Location Based Systems

Norwegian agriculture firm, Yara International and guidance systems builder, Kongsberg Gruppen are to develop the Yara Birkeland, an autonomous and fully-electric container ship. They claim the new vessel will reduce NOx and CO2 emissions and improve road safety by removing up to 40,000 truck journeys in populated urban areas. Yara Birkeland will initially operate as a manned vessel, moving to remote operation in 2019 and expected to be capable of performing fully autonomous operations from 2020. Kongsberg

California’s Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) and connected vehicle partner GoMentum Station have formed a collaborative agreement with Intelligent Transport Systems Japan (ITS Japan), aimed at further accelerating connected vehicle applications and sharing autonomous vehicle technology data. Over the last two years, other Japanese-based organisations, such as Honda, have been testing at GoMentum Station. This latest collaborative agreement is expected to expose other companies to the advantages

The US Federal Communications Commission has expanded the spectrum available for vehicular radars that are used for a variety of purposes, including safety applications like collision avoidance and adaptive cruise control. The agency’s action expands the current 76-77 GHz spectrum allocation to include the entire 76-81 GHz band and transitions radars out of the 24 GHz band. This is consistent with the spectrum that is available internationally, avoiding the need to customise the radars in vehicles for diffe

Korean automotive components manufacturer Hyundai MOBIS is developing a new autonomous safety function that it believes could prevent more than 6,000 traffic fatalities each year. The Departed Driver Rescue and Exit Manoeuvre (DDREM) technology detects the critical situation where the driver is prevented from controlling the vehicle due to falling asleep, suffering a heart attack or other health condition. It then mitigates the risk of a crash by taking control of the vehicle and guiding it to safety. DDREM

The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office has released the Iteris-led updated version of the ITS National Reference Architecture that fully incorporates the connected vehicle capabilities from the Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture (CVRIA) into the Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT).

WSP USA and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly collaborate on creating a stronger connection between research and deployment of transportation systems management and operations as well as connected and automated vehicle solutions.

Automaker Groupe Renault and motorway operator Sanef have announced their cooperation to further develop communications between autonomous vehicles and road infrastructure and testing on toll barrier crossings and work zone approaches.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the City of Hamburg, Germany have agreed a three-year smart city partnership on mobility projects such as attractive railway stations, intelligent urban logistics and digital networks.

Germany’s PTV Group and French institute VEDECOM have announced their collaboration on a three-year strategic initiative. VEDECOM focuses on research and development in the field of MaaS (Mobility as a Service) in smart cities, including the integration of autonomous vehicles and their monitoring in real-time.