Rerearchers from IID dept. contribute to safer street crossing

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How to prevent injuries to pedestrians, especially children, the elderly and people with disabilities, in normal urban road traffic – that was the main issue the IPA2x project focused on. The goal of the project was to develop an intelligent assistant that will ensure the safe crossing of pedestrians at crossing zebras without traffic lights, especially in front of schools or other public institutions. A working group from the Industrial Informatics Department of our institute led by Michal Sojka participated in the project.

In the IPA2X project, European „living labs“ in the field of autonomous driving, research institutes and OEMs connected together and used their knowledge and experience in the field of new technologies based on artificial intelligence and 5G networks in its implementation. Together, they created a mobile robot that could replace police officers standing at the crossing and also act as a smart road sign.

The CIIRC CTU working group was in charge of ensuring communication between an autonomous robotic device (rover) and surrounding vehicles. Together with another project partner from the Czech Republic, Škoda Auto, the group participated in the development of the software used in the model cases.

This mobile robotic device (rover) independently evaluates the situation on the road through its sensors and video camera. At the moment when pedestrians are waiting at the crossing and the rover evaluates that there is a good opportunity to cross, it enters the road and stops the vehicles. This is done by sending a message to the surrounding vehicles, alerting the driver about the activity at the crossing using sound and indicating it in the form of an animation on the display in the car. Pedestrians are then informed by a green light that they can cross the road safely.

In addition to increasing the safety of pedestrians in cities, a secondary benefit of this project is also the reduction of noise and environmental pollution, as well as the reduction of costs for the administrative provision of this service.

The project, which ends at the end of the year, was tested in three pilot cities. In Milano and Modena, Italy, its utilisation was tested by school children, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, it focused on the elderly.

Modena – the testing took place on September 30, 2022 as part of the Smart Life Festival and the pan-European Researcher´s Night in front of Marconi Middle School.

Milano – tested on October 11, 2022 in front of the Arcadia Comprehensive Institute in the Gratosoglio district.

Ljubljana – the last testing on October 14, 2022 took place in the BTC City business zone, this time on a sample of the older population.

Video from the last testing in Ljubljana

 

More information about the project can be found HERE.

The project is supported by EIT Urban Mobility an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. 

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