Work Package 3 – Control centre and technical supervision / Expansion of the control centre
Pursuant to the new Law on Autonomous Driving (GAF), in conjunction with the Autonomous Vehicles Approval and Operation Ordinance (AFGBV), the safety driver who has been present in the vehicle to date (ABSOLUT I) is now to be replaced by a remote technical supervisor.
GAF stipulates specifically the establishment and operation of a facility for technical supervision. Currently, however, there are still no reference solutions available on the market. The central focus of this work package is thus placed on the development of special software for the workplace of a technical supervisor, as an important element of the ABSOLUT control centre. Furthermore, the creation of open and non-proprietary interfaces is shifted into the foreground, in order to enable integration of the software into the existing system landscape. BitCtrl Systems GmbH is here assuming the lead role and overseeing development of the technical supervision software and the ABSOLUT data bus. The primary goal of the consortium is to specify and implement interfaces and models in the context of the ABSOLUT control centre. This will ensure smooth integration into the system landscape and promote harmonious interaction between the various subsystems developed and managed by the individual partners.
Contributing partners with their individual tasks and objectives:
Sedenius Engineering will be providing for seamless integration of a realtime-capable model of the vehicle surroundings and relevant infrastructure data into the user interface (GUI) for the technical supervisor. This opens up possibilities for significantly improved situational analysis and allows fast evaluation of both the overall system status and the condition of individual subsystems. In addition, Sedenius Engineering is developing a manoeuvring interface that will permit the technical supervisor to issue manoeuvring commands to the vehicle. This serves to guarantee extremely precise and safe control of the shuttle.
INIT GmbH is focused on further development of the ITCS to embrace autonomous on-demand services. The objective is to develop non-proprietary interfaces that enable an integration of autonomous vehicles into the control centre for public transport operations.
The interface to the customer app is to be realised via LVB’s FLEXA system. ANavS is handling the integration of precise dynamic maps and the visualisation of geoinformation in the ABSOLUT control centre. Access to traffic and infrastructure data, including construction work and disturbances affecting the ABSOLUT data bus, is the responsibility of the Office of Transportation and Public Works (VTA) of the City of Leipzig.
Another essential feature of the ABSOLUT control centre is the functionality for monitoring of the vehicle interior. This serves to ensure passenger safety and requires automatic detection systems to enable the immediate determination of potential safety and security risks. BitCtrl Systems is responsible for the implementation of such situational monitoring for the vehicle interior.