ITS World Congress webinar series concludes with focus on CCAM

Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility (CCAM) encompasses a range of technologies that connect and automate transportation systems, promising to improve safety, efficiency, and sustainability in urban and rural environments. However, as explained in the latest ERTICO World Congress webinar, to achieve this, there are still challenges related to technological integration, infrastructure modernization, legal frameworks, cybersecurity, and public trust.

The webinar organised by ERTICO on 27 June was the last in a series of three seminars dedicated to the main themes of the 30th International Conference on the Development of Information Technology (ERTICO).^t ITS World Congress in Dubai in September. In this webinar “CCAM – More than the sum of its parts”, experts from Belgium, UAE, UK, USA and Japan delved into some of the intricacies of collaborative, connected and automated mobility and the journey from innovation to real-world implementation.

Stephane Dreher, Head of CCAM at ERTICO-ITS EuropeANDd debate, setting the stage by explaining that, in addition to being the focus in Dubai, CCAM is one of the main areas ERTICO is working on. The vision is that by 2025 there are operational CCAM services integrated into the current transport system that are, he said, “accepted, inclusive and supported by infrastructure to achieve the European Commission’s policy goals on decarbonisation and security”.

Continuing the European strategy, Max Lemke, head of the IoT unit in the European Commission’s DG CONNECT, explained that the vehicle of the future will be electric, connected, autonomous – or at least have some degree of automation – and shared, which means major disruption for the industry. He warned that this comes with technological challenges, explaining: “We see that the lines of software code are growing, I would say exponentially, and that means that productivity in software engineering is a key issue. There is a lack of talent, resources and productivity is low because we have to adapt everything.” He spoke about the different ways in which components are supplied and used, how value chains are changing and how vehicles are becoming “smartphones on wheels” and need to be affordable, before detailing how Europe is implementing its innovation strategy and how the European culture is ensuring safety.

CCAM vehicles currently have about a hundred million lines of code and could need a billion lines by 2030. “That’s mind-boggling,” commented Dr. Steve Dellenback, vice president of research and development at Southwest Research Institute, asking, “Does this code work, how do you test it? How do you make sure it works in all the different scenarios?” He cautioned against managing public expectations about operational efficiency and safety, adding, “If we’re really going to get to 500 million or a billion lines of code, we’re kidding ourselves if we think these vehicles are going to be perfect. So part of the discussion we have to have going forward is at what price are we willing to implement this technology, we can’t just sell it as collision-free, that’s not going to be true to our public.”

Far from being a thing of the future, cooperative, connected and automated mobility is now a reality in countless places around the world. Informing the audience about developments in Japan, ITS Japan Senior Vice President Ryota Shirato described two paths for the development of automated driving. One is for logistics and mobility services, with a faster path to fully automated solutions in specific environments, and the other for private vehicles, which are moving to automation more slowly but on general roads. He provided an overview of two projects, RoAD to L4, leading to driverless autonomous driving services, and initiatives related to supporting initial investments in year-round operations on public roads implemented in about 100 locations this year. “Most of the field tests are still Level Two (autonomy),” he commented. “It is expected to be expanded to Level Four and — this is my personal opinion — it is still achievable.”

Further real-world solutions are being highlighted by Australian-New Zealand autonomous vehicle manufacturer Ohmio, which is expanding its operations into Europe. Robert Sykora, its European director, presented a case study of airside deployments, including one involving redeployed staff at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. “It’s a challenge because we have limited GNSS reception near the apron,” he said. “The vehicles that are driving here are under time pressure, so the traffic is really difficult and access to the airside is really tightly regulated.” He explained how they managed to transport crew from the service centre to the apron where the aircraft is parked and back.

At the Dubai World Congress, the full scale of CCAM’s ambition and implementation will be on display for all visitors in September. Dr Ismail Zohdy, Future and Innovative Mobility Expert at Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, highlighted what he called Dubai’s unique strategy, with a vision to achieve 25 percent autonomous travel by 2030.

He spoke about something that is key to the World Congresses – delivering solutions across borders. “The challenges we had were how to localize the technology,” he said. “So as part of the process here in Dubai, we tried to apply a balancing act… We are more interested in assessing the use cases than the technology itself. So whenever the technology is compatible with our environment, we will accept it.”

All these speakers will be attending and presenting at ITS World Congress in Dubai from September 16 to 20. Early bird booking for delegate passes is available until July 15 at itsworldcongress.com.

You can watch the entire webinar on the ERTICO YouTube channel by clicking here.

(Photo – ERTICO)