommunication and road infrastructure operators, public transport players.
Moderated by Tony Jaux, President of VEDECOM, VP Innovation at Stellantis and Director of the connectivity program at the French Automobile Platform.

 

Round-table replay


Around the table:

REPLAY

European 5G-MOBIX Project French site Demonstration and Seminar

5G for connected and automated cooperative mobility: towards greater safety and efficiency

21 April 2022, 9 AM – 6 PM

Organisation : VEDECOM, Catapult, AKKA Technologies and VALEO

Location: VEDECOM headquarters at mobiLab and Satory tracks, Versailles. 23 bis allée des Marronniers, 78000 VERSAILLES, FRANCE

Parking: parking des Cavalières, located at allée des Marronniers on the left 200 m before the mobiLAB. The gate will be open for the occasion

Booking:

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5G is not a simple evolution of 4G. It is a truly disruptive technology because it can be used in many new applications. Its main benefits: improved broadband, a significant reduction in latency, i.e. the time it takes for data to transit between transmission and reception, and density, which will reduce congestion when too many devices are connected at the same time.

In this context, how will the connected and automated vehicle (CCAD) react? How can it handle network changes, bandwidth fluctuations? What benefits can 5G bring to manage the entry of other vehicles in its lane?

 

Infrastructure-assisted driving: France’s contributions to the European 5G-MOBIX bix project

The 5G-MOBIX project aims to evaluate the contribution of 5G on connectivity for Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) services and functionalities, under cross-border conditions. The 5G-MOBIX test sites include two cross-border corridors (Greece-Turkey and Spain-Portugal) and six local test sites in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, China and South Korea. The local sites provide additional and complementary contributions to the cross-border trials.

The contributions from the French test site focus on continuity of service and dynamic communication quality in the case of infrastructure-assisted driving. Together with its partners Catapult, AKKA Technologies and VALEOVEDECOM answers the following questions:

  • What happens when a vehicle enters the lane of an automated vehicle from an entry ramp?
  • How can the infrastructure help the automated vehicle and through which technologies?
  • How can the vehicle adapt to the needs of the use case (lane change), via its 5G communication system (OBU) and via its AD (autonomous driving system)?
  • How can the data from the inserting vehicle go up through 5G and be translated into commands that go back down through 5G in the automated vehicle, allowing low latency and high reliability?
  • At what level does the fusion of perception data, collision risk analysis, and lane change decision occur?
  • What happens when the automated vehicle switches from a 5G Bouygues network to a 5G Orange or TDF network? (hand over)
  • To what extent does 5G bring more reliability, better latency and better bandwidth?

 

April 21, 2022 Event Program

The event on April 21, 2022 will be an opportunity to discover the first tests conducted in France and their results through conferences in the morning and demonstrations in the early afternoon. The day will end with a panel discussion on the challenges and prospects. It will bring together different players involved in the value chain of automated and infrastructure-assisted mobility.

  • 9h. Welcome coffee.
  • 9h30. Introduction by Eric Lebeau, General Manager of VEDECOM. Context and stakes.
  • 9h40. Presentation of the European 5G Mobix project: methodology, key innovations, tests and results of the French site.
  • 11h25. Connection with other European and French projects dedicated to 5G: 5G Med project, 5G Meta platform and 5G Open Road experimentation in Paris-Saclay cluster.
  • 12:00 pm: Lunch break.
  • 13h15. Group departure on foot and demonstration session on tracks:
    1. Infrastructure assisted automated lane change at highway entry (demonstration with an L4 automated vehicule prototype)
    2. Maintaining continuity of service when a vehicle switches from one network to another
    3. Dynamic quality control of 5G communications
  • 15h30. Vision of 5G and CCAM by market players. Panel discussion with vehicle manufacturers, telecom and road infrastructure operators, public transport players and territories.
  • 16h40-16h50. Conclusion by Tony Jaux, President of VEDECOM, VP Innovation at Stellantis and Director of the connectivity program at the French Automotive Platform.

 

On-site public event. Replay will be available after online the event

Registration required before April 19, 2022, subject to the agreement of the organizer and conditioned by the capacity of the room

Registration link:

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5G Mobix: a 360° project on the 5G benefits for automated vehicles

5G-MOBIX is a European project funded by the Horizon 2020 program. Its goal is to develop and test automated vehicle functionalities integrating 5G along several cross-border corridors and urban test sites in Europe. These tests are critical to develop technologies to ensure service continuity and system resilience across operators, available networks and bandwidths. These tests take place in all conditions of vehicle traffic, network coverage and service demand. They take into account specific legal, commercial and social aspects.

 

A large-scale project with 8 test sites and 55 partners

5G-MOBIX brings together 55 ICT industry partners from 10 European countries as well as Turkey, China and Korea.

Eight different test sites will enable a comprehensive evaluation of 5G for connected, cooperative and automated driving (CCAM):

  • Six urban test sites: Espoo (Finland, FI), Versailles (France, FR), Berlin and Stuttgart (Germany, DE), and Eindhoven to Helmond (Netherlands, NL), plus two test sites outside of Europe, namely Jinan (China, CN) and Yeonggwang (South Korea, KR).
  • Two cross-border corridors: Spain-Portugal (ES-PT) and Greece-Turkey (GR-TR)

 

The role of VEDECOM and the French experimentation site

VEDECOM is responsible for the overall coordination of the experiments on the various corridors and test sites.
The institute is also piloting the French test site, which aims to test infrastructure-assisted driving in hybrid traffic. The technologies developed will then be tested in real life in March 2022 at the ES-PT cross-border sites of the 5G Mobix project.
For these tests, VEDECOM is providing a fleet of small electric, connected and autonomous vehicles that incorporate an OBU – onboard unit – designed by its teams. The Institute set up the 5G infrastructure and the centralised control centre. VEDECOM addressed the use case of lane changing and seamless connectivity solutions, when the vehicle changes telecommunication operator at the border crossing.

 

Infrastructure and technical equipment of the French site

The French 5G Mobix site is shared between two sites: the UTAC TEQMO tracks and the Versailles Satory tracks located near the VEDECOM premises. The sites are equipped with 5G networks (commercial or experimental), road infrastructure sensors and equipment for V2X research projects. VEDECOM has several demonstrator vehicles, some of which are fully autonomous.

 

5G-MOBIX website  

 

This work is a part of the 5G-MOBIX project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 825496

Follow 5G-MOBIX on Twitter and Linked In!

Autonomous vehicle: first follow-up demonstration in an interoperable military convoy

On January 28 janvier, 2021, VEDECOM brought together, on behalf of the Battle Lab Terre, several French industry leaders in Defense.

 

The aim: to implement an autonomous convoy of vehicles using a ‘multi-Follow Me’ mode behind a leading vehicle. The long-term perspective is to deploy interoperable autonomous convoys in theaters of operations while integrating the constraints of the Defense industry.

 

Project partners: NEXTER Robotics, ARQUUS and CNIM.

An unprecedented partnership launched just after the Land Battle inauguration

VEDECOM was commissioned as a trusted third party and expert R&D French Institute on the subject of autonomous and electric vehicles. As a matter of fact, this Institute for Energy Transition is located in Versailles, in the Satory district, very clos from the army and its suppliers Nexter and Arquus.

Its platforms and research teams are dedicated to vehicule electrification, automated and connected vehicles, new mobility solutions. Located at the heart of the “cluster of innovative mobility” supported by the Yvelines couty, not far from Paris, VEDECOM runs a large ecosystem, integrating Nexter and Arquus. A consortium between the VEDECOM research institute,

VEDECOM Tech (business subsidiary)and the industrialists NEXTER Robotics, ARQUUS and CNIM has been set up. This joint project, entitled MC² for “Micro-convoy in contact”, was coordinated by VEDECOM Tech team.

VEDECOM Tech (business subsidiary) and the industrialists NEXTER Robotics, ARQUUS and CNIM has been set up. This joint project, entitled MC² for “Micro-convoy in contact”, was coordinated by VEDECOM Tech team.

The role of VEDECOM Tech first, to coordinate all the actors to set up an interoperable convoy and second, to carry out the dynamic assessment of the convoy. The aim is to objectify the behavior of each vehicle in the convoy, to rule on the state of the art and to address key point improvements.

After the technological development, the project was materialized with a demonstration in front of representatives of the Army and the State. This was held on January 28, 2021 on the test tracks of Versailles-Satory.

 

Various vehicles and robots united by “Follow-me” technology

The convoy used four types of vehicles:

  • a Sherpa Light, the leading vehicle, provided by Arquus,
  • following was the Robot-LAB, on a PVP basis, provided by Arquus
  • then the Optio robot-mule, provided by Nexter Robotics
  • then a Themis 4.5 robot-Mule, provided by CNIM

The three following vehicles were equipped with technological bricks called “Follow Me”, allowing each robot to follow the vehicle in front of it, the “target vehicle”. In the case of a “multi-follow Me” convoy, each robot virtually harnesses itself and autonomously adapts its trajectory and speed in order to form the convoy. Thus, each vehicle builds its own trajectory.

A distinction must be made between “Follow me” technology and traditional ‘platooning’, a term used for autonomous convoys when all the vehicles replay the same trajectory (for example through a GPS track), with a speed setpoint managed globally.


Interoperable and interchangeable convoy

The MC² project aims to demonstrate interoperability in to ways: heterogeneity of vehicles and interchangeability of robots in the convoy.

Regarding the heterogeneity of vehicles, the convoy combined both an 11-tonne 4*4 tactical vehicle, capable of traveling at 110km/h, a 5.5-tonne 4*4 reconnaissance vehicle that can ride up to 20km/h and 2 multipurpose 2-ton tracked robot mules capable of traveling at 18km/h.

Two convoy configurations were implemented to demonstrate the ability of robots to couple to different vehicles.

 

Dynamic evaluation

VEDECOM Tech used Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technologIn to assess the convoy dynamic behavior. The vehicle movement area has been defined and equipped with geolocated fixed transmitters called “anchors”. The vehicles were fitted with embedded captors so that they could position in the frame of reference formed by the anchors. All location data was recorded in real time.

The post-processing makes it possible to characterize the dynamic behavior of the convoy:

  • speed of each vehicle
  • interdistance between vehicles
  • lateral deviation from the path of the robots

 

Ruling the French state of the art and increasing the forces’safety

In France, this event marks the first stage in the development of interoperable platooning convoys meeting military requirements and capable of operating in a destructured environment. The main objectives of this approach are to increase the security of forces by optimizing logistics, and to refocus human resources on operations. Expected applications are long-distance autonomous logistics convoys and autonomous last-mile multi-purpose convoys..

Parteners and spokespersons

 

 

Discover the event movie

 

The inauguration of Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab at Spring: a full-scale test of autonomous mobility services connected to infrastructure

The inauguration of Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab at Spring: a full-scale test of autonomous mobility services connected to infrastructure

15 mai 2019

The Spring event, held on 15 May 2019, was VEDECOM’s chance to come together with its partners to present the Paris-Saclay Lab experiment that is the result of the EVAPS project. The project aims to develop new autonomous mobility services on dedicated, public, and campus routes as a supplement to existing transport solutions at the Plateau de Saclay. It incorporates the latest technologies in on-board smart systems in vehicles, supervision systems, connected infrastructure, and secure telecommunications networks. It was co-led by the Renault Group, the Transdev Group, the VEDECOM Institute, the SystemX Institute for technological research, and Université Paris-Saclay, with support from ENSTA. It also receives support from the French government’s Investments for the Future allocated to ADEME, as well as the Paris-Saclay urban planning and development authority, the Paris-Saclay urban authority, the department of Essonne, and Ile-de-France Mobilités.

 

Testing a comprehensive autonomous transport system

The Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project was among the selections made by the government on 24 April 2019 following the “Autonomous Road Vehicle Testing” (EVRA) call for projects launched in June 2018 as part of the Investments for the Future programme (PIA). Its purpose is to test a comprehensive autonomous transport system made up of self-driving vehicles (three Renault ZoéCab prototypes and one Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal shuttle), a fleet supervision system, connected infrastructure, and customer applications. The aim is to define the roll-out conditions for an autonomous mobility service at a larger scale. Launched in 2017, the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project was inaugurated on 15 May 2019 at the Spring innovation conference at Centrale Supélec by Mr Grégoire de Lasteyrie, Regional Special Advisor for New Mobilities and Mayor of Palaiseau; Mr François Durovray, Chairman of the Essonne Department Council; and Mr Michel Bournat, Mayor of Gif-sur-Yvette and Chairman of the Paris-Saclay urban authority. Mr Philippe Watteau, CEO of VEDECOM; Mr Thierry Mallet, CEO of the Transdev Group; Mr Arnaud Molinié, SVP of Mobility Service at the Renault Group; Mr Paul Labrogère, General Manager of SystemX; Ms Sylvie Retailleau, President of Université Paris-Saclay; and Ms Elizabeth Crépon, Director of ENSTA, were in attendance. It will continue until the first quarter of 2020.

 

Autonomous mobility services to supplement existing transport offerings

The experiment will be launched gradually, first opening 21 May 2019 to a sample group of users. They will be offered two autonomous mobility services as a supplement to existing transport offerings at Plateau de Saclay:

  • a night-time mass transit service on a separate road (a special TCSP bus road) with a Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal self-driving shuttle that will make stops in Plateau de Saclay neighbourhoods and the Massy train station after regular service hours have ended. From 12:30am to 3:00am, the shuttle will make four stops along a nearly three-kilometre route.
  • There will also be an on-demand car service during the day to supplement regular transport services, provided by self-driving Renault ZoéCab prototypes on the Paris-Saclay campus.

The project is exceptional in that it covers the Paris-Saclay zone, which is fertile ground for innovation, and that it involves collaboration between actors from complementary fields who all share a common drive: the desire to develop shared autonomous mobility solutions. It aligns with authorities’ efforts to develop new mobility systems at Plateau de Saclay by integrating them into public transit offerings. The aim is to demonstrate the utility of autonomous mobility solutions in an existing transport network, as defined by various performance measures, complementarity with existing offerings, and economic measures. Indeed, mobility is a major challenge in this area when it comes to attracting international interest, which is Paris-Saclay’s goal. In addition, the population is growing quickly, which ought to increase demand.

 

Large-scale experiment

For this large-scale experiment, nine kilometres of fibre optic cable were laid down in the experimental zone, as well as four kilometres of electric cable and six kilometres of Ethernet cable. Nearly 200 public street lamps were used, plus 70 temporary poles. Along eight kilometres of road, 25 sites (multi-mode transfer points, traffic light intersections, roundabouts, bus stops, etc.) were outfitted with communication and collection infrastructure. Eighty-five sensors were installed (10 M8 LiDARs, 20 vehicle-detector heat cameras, 20 pedestrian-detector heat cameras, 35 video cameras) as well as 25 roadside units paired with 25 roadside cases holding processing units and network equipment. This RSU + case set designed by VEDECOM, called the VEDECOM Box, processes and communicates upwards and downwards information from the vehicle.

The Renault ZOECab and the Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal shuttle are 100% electric and equipped with autonomous technology. Outfitted with LiDAR sensors, cameras, an inertial centre and self-driving software, they account for all the usual driving constraints: they identify the presence of other vehicles and pedestrians; manage intersections, roundabouts and speed bumps; recognise traffic lights, etc. They are level four (SAE standard: fully autonomous in specific zones). Inside, the vehicles have cameras and information screens to assist passengers during the ride.

This programme represents a total investment of 16.2 million euros, including 5.5 million euros contributed by ADEME as part of the Investments for the Future programme.

 

A major cross-cutting project for VEDECOM

Communicating and smart infrastructure has been designed, installed and developed by VEDECOM, which has also led the entire human factors analysis of the project (relationship between pedestrians and travellers and self-driving cars).

Three teams from the Institute have been called upon for this project, which has already taken 2,500 hours of work over the course of two years:

  • The “New Physical Urban Spaces for Eco-mobility” team, led by Nadège Faul,
  • The “New Usages Laboratory” team, led by Stéphanie Coeugnet,
  • The “New Secure Communications and Cooperative Safety” team, led by Oyunchmimeg Shagdar.

The project makes it possible to assess two main domains: the technological domain, with the set-up of an autonomous and connected transport system; and the acceptability domain, with the sample group to analyse ‘end customers’ level of buy-in to services. The VEDECOM Institute has provided expertise in both domains by offering solutions for true added-value services:

  • research, development, and deployment of smart, connected infrastructure that complements self-driving vehicles; connectivity modules (and more specifically connectivity between roadside equipment and on-board communication modules);
  • development of standardised interfaces with an eye to interoperable supervision;
  • research and development of communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users to ensure detection and safety; collection and analysis of users’ needs and expectations as well as their feedback on the acceptability of proposed services to get an idea of how popular and profitable they will be in the future;
  • research, specifications, and prototyping of the user-friendliness of user interfaces inside and outside the test vehicles (ZOECab and i-Cristal shuttle).

Read the Press Release of the 5 partners of the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project

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Véhicule autonome : succès de la 1ère formation VEDECOM sur pistes avec les Experts Automobile de l’ANEA

Véhicule autonome : succès de la 1ère formation VEDECOM sur pistes avec les Experts Automobile de l’ANEA

Ce mercredi 24 janvier 2018, VEDECOM a animé la première session de son module de formation : le véhicule autonome et connecté – mise en pratique sur piste.

Après avoir appréhendé les problématiques techniques et les enjeux socio-économiques liés au véhicule à conduite délégué, les Directeurs de l’Alliance Nationale des Experts en Automobile (ANEA) ont partagé les avancées de nos ingénieurs et chercheurs au travers d’une démonstration de service de transport autonome à la demande (niveaux 4 et 5) et d’un atelier pratique de traitement de données de perception.

” Un grand merci pour cette journée intéressante, pertinente et d’une grande qualité. Nous avons apprécié l’efficience des informations transmises par des formateurs motivés, attentifs et pros. Excellente découverte de cette technologie que nous conseillerons à notre écosystème. ” Laurent Hecquet – Directeur Général Anea Mobilité et Prospective

Pari réussi pour VEDECOM qui, en complément de ses formations théoriques, propose dorénavant aux acteurs des filières de la mobilité et aux collectivités des modules pratiques permettant une expérimentation au plus près des technologies du véhicule électrique, autonome et connecté.

Prochaines sessions : 12 avril et 23 octobre, ou à la demande en intra-entreprise. Pour plus d’informations consultez la fiche pédagogique et notre catalogue de formation 2018.

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Anne-Marie Idrac chez VEDECOM sur le véhicule autonome

Anne-Marie Idrac chez VEDECOM sur le véhicule autonome

Nommée récemment « Haute Responsable pour la stratégie nationale de développement des véhicules autonomes » Anne-Marie Idrac pilote une démarche ambitieuse, lancée par la Ministre des Transports Elisabeth Borne, pour que notre pays prenne un véritable leadership sur cette technologie.

Dans le cadre de cette nouvelle mission, Madame Idrac a découvert durant une demi-journée l’avancée des recherches en matière de véhicule à conduite déléguée menées au sein de l’Institut pour la Transition Energétique VEDECOM.

Cette rencontre a été l’occasion pour Madame Idrac :
– de tester sur piste le Service de Transport Autonome A la Demande (TAAD) de VEDECOM,
d’échanger sur les enjeux techniques, sociétaux et économiques de la mobilité autonome et connectée,
d’avoir une vision globale des projets de recherche couverts par VEDECOM (sûreté de fonctionnement des systèmes de délégation, connectivité et infrastructure, acceptabilité et reprise en main, cadre réglementaire et juridique, etc.),
de comprendre la contribution importante de VEDECOM au sein du groupe de travail « Transport de demain » de la Nouvelle France industrielle (NFI) et du groupe de travail « Véhicule autonome » de la Plateforme Automobile de la PFA.

Une réunion de travail riche pour l’ensemble des interlocuteurs présents.

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