TransSec

Overview

Over the past number of years there has been an increasing number of terror attacks where vehicles have been used as weapons in order to cause maximum damage and injury resulting in the death of pedestrians in open and crowded areas. The TransSec project addresses this new type of danger by the constant monitoring of the vehicle’s behavior (how it is been driven), consideration of the surroundings (urban, city, park, pedestrian zone, etc.) and the application of countermeasures that cannot be bypassed on the vehicles themselves (steering, braking, kill switches, etc.) in order to bring the vehicle under control again.

TransSec will utilise the European satellite navigation system and features (Galileo and EGNOS) along with precise monitoring of vehicle position relative to other users (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) as a basis for improved security. This along with improved mapping intelligence, constant movement monitoring and autonomous emergency maneuvering will improve the security of the vehicle and the surrounding users.

Each of the work packages provide their own unique functionality the provide input into the overall safety system where enhanced positioning and dynamic object are combined to give the system a real0time view of the surrounding environment.

Using a combination of the Galileo GNSS satellites and enhanced positioning services the position of the vehicle can be determined to the decimeter level.

The suite of sensors deployed to the vehicle include several LIDARs, Cameras & radar provide a data fusion for the detection of dynamic object in the surrounding environment. Both the enhanced positioning and the dynamic object detection are overlaid onto the mapping system to provide an accurate local dynamic map that is contextually aware of the dynamic objects in the environment. This map is then used in addition to the vehicle monitoring system to determine the probability of an accident occurring. If the risk probability is above a certain threshold then the TransSec platform takes control of the vehicle by means of autonomous emergency maneuvering to bring it to a safe position and stop. All of the risk information is also transmitted to the surrounding environment in the form of V2X communications. V2X covers V2V, V2I & V2P and is planned to inform all vulnerable road users of the impending event as an early warning system. This can provide the other users with the required information they need in order to evacuate an area of avoid the origin of the risk event. This also include integration into the European eCall system whereby the vehicles can make automatic calls to the emergency services and provide the vehicle telemetry information along with the enhanced risk data to the rescue service so that they may determine the appropriate response type.

Implementation

Combination of several different technologies including advancements in the following areas:

• GNSS Positioning
• Map Data and ability to apply enhanced map matching technologies
• Suite of on-board sensors
• Enhanced electronic horizon generation including characterization of local dynamic map objects
• V2X communications for risk communications

There are three distinct phases of the project each resulting in a set of demonstrators that are publically available. Each phase is built upon the previous and gives the project consortium an opportunity to showcase the advances of the project team in the execution of the objectives. The final phase will be a fully integrated TransSec platform installed on one of the testbed trucks that will be demonstrated on public roads in Germany.

Key Objectives

Development and evaluation of systems built-in or to be used by trucks for secure road transport of (dangerous) goods. Preventing trucks and transport of goods to be misused for other purposes such as terror attacks

Specific Objectives for TransSec in Detail:

ANALYSIS

To obtain a more comprehensive analysis of a situational context using a data fusion module that fuses and processes vehicle monitoring data.

POSITIONING

Precise vehicle positioning is critical to the project. This includes both on-road (lane) and off-road positioning and navigational systems.

MONITORING

Vehicle movement will be monitored closely, especially during transport of dangerous goods. An alarm/eCall system will be implemented.

DETECTION

One of the primary objectives of the project is pre-crash detection implemented onboard the vehicle to detect vulnerable objects on/off-road

SECURITY

One of our primary objectives for the project is to implement a highly-secure network of communication systems for V2V, V2I and V2P communications to be used for critical information exchange.

MANOEUVRING

To implement an autonomous system into vehicles in order to perform emergency maneuvering procedures to bring a vehicle to a safe halt in the case of a potential crash being detected.