Section: Application Domains

Future cars and transportation systems

Thanks to the introduction of new sensor and ICT technologies in cars and in mass transportation systems, and also to the pressure of economical and security requirements of our modern society, this application domain is quickly changing. Various technologies are currently developed by both research and industrial laboratories. These technologies are progressively arriving at maturity, as it is witnessed by the results of large scale experiments and challenges (e.g., Darpa Urban Challenge 2007) and by the fast development of ambitious projects such as the Google’s car project. Moreover, the legal issue starts to be addressed (see for instance the recent laws in Nevada and in California authorizing autonomous vehicles on roads).

In this context, we are interested in the development of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) systems aimed at improving comfort and safety of the cars users (e.g., ACC, emergency braking, danger warnings), and of Fully Autonomous Driving functions for controlling the displacements of private or public vehicles in some particular driving situations and/or in some equipped areas (e.g., automated car parks or captive fleets in downtown centers or private sites).