R&D activities

Motor Transport Institute – the unit where the Competence Centre was established is a leader in the implementation of R&D projects in the field of road transport automation in Poland. Motor Transport Institute’s experience has been gained over the years, incl. in the implementation of a number of scientific and research projects.

Current project

DARTS

The DARTS project “Database of Autonomous vehicles Road Testing Scenarios” is implemented by a consortium consisting of the Motor Transport Institute and the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology of the Warsaw University of Technology. The project aims to develop a proprietary database of test scenarios for autonomous vehicles (AV), taking into account road conditions specific to Poland.

The Ministry of Infrastructure administers the project. The database will be the basis for designing, creating, testing and evaluating perception systems for L3-L5 vehicles according to the SAE J3016 standard. After the end of the project, the database will be made available to interested entities on a non-profit basis to strengthen the Polish economy’s potential. The database will contain data provided by various sensors: IMU, GPS, cameras, radars, and lidars. These data, after appropriate processing, will be annotated. In creating data annotations and examining their quality, artificial intelligence algorithms and advanced digital data processing methods will be used, including data fusion, automatic object detection and tracking, and active learning algorithms.

The test sections will be selected with particular emphasis on conditions specific to Poland, including places with a high accident rate. The database will contain road sections of all classes and categories, as well as traffic organization, signs, traffic lights and other traffic participants (vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and other forms of road transport). The conducted field studies will consider various road conditions, e.g. traffic jams, accidents or road works, including those with limited visibility, e.g. fog. The project implementation will provide a tool necessary for the implementation of AV, and the results will shape the country’s development policy in this area. The project is financed by the National Center for Research and Development under the GOSPOSTRATEG programme.

Consortium:

Financed by:

DARTS project financed by the National Center for Research and Development

Completed projects

AV-PL-ROAD

Project named “Polish Road to Automation of Road Transport” is implemented by a consortium consisting of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Motor Transport Institute and the Faculty of Transport of the Warsaw University of Technology. The project was created to meet the expectations related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the development of the technologies automating road transport. This issue is related to a number of changes, both economic and social. This project is designed to prepare Poland for the safe implementation of automated and autonomous vehicles in Poland. Therefore, it was included as a strategic project in the Sustainable Transport Development Strategy until 2030. The project is financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under the GOSPOSTRATEG program. The project is divided into two phases. The first one ended in September 2020, while the second one is scheduled for June 2022.

As part of the first phase of the project tests of vehicles equipped with selected, most common advanced driver assistance systems, on a closed test track and on selected roads in Poland were organized. The research carried out by the Motor Transport Institute allowed to obtain new knowledge about the operation of these systems in the specific conditions of Polish road marking and national road infrastructure in real traffic conditions. In addition, as part of this phase, a comprehensive diagnosis of the impact of transport automation on many areas of life, economy and technology was carried out, taking into account, among others, its impact on socio-economic conditions in terms of the mobility of society, the use of means of transport, travel time, and the impact on the natural environment.

The second phase includes the development of the Roadmap for the introduction of CAD (Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) in Poland. In addition, as part of this phase, the Motor Transport Institute organizes seminars for industry representatives, mainly from the transport and logistics, new technologies industry, higher education, as well as representatives of the administration. The effects of work on the project are also presented at conferences. One of them organized by MTI took place on the 7th of June, 2021 called Autonomous Future of Road Transport (AV-POLAND 2021) at the Sofitel Victoria hotel in Warsaw, the broadcast of the event, in two languages, was watched by over 1000 people (https://avpoland.com/). The next edition of the conference, summarizing the work on the project, is scheduled for 2022. One of the main goals of the project was to launch a CAD contact point, and on this initiative the Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Competence Centre was established. As part of the project and work of CK:PAP experts, a concept and laboratory stands for testing automated vehicles are being developed. The Motor Transport Institute, in cooperation with the academic personnel of the Warsaw University of Technology, will prepare a training program for highly qualified technical and managerial personnel for the implementation of CAD vehicles in Poland. The knowledge gained in the project will be used to prepare assumptions for changes in the Polish legislation, supported by the best global solutions, enabling the safe introduction of automated and autonomous vehicles on public roads.

Consortium:

Financed by:

AV-PLROAD project financed by the National Center for Research and Development

TRUSTONOMY

Motor Transport Institute has a key role in the Trustonomy consortium. MTI is actively involved in the research of five (out of the six) main pillars of the project. The extensive knowledge and great experience of Transport Telematics Centre’s employees allows for expert analysis in the field of DSM (Driver State Monitoring), HMI (Human-Machine Interface), driver training, DIPA (Driver Intervention Performance Assessment) and trust and acceptance.

Using the experienced gained in previous researches, MTI supports other partners in ensuring scientific and technical development, while being the leader of research in the field of driver training. As a pilot research leader and a P1 pilot, MTI will lead the implementation and validation of the field trials results. While acting as an Innovation Manager, MTI manages the activities of the Innovation Observatory – a group that constantly monitors technological trends, research projects, as well as standardization and regulatory activities relevant to Trustonomy, as a result shortening the time to market introduction of CAD vehicles, as well as their better adaptation to consumer needs. As part of the dissemination of the project’s achievements, the Motor Transport Institute participates in important events in the area of autonomous mobility and innovative solutions for transport. In October 2019 at the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw during the VIII Congress of Public Transport and Smart City, Motor Transport Institute organized an interactive workshop session where participants gained new knowledge about advanced driver assistance systems, their advantages, disadvantages and limits. Properly selected tasks during the session allowed to assess the current state of knowledge of drivers and their attitude to autonomous vehicles. The results of the survey conducted on the day of the Congress were analysed in terms of the conditions posed by potential users of the vehicles of the future. The obtained set of requirements was compared with the requirements identified by the surveyed expert group. The publication resulting from the research was submitted to the international conference 2020 AEIT International Conference of Electrical and Electronic Technologies for Automotive.

Consortium:

Financed by:

Trustonomy has received funding by the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under Grant Agreement N° 815003

aDrive

“Innovative simulation technologies for the evaluation of driving automation systems in terms of road safety.” The project was carried out by the Motor Transport Institute in a scientific and industrial consortium with the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology and with the company SEARCH S.C. – Safety Engineering Research. The project manager was prof. Tomasz Kamiński.

aDrive was the first project of the Motor Transport Institute and one of the first projects in the Poland in the field of research on autonomous vehicles. Main goal of the project was to develop an integrated simulation environment for testing driver-vehicle communication interfaces in different sensory modalities. The research was carried out with the use of a high-class passenger car simulator AS1200-6 and specialized software for simulating the operation of systems – sensors and control algorithms used in ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). The integration of environments allowed for the performance of comprehensive tests of human-vehicle interfaces in safe laboratory conditions, including transfer of control of the vehicle.

The practical aim of the project was to develop a technology for the evaluation of automation and driver assistance systems in simulation conditions. The first part of this assessment concerned models of control systems and sensors. In the second part, the impact of the driver assistance system on the driver in terms of safe driving was assessed. As a result of the project solutions for the automotive industry sector, which contributed to the provision of new research services for driver assistance systems and autonomous systems were created. aDrive project results also contributed to the faster development of autonomous vehicles and shortened the implementation of this technology in vehicles available to private users.

With the end of the aDrive project, the Institute has become the owner of a top-class, advanced, multisensory test bench for the evaluation of driving automation systems. This device won the title of the Best Product-Device in the ITS Industry in the 9th edition of the ITS LIDER 2018 competition, and the project itself was awarded the statuette for the Best Research Work.

Consortium:

Financed by:

The aDrive project was co-financed by the National Center for Research and Development under the 3rd Applied Research Program of the National Center for Research and Development

ICT-INEX

”ICT-based, innovative training model development for building professional competences in transport industry among groups defavorised on labour market”.

The project is an answer for the problem of the deepening deficit of professional drivers by searching for methods that facilitate entering the profession and making the training process more attractive.

The Motor Transport Institute was a leader and main contractor of ICT-INEX project. To MTI tasks belonged, among others, analysis of the needs and barriers for potential users, including some defavorised groups, carried out in accordance with the service design methodology, development of guidelines for the implementation and integration of advanced 3D visualization technologies and gamification mechanisms with the professional driver training system or the development of a coherent model of vocational education in the transport industry using the latest ICT solutions and recommendations for changes in national and EU legislation.

ICT-INEX goals:

Searching for the practical implementation of innovative tools (including VR) and training methods for professional drivers
Integration of e-learning, simulator training and VR training within a coherent training model
Creating the basis for accepting the introduction of driver training consisting of many interactive training tools and methods at the same time
Focusing on specific, defavorised social groups using a human-centered approach

Consortium:

Financed by:

The versatility of activities and initiatives undertaken by Motor Transport Institute makes it an entity with the broadest spectrum of technical, economic and social competences covering areas related to road transport.