VEDECOM celebrates its fifth anniversary by putting its researchers in the limelight

The 2019 mobilité@VEDECOM event took place on Thursday 11 April 2019 at the mobiLAB, attended by over 400 guests. To mark its fifth anniversary, the Institute for Energy Transition presented a wide range of research projects and results at 40 dedicated stands. It was an opportunity to award the Ecological and Inclusive Mobility Award to five of its young researchers at a ceremony attended by representatives of the French state and VEDECOM’s partner municipalities. It was also an opportunity to invite 10 startups from the world of mobility to MOBILITY SPOT – a combination of a hub, a fablab and prototyping workshops. We take a look back at this day of discoveries, meetings and shared experiences to uncover the secrets of the future of mobility.   Focus on the Institute’s three fields of research The Institute’s three fields of research were in the spotlight at the fifth mobilité@VEDECOM event – vehicle electrification, self-driving and connectivity, and shared mobility and energy: three different fields bringing cross-cutting and systemic expertise in autonomous vehicles and mobility. R&D has been extended to include a training programme to share VEDECOM’s knowledge and encourage the development of skills among stakeholders in the mobility ecosystem, demonstrated via a number of lively events. Researchers also gave introductions to the innovative solutions put in place within the Institute: Entropy, the first startup created following a VEDECOM research project; demonstrations of the level 4 and 5 autonomous vehicle; Geloca, the vehicle localisation solution that uses land registry maps; MOOVE, the project for collecting driving data; the new 30 kW roadside induction coil charging stations; autonomous shuttles with expanded perception; pedestrian and driving simulators; and many more.   MobiLAB facilities supporting research activities For the first time, the event took place within the Institute itself, between the mobiLAB and Hall A, at the edge of the test tracks. With the sun shining, visitors moved from demonstrations to conferences, from themed trails to workshops, and from simulators to autonomous shuttles. These visits were an opportunity to discuss topics ranging from artificial intelligence to road markings, from acceptability to mobile hyperplaces, from thermal comfort to embedded PMB, and more. The vià GrandParis studio, located right in the middle of the reception area and hosted throughout the day by journalist Olivier Zanetta, held a range of interviews, putting the experts in the limelight. Debates featuring VEDECOM researchers and external guests were a chance to highlight the crucial questions that will shape the future of mobility. How can recharging and energy distribution – so essential to the development of electric vehicles – be managed? What challenges will arise during the roll-out of autonomous vehicles, aside from the vehicles themselves? How can we train ourselves in future forms of mobility, which will involve the transformation of existing jobs and the creation of new ones? What methods of travel will we use in the future ?   A startup village to breathe life into the roll-out of innovative mobility solutions As a first step towards tackling all of these questions, a village of guest startups presented their innovative mobility solutions and services: Oribiky, the first eco-friendly self-service solution for electrically assisted cycles; Trialog, an engineering consultancy and expertise company that is involved in work to standardise communications between electric vehicles and charging stations; VOOX, which has designed a patented innovative technology that aims to simplify the exchange of data in industrial systems; Box2Home, which offers last-mile delivery solutions to businesses and professionals for heavy and/or large parcels; LCN, an engineering firm that works on real-time management of crossroads; and finally Cocoon, the three-wheeler with a passenger compartment from BlueMooov, which is particularly well-suited for urban journeys and which was previewed at the show.   Five years, five young researchers named winners of the Ecological and Inclusive Mobility Award The high point of this anniversary year was the recognition of five young VEDECOM researchers for their scientific advances in the field of new forms of mobility. Roch El Khoury, Guillaume Bresson, Stéphanie Coeugnet-Chevrier, Mohamed Cherif Rahal and Elsa Yousfi received the Ecological and Inclusive Mobility Award from the Secretary-General for Investment, Guillaume Body, as well as from François de Mazières, mayor of Versailles and chair of Versailles Grand Parc, Olivier de La Faire, Yvelines departmental councillor, and Sylvie Piganeau, regional councillor. “We want to celebrate these young researchers who are the driving force behind all of these innovations that will change our lives and make us safer,” said Guillaume Body. It is also an opportunity to set three new challenges for VEDECOM: forge closer bonds with technical research institutes, strengthen partnerships and carry out the process of energy transition for future generations. “Our 200 engineers and researchers work on a daily basis to bring about the future of mobility – a sustainable mobility. As an Institute for Energy Transition, VEDECOM is at the heart of the environmental and ecological revolution in the field of transport,” added Philippe Watteau, the Managing Director of the Institute. He also expressed his thanks to all VEDECOM teams in this anniversary year. The Institute is proud of its successes and confident about its future. VEDECOM is ready to embrace the next five years, which will feature three development focuses: entrepreneurship, consolidating VEDECOM’s role as an accelerator of innovation in the field of new forms of mobility at the Satory hub, and enhancing international awareness of the Institute’s research activities.   Ecological and Inclusive Mobility Award – an in-depth look at the winning researchers Roch El Khoury is an engineer who received his doctorate in energy and processes from the École des Mines de Paris in 2015. Roch joined VEDECOM in 2015 to extend the results of his doctoral research, in digital simulation, to electric vehicles. He currently heads the research team working on passengers’ thermal comfort and optimising its impact on the driving range and energy consumption of electric vehicles. PRIZE FOR: Outstanding practical use of results from research in the field of comfort   Guillaume Bresson received his doctorate in mobile robotics from Université Blaise Pascal (UBP), France, in 2014.  He was a post-doctoral student at Inria Paris-Rocquencourt, working on issues of perception for smart transport systems. He joined the VEDECOM Institute in 2015, where he has led work on the topic of localisation and mapping since his arrival. He is also joint project manager on the Automated Driving Vehicle project at the Institute. PRIZE FOR: Scientific excellence in the field of autonomous vehicle localisation   Stéphanie Coeugnet – After receiving her doctorate in psychology and cognitive ergonomics from the University of Valanciennes in 2011, she joined VEDECOM in 2016 after four years of post-doctoral work on the design and assessment of MMIs. She manages VEDECOM’s research topic into the acceptability and ease of use of new mobility solutions and their MMIs. PRIZE FOR: Acceptability of autonomous vehicles – Impact of human factors and new practices on the adoption of new autonomous mobility solutions   Mohamed-Cherif RAHAL. After receiving his doctorate in theoretical computer science from Paris Dauphine University in 2010, he moved to IFSTTAR for a post-doc, where he worked on issues of road-edge detection to improve traffic flow. He joined the VEDECOM Institute in 2013. He is currently a researcher working on autonomous vehicle perception and he is also the joint project manager of the Automated Driving Vehicle project. He leads three European projects (AUTOMATE, ADAS&ME and CoExist). PRIZE FOR: Europe – VEDECOM’s successes in its involvement in several European projects (Automate, ADAS&ME & CoExist)   Elsa Yousfi joined the human factors team at the VEDECOM Institute in 2014 to begin her cognitive psychology thesis on human drivers retaking control of autonomous vehicles. She then continued her work within the Institute as a post-doctoral researcher into human factors as part of the European AutoMate project. She is currently head of psychological research and studies human behaviour on board autonomous vehicles. PRIZE FOR: Human factors – Advanced research into the conditions for the safe return of control to the driver of an autonomous vehicle   Videos of the event  :  https://viagrandparis.tv/emissions/mobilab/ TV78 reportage inTwitter : https://twitter.com/TV78Officiel/status/1116364145794998274