Max Haberstroh

Automated Truck Platoons on Motorways – A Contribution to the Safety on Roads

One opportunity to manage the rising freight transportation and to optimize the utilization of motorway capacities is the concept of truck platoons.With the aid of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems it is possible to couple trucks electronically. In consequence, trucks can keep short distances between vehicles of approx. 10 meters at 50 mph and that way realize truck platoons on motorways. Electronically coupled truck platoons offer various improvements to the freight transportation problem, such as improved vehicle occupancy, gained road space, optimization of traffic flow, reduction of fuel consumption due to slipstream driving, a relief for professional drivers and finally an increase in safety due to the longitudinal and lateral guidance. In this paper, a brief introduction to the technical background of these truck platoons is given, as they were realized and tested on public roads within the project KONVOI. The main focus is on the contribution to the road safety of electronically coupled trucks on German motorways. Hence, German accident statistics will be discussed and the benefit for the society due to accident reduction will be monetized and calculated on the basis of the German Federal Traffic Route Plan.

Interaction of human, machine, and environment in automated driving systems

In view of the increase in traffic volume and growing demands on traffic, alternative mobility concepts such as automation of the driving task are increasingly being investigated. In line with this course of development project KONVOI was initiated, where an interdisciplinary research team carried out the electronic coupling of trucks. Because the technical feasibility of such automated systems had already been proved, project KONVOI focused on quantifying the impact of automated systems on traffic and on the interaction between humans and machines. Technical development of the system took place with preferential consideration of the human being. The KONVOI system was analyzed for acceptance and the potential workload by using test people in a driving simulator. The test results had a direct effect on the technical development of the system. After approval of the prototype, the traffic effects of the KONVOI system were examined in the context of real German highways. The results of this impact analysis served as a comparison of the developmental concept and evaluation of the system. Open questions concerning the effects of the KONVOI system on car drivers were investigated through additional test drives in the driving simulator. In project KONVOI, an automated system was run in real traffic for the first time in Europe. This testing and the strong consideration of the human being in the development process have provided new insights into the development of driver assistant systems and automated driving systems.

An Introduction to a Transnational Volunteer Notification System Providing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Victims Suffering a Sudden Cardiac Arrest

While it is always desirable in an emergency to get treatment as soon as possible, there are emergencies that need immediate treatment. In case of Sudden Cardiac Arrest an untreated time interval of only a few minutes usually means the victims’ death. Given the delay between an incoming emergency call and the arrival of the emergency medical services at the scene, it is necessary to find an alternative way to provide immediate first aid treatment. One approach for this is the implementation of a Volunteer Notification System – involving laypersons and medically trained volunteers into the emergency medical service, by notifying those potential helpers who can arrive at the scene fast enough to provide the urgently needed measures.

New intermodal loading units in the European transport market

The increasing transport demand and the need for higher cargo volume, together with the need to standardize dimensions and handling processes are characteristics of the current intermodal freight transport. To develop sustainable and resilient transport system, a modal shift and a strengthening of intermodal transport is necessary. Therefore appropriate loading units have to be developed. This includes not only combining the advantages of existing loading units, complying with current European legislation, but also satisfying the needs of the market. This paper presents a new intermodal transport system designed within the European project TelliSys, including variations of a new loading unit as well as an innovative super low deck tractor and a compatible chassis. Additionally a comparison of usage and technical and economical characteristics between utilized intermodal loading units and the new loading units will be given.

Potenziale für Smarte Innovation finden

Dynamisch und komplex – so ist unsere heutige Welt, weshalb es immer schwieriger wird, Innovationspotenziale zu erkennen und diese Innovationen dann systematisch zu gestalten. Haufig haben sich Strukturen und Prozesse schon so verfestigt, dass es schwer ist, das dort liegende Innovationspotential zu entdecken und zu nutzen (Strina/Jaime 2003). Nicht nur aus Forschung und Entwicklung (FuE) gehen Innovationen hervor, sondern jeder Prozess im Produktlebenszyklus kann und muss seinen Beitrag zum Innovationsprozess leisten. Die Entwicklung von Innovation ist eine permanente Herausforderung, die es entsprechend stetig neuen Anforderungen zu gestalten gilt (Isenhardt/Petry 2009).

What Are Teachers’ Requirements for Remote Learning Formats? Data Analysis of an E-Learning Recommendation System

Teachers often have their own professional requirements for e-learning systems. However, these are often only subliminal known. In times of Industry 4.0 and AI, teachers e.g. in engineering are also confronted with the need to teach increasingly complex concepts. Those are only two of the reasons why an e-learning recommendation system has been developed to support teachers in choosing an e-learning format. To better understand the perspective of the teachers, the central question is: What are the teachers’ requirements for the e-learning formats examined here? After a introduction to the recommendation system, the analysis of the collected data is explained. Based on recommendations given in the past, we examine which requirements have led to a clear recommendation or to the advice against individual formats. Among the formats considered here, virtual reality and simulations are the most recommended on average, as they are best suited to the teacher’s requirements. Subsequently, the profound results in the areas of virtual laboratories, virtual reality, simulations and gaming-based solutions will be presented and discussed. However, the results also show how diverse the requirements are. The recommendation for e-learning developers and companies is therefore: e-learning solutions should be adaptive for teachers and students. Finally, it can be concluded that in the future teachers will have to use a mix of different e-learning solutions in order to be able to teach the increasingly complex world of tomorrow.

Fostering social construction of knowledge in hybrid teams by augmented reality

New instructional and collaborative technologies (e.g. Augmented Reality (AR) and robots) are prototypically used in educational contexts like the social construction of knowledge. They foster collaboration due to their interactive nature [1]. Future professionals of industrial contexts, however, do not only need to develop technical knowledge but also media/technology competences in terms of the efficient use of technologies like AR in both learning and working contexts. Human-centred factors in the collaboration with robots, i.e. human-robot interaction (HRI), in learning contexts, e.g. the social construction of knowledge in such hybrid teams, however, still is a field hardly researched on [1, 2, 3]. The combination of developing prospectively essential competences like HRI skills and media/technology literacy in using AR for learning/instruction purposes actively prepare learners for an employment market that is characterised by a comprehensive digitalisation and interconnection (i.e. industry 4.0). Moreover, social construction of knowledge is assumed to be a new challenge in terms of the emergence of industry and knowledge societies. As a consequence, this concept paper aims to offer some insight into the topic. First, it presents results of a meta-analysis of literature on the use of AR as digital instruction on HRI social construction of knowledge. On this basis, the paper provides a three-step mixed methods approach for investigating the effect of digital instructions in HRI learning contexts by means of an empirical-experimental study design.

Request for Comments: Proposal of a Blockchain for the Automatic Management and Acceptance of Student Achievements

Staying abroad during their studies is increasingly popular for students. However, there are various challenges for both students and universities. One important question for students is whether or not achievements performed at different universities can be taken into account for either enrolling at a foreign university or for completing the studies at their home university. In addition to university achievements, an increasing proportion of the 195 million students worldwide increasingly receive certificates from MOOCs or other social media services. The integration of such services into university teaching is still in the initial stages and presents some challenges. In this paper we describe the idea to manage all these study achievements worldwide in a blockchain, which might solve the national and international challenges regarding the recognition of student achievements. The aim of this paper is to encourage discussion in the global community instead of presenting a finished concept. Some of the open research questions are: How to ensure student data protection, how to deal with fraud and how to deal with the possibility that students can analytically calculate the easiest way through their studies?

Potenziale für Smarte Innovation finden: Ein IT-basiertes Werkzeug zur Innovationsanalyse

Dynamisch und komplex – so ist unsere heutige Welt, weshalb es immer schwieriger wird, Innovationspotenziale zu erkennen und diese Innovationen dann systematisch zu gestalten. Agilitat kann ein Schlussel fur das Beherrschen von Dynamik und Komplexitat sein, um die darin verborgenen Potenziale fur Innovationen zu aktivieren. Wie aber kann identifiziert werden, welche Prozesse agiler gestaltet werden konnten, um verborgene Potenziale zu nutzen? Eine Grundlage dafur bildet das Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Innerhalb des PLM werden alle Prozesse des Produktlebenszyklus aufgenommen, standardisiert und in ein konsistentes Datenmodell ubernommen. Anhand des PLM sowie das Leben agilen Werte im Innovationsmanagement wurde im Rahmen des Projekts Smarte Innovation ein IT-basiertes Werkzeug entwickelt, welches Entscheidern innerhalb eines Unternehmens eine Hilfestellung bei der Identifizierung des eigenen Innovationspotenzials bietet. Es gibt Ruckschlusse darauf, in welchen Prozessen Strukturen und Standards ihren Sinn verloren haben, Kommunikationsprobleme auftreten oder die Kundenbindung zu schwach gelebt wird.

Wie lässt sich Komplexität als Quelle für Innovationen nutzen

Die Komplexitat und Dynamik, denen heutige Unternehmen im globalisierten Markt ausgesetzt sind, lassen sich nicht reduzieren. Dies bringt aber nicht nur die Gefahr mit sich, die Kontrolle uber das Unternehmen und seinen Output zu verlieren, sondern birgt auch Chancen zur Steigerung der Innovationsfahigkeit des Unternehmens. Daher ist es wichtig die Prozesse innerhalb eines Unternehmens so zu modellieren, dass das Unternehmen auch in turbulenten Kontexten uberleben kann. IT-Tools helfen dabei die verschiedenen Dimensionen von Komplexitat und Dynamik zu nutzen, indem sie Unternehmen und ihre Mitarbeiter dabei unterstutzen sich uber ihre eigenen Strukturen und Prozesse bewusst zu werden und diese agil zu gestalten. Die oben dargelegten Beispiele des Produktlebenszyklus, des Stage-Gate-Modells sowie des Gegenstromprinzips stellen eine Moglichkeit dar, Komplexitat in verschiedenen Stufen darzustellen und nutzbar zu machen. Letztendlich muss aber jedes Unternehmen fur sich herausfinden, wie es mit der Komplexitat und Dynamik seiner Umwelt umgeht. Um dies zu erleichtern benotigen Unternehmen Werkzeuge, die es ihnen erlauben, die eigene Situation zu analysieren und Moglichkeiten zu identifizieren, wie bislang noch nicht ausgeschopfte Potentiale nutzbar gemacht werden konnen. Ein Werkzeug das fur diesen Zweck entwickelt wurde, stellt das IT-Tool „Smarte Innovation“ dar.