Coordination of activities in support of road automation

Topic Description

Many developments and testing of automated vehicle solutions are already on-going in different European Member States and worldwide with varying framework conditions. There is a great need for creating a solid knowledge base of all these activities and a coordinated and harmonised approach at European and international level. Moreover, it is necessary to achieve a more efficient sharing and re-use of data and experiences of the different Field Operational Tests (FOT) in the area of road vehicle automation carried out at National and European levels.

Proposals should address one or two of the following areas:

Area 1:

―Monitor the status of progress, coordinate and create a knowledge base on all ongoing research and demonstration activities in Europe and in the rest of the world in the area of road vehicle automation.

―Identify and gather a knowledge base on different automated driving scenarios in European Countries and worldwide, taking into account the available transportation system and infrastructure in these countries, including an analysis of the expected user behaviour for different user groups and the impact on the economy.

―Create a forum for National and European stakeholders of road automation to exchange experiences and knowledge on the development and deployment of road automation systems and to discuss future challenges.

―Support cooperation activities in the area of road automation at global level, in particular with the US and Japan.

Area 2:

―Establish a platform of data exchange in order to let individual Field Operational Tests of vehicle automation carried out at National and European levels benefit from each other's' learning experiences. A strategy for sharing and exploiting collected data in National, European and international FOTs should be developed.

For both areas, in line with the Union's strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation^[1], international cooperation is encouraged. In particular, proposals should foresee twinning with entities participating in projects funded by US DOT^[2] to exchange knowledge and experience and exploit synergies.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 0.50 to 3.00 million each would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Actions are expected to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the art of research and demonstration activities in Europe and worldwide in the area of vehicle automation, in particular with regard to emerging market prospects, standardisation and legal and regulatory framework.

Moreover, actions will achieve a better visibility, comparability and transferability of available results and data of Field Operational Tests of vehicle automation at National and European level. They will also lead to a stronger cooperation between research centres and other stakeholders in Europe and worldwide on common challenges in the areas of vehicle automation.

Proposed actions will contribute to higher penetration of automated driving functions in the market, resulting in both increased safety on the roads and lower emissions, and stronger market position of European industry in systems for vehicle automation.

This activity directly aimed at supporting the development and implementation of evidence base for R&I policies and supporting various groups of stakeholders is excluded from the delegation to the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) and will be implemented by the Commission services.

[1]COM(2012)497

[2]United States Department of Transportation.