Autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems contribute towards “Vision Zero”, i.e. a future where no humans are killed or impaired by accidents. Predictions indicate that these technologies will also contribute to reduced traffic density through increased road efficiency and will create new business models for mobility. It has already been proven to reduce both the number and extent of injuries and insurance costs[1][2]. Precise and robust positioning is a required key technology in both advanced driver assistance systems and connected autonomous vehicle applications. The main idea behind the PRoPART project is to develop and enhance an RTK (Real Time Kinematic) software solution by both exploiting the distinguished features of Galileo signals as well as combining it with other positioning and sensor technologies.

 

To define the correct requirements for precision and robustness of the PRoPART combined positioning solution a collaborative automated vehicle function demonstration in a representative traffic situation will be defined and developed. This ensures that the PRoPART RTK positioning solution fulfils the different needs of vehicle OEMs, and serves as a demonstration for the validation of the developed solution. The selected application is a collaborative automated lane change function that enables safe and robust lane change of an automated heavy commercial vehicle by using object detection sensors as well as position and time information from both the ego vehicle as well as similar information from road side detection units by means of V2I communication.

Today, there are several types of sensors used in autonomous vehicles such as cameras, laser scanners, ultrasonic, radar etc. The connected and autonomous vehicle applications currently under development are based on the cooperation between different solutions to determine the absolute position of the vehicle on the road and relative to any obstacles. No single technology has the ability to solve this in all situations and when combining different technologies, it is vital to understand the dependability of the available information.

RTK is a technique widely used for precise GNSS positioning based on the use of code and carrier phase measurements from the primary GNSS constellation(s). The use of carrier phase measurements allows cm-level accuracies at the expense of having to solve the integer ambiguity of such carrier signals, which is a sophisticated process with a certain convergence time.  The main inconvenience of the RTK technique is that it requires a reference station relatively close to the user so that the differential satellite and transmission medium errors are negligible, of which ionospheric delay is the largest contributor. A way to partially overcome such inconvenience appears with network RTK (NRTK or virtual RTK) which uses a set of reference stations to provide correction data local to the user. In any case, RTK/NRTK approaches works well with baselines no longer than about 15 km for single frequency solutions with the required precision of autonomous vehicle applications. Where multiple GNSS frequencies are used the ionospheric error can be accounted for as it has a frequency dependent effect increasing the operational baseline length.

By combining the innovative solutions in the current RTK SW from Waysure with features of Galileo signals from Fraunhofer solution and extending it with positioning augmentation provided by the UWB ranging solution from Ceit-IK4, PRoPART will be able to deliver an emerging solution for the future mass market of autonomous road transport. The requirements supplied by Scania and development of a collaborative autonomous lane change application using C-ITS technologies (e.g. V2X) from Commsignia and sensor data fusion tools from Baselabs will secure that the PRoPART positioning solution will fulfil the needs of the end user.

[1] https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/45468

[2] I. Isaksson-Hellman, M. Lindman. “Real-World Performance of City Safety Based on Swedish Insurance Data,” 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). No. 15-0121, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 8-11, 2015.

Precise and Robust Positioning for Automated Road Transports (PRoPART) has several objectives:

  • The development and demonstration of a high availability positioning solution for connected automated driving applications.
  • Develop and enhance an existing RTK (Real Time Kinematic) software solution developed by Waysure, by exploiting the distinguished features of Galileo signals as well as combining it with other positioning and sensor technologies.
  • Besides the use of vehicle on board sensors, ‘PRoPART’ will also use a low-cost Ultra Wideband (UWB) ranging solution for redundancy and robustness in areas where the coverage of GNSS is poor e.g. in tunnels or in urban canyons.
  • In order to define the correct requirements for the PRoPART combined positioning solution, a cooperative automated vehicle application will be defined and developed. The vehicle application will rely on the high availability positioning solution and use it to couple its ADAS system with V2X and aggregate information received from other connected vehicles and Road Side Units (RSU).
  • As there will be a transition period where a lot of vehicles are neither connected nor automated, solutions having high impact during low penetration are in focus. Therefore ‘PRoPART’ will implement an RSU with high precision positioning and use both UWB as well as a traffic monitoring to supply ranging, object perception and EGNSS RTK correction data via ETSI ITS-G5 to the connected automated vehicle so it can make safe decisions based on robust data.
  • This means that ‘PRoPART’ also will implement perception layer sensor fusion that uses information collected in the LDM (Local Dynamic Map) as well as information from both the on board vehicle sensors and the high availability positioning solution. We will also exploit possibilities to distribute EGNSS RTK correction data from the RSU to the vehicle.

WP1 – Definition of Use Cases & System Requirements – SCANIA

The objective of WP 1 is to define and specify what the target use case for the PRoPART system is. The use case is seen as the main requirement driver for the system. The use case will be worked out in T1.1 and then described in detail in D1.1. Furthermore an analysis of the use case from a functional safety analysis point of view will be included in D1.2. For requirements, D1.1 is used as the input for extracting requirements. Requirements on the application level will also be described in D1.2 which, in turn, will result in component level requirement specifications in D1.2 and D1.3.

WP2 – System Architecture & Design – FhG

The objective of WP 2 is to develop the overall system architecture based on requirements from WP1, including the vehicle unit and the roadside unit architecture, and to design the overall system, including the precise and robust positioning system, the environmental perception system, the V2X communication system and the road side component. The system architecture will be worked out in T2.1. With the preliminary hardware interface description described in D1.3 as input, the detailed ystem architecture specifications will be described in D2.2. The system design will be worked out in T2.2 and described in detail in D2.3.

WP3 – Component Development (HW & SW) – CEIT-IK4

The objective of this work package is the design and implementation of SW components taking into account the specific platforms of the different modules which form the localisation system architecture presented in WP2. Therefore, in this WP the processing HW platforms and HW interfaces will be defined to fulfil the technical specifications defined in WP1 with the aim of enhancing the accuracy and coverage of standard RTK solution based on EGNSS. For this purpose, this work package will develop a highly precise and highly available position solution using Galileo features of E1 and E5. Furthermore, sensor nodes based on UWB will be developed increasing the availability of precise positioning at areas of limited or no GNSS coverage. To this end, the RSUs located in different points of the road infrastructure will be enhanced with these UWB sensor nodes so that the equipped heavy vehicle can calculate absolute positions with high precision. The development of these sensor nodes includes UWB ranging software implementation, HW design, manufacturing and testing (functional tests and, EMC and vibration tests) to ensure the appropriate working emulating the worst conditions (high multipath and Doppler effects) in real scenarios. On the other hand, the emerging RSUs will also include radar sensors and GNSS receiver to work as a base station which provides EGNSS correction data to the RTK solution. Additionally, the SW for V2X communication, necessary to create the communication link between the RSUs and the on board localisation system, will be developed also in this WP with the aim of designing low-latency communications.

WP4 – Integration and Test – CMS

WP4 covers two main steps of the project: the definition development of tests and the integration of both of the main systems (Vehicle & Roadside Unit). T4.1 is responsible for designing test specifications, test cases (and test system where applicable) for software and system level components (according to the V model) based on the specification received from WP2. Designing test methods are carried out in parallel to implementation. Its first delivery (D4.1) presents all tests that will validate proper behaviour of each subsystem. D4.2 delivers the complete test system to be used by T4.2.
Furthermore, tasks (within The second part of WP4 – namely T4.2)- will cover taking the assembled modules (developed SW and HW units from WP3) to perform two stages of integration before finally performing required in-lab testing, first modules will be integrated to subsystems, then all subsystems will be integrated into the respective OBU and RSU systems (completing the delivery D4.2). The final subtask of T4.2 is to verify each subsystem (reported in D4.3) before and in preparation for field validation and demonstration carried out by WP5.

WP5 – Validation and Demonstration – BL

The overall purpose of this work package is to validate the project prototyping results with respect to the PRoPART system objectives and requirements. This includes:

  •  Design and implementation of the vehicle application test
  •  Integration of the positioning system into a vehicle
  •  Integration of the collaborative functionality and communication into a vehicle
  •  Validation of the positioning system in a vehicle
  •  Validation of the complete PRoPART positioning solution
  •  Validation of collaborative functionality and communication

WP6 – Project Management – RISE

The objective of this work package is to manage the project to ensure that the consortium will reach its objectives. This work package will provide overall co-ordination in the administrative and technical domains of the project. Much emphasis is placed on the efficient internal coordination and on the reporting to the commission. This requires reliable communication procedures between the partners: progress must be monitored, tracked and reported, results of one work package must be transformed into initiatives and starting points for another work package, costs must be controlled and problems must be solved promptly. Identification and assessment of potential impacts within the project and related to the use and application of results.

 

The Consortium has identified five groups of target audiences that would potentially benefit from the knowledge acquired during the project. Those mainly consist of private business OEMs that benefit from new RTK solutions directly affecting the provided services.

  • Heavy goods vehicle OEMS
  • Tier 1 automotive suppliers
  • Mobile IoT providers
  • Microchip manufacturers
  • Autonomous robot manufacturers

Autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems contribute towards “Vision Zero”, i.e. a future where no humans are killed or impaired by accidents. Predictions indicate that these technologies will also contribute to reduced traffic density through increased road efficiency and will create new business models for mobility. It has already been proven to reduce both the number and extent of injuries and insurance costs [1] [2]. Precise and robust positioning is a required key technology in both advanced driver assistance systems and connected autonomous vehicle applications. The main idea behind the PRoPART project is to develop and enhance an RTK (Real Time Kinematic) software solution by both exploiting the distinguished features of Galileo signals as well as combining it with other positioning and sensor technologies.

[1] https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/45468
[2] I. Isaksson-Hellman, M. Lindman. “Real-World Performance of City Safety Based on Swedish Insurance Data,” 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). No. 15-0121, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 8-11, 2015.