Project Launch |
Above: Video cameras
attached to lampposts
are a key part of the
Living Lab infrastructure
Right: TRL engineers
teamed up with
researchers from
Streetdrone for an
AV test, during which
members of the public
were invited to ride
along – a European first
300+
The number of
instrumented lampposts
in London’s Smart
Mobility Living Lab
014 Traffic Technology International March/April 2020
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
using the data coming from
our infrastructure.”
In terms of the infrastructure
hardware, high-tech sensors,
including lidar, are a distinct
possibility in the near future, but
for now the Living Lab is primarily
a video-based undertaking “We’ve got
hundreds of cameras, and over 300 lampposts
with various instrumentation on. It’s a huge
investment. The cameras capture images and
those images then create a 3D digital model of
the whole route. So we can understand what the
camera sees and use software to position things
in the 3D environment.”
Of course, the roadside infrastructure also
communicates with vehicles in a V2X network. For
this, wi-fi is the primary technology but 5G is also
being tested. “We’re using popup infrastructure,”
says Cuerden. “That means that rather than
having it all fixed, we can put extra things onto
lampposts. With V2X technology and wi-fi
meshing together, we could test ticketing a car or
charging it a toll per mile, for example. We’ve got
at least a 10 year life for this facility. So what we’re
putting in now is the foundations and then we’re
going to add to it over the next 10 years.”
“We’ve also got things like air quality
monitoring sensors,” continues Cuerden.
“Which might enable you to gauge the
environmental benefit of EVs over a time frame
around a school or wherever it might be.”
Think ‘system’
But the Living Lab isn’t simply about testing
technology. The team have got their eyes on the
big picture. “Another interesting thing is that
one of our partners, Cubic, has developed a
payment app,” says Cuerden. “We will be
trialling services as well as vehicles. By working
with us you’ll be able to prove your service will
not only be safe, but also that you can make
money from it.” Because, profit isn’t the only
driving force behind successful mobility
solutions in the 21st century…
“In a dense urban environment, we don’t want
to replace all of the human driven cars with
automated cars,” continues Cuerden. “Because
we’ll just have the same congestion problems,
the same air quality problems – we have to think
‘system’. It’s that big picture thinking – how do
we make our roads safer and cleaner, less
congested, and basically nicer places to be?”
Cuerden’s vision for the future is one where
automated vehicles operate safely in a small
geofenced, instrumented area. Not as standalone,
on-demand robo-cabs, but to integrate
seamlessly with the mass transit systems of
today and tomorrow. “We’re not going to see
models that are sustainable if we start thinking
about replacing buses with AVs,” says Cuerden.
“These new mobility solutions are going to have
to work with public transport. A bus in rush
hour is full – that’s an awful lot of AVS to replace
that bus. I’m not sure that’s very sensible. A bus
at 2am, might not be required. You might then
want to have a fleet of AVs to help get people
around more quietly and efficiently.
“We have to think about this as a system
in the same way that we think about an AV
working with infrastructure as a system, we
need to think about what services will be offered
and that’s something that not a lot of people are
talking about. But it’s absolutely paramount to
the successful introduction of these technologies.
Otherwise, you’ll be sitting in an AV in
a traffic jam and you might as well be sitting
in a human-driven taxi in a traffic jam!”
We’re not going
to see models
that are sustainable
if we start thinking
about replacing buses
with AVs
Richard Cuerden, director,
TRL Academy
Watch Traffic Technology
International’s ride in the Smart
Mobility Living Lab vehicle at
traffictechnologytoday.com/smll
/www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
/smll