Stephan Lapoehn

Automated valet parking as part of an integrated travel assistance

The integration of automated valet parking (automated search of a parking space and execution of the parking maneuver) in a comprehensive travel assistance approach promises great benefits for a traveler. In particular, it aims at increasing comfort, optimizing travel time and improving energy efficiency for changing means of transport (where one of them is a car) within a whole multimodal travel chain. In this paper an automated valet parking system as part of a travel assistant is presented. Besides giving an overview of the overall system, the main components (namely the environment perception and automation modules of the fully automated vehicle, a mobile phone application as human machine interface and a parking space occupancy detection camera as part of the parking area infrastructure) are described. The system was successfully tested on three different parking areas, where one of these areas was located at Braunschweig main station.

Interaction design for nomadic devices in highly automated vehicles

Following the roadmaps of (inter)national committees, highly automated driving will be available in the next decade in production vehicles. This technology allows the driver to do some other tasks while driving and to remain only as a fallback in situations the automation is not capable to handle. This study tested if nomadic devices, that drivers might use while driving highly automated, can be integrated to support the driver in taking over control when requested. 33 drivers participated in a simulator study and drove in a highly automated vehicle on a motorway. The results showed that the takeover performance of drivers improve if the takeover request is displayed additionally on the nomadic device. Therefore, the integration of additional interfaces such as smartphones into a holistic interaction concept may be a key aspect for designing a secure and comfortable takeover process.

5G enabled cooperative collision avoidance: System design and field test

We explore the feasibility of 5G for enhancing cooperative automated driving. A V2X solution for enhancing road safety through connected cars based on 5G radio technology is shown. Based on a flexible, re-configurable software defined radio test-bed, we examine the benefit of ultra low latency and high reliability (URLLC) profile for enhanced emergency brake maneuver. This use case reveals the advantages and additional requirements of using 5G for automated emergency braking based on vehicle-to-vehicle communication. We analyze the impact of communication latency and reliability on the maneuver performance and associated safety aspect. The results provide insights into the joint-design of a V2X communication system for enhancing road safety through cooperative automated driving.