During the 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, which is taking place from October 10-14 in Melbourne, Australia, the city will host the world’s first demonstration of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) using multiple devices from multiple suppliers.
The demonstration on a major street in the heart of Melbourne will allow vehicles to ‘talk’ to live traffic signals, showcasing the interoperability of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technologies at ‘real world’ intersections. Previous trials have included single or proprietary systems, but the Melbourne demonstrations include technology from six different suppliers, each communicating with traffic signals operating on a live road. World Congress demonstration partners, CO-GISTICS, Cohda Wireless, Kapsch, NXP, Q-Free and Robert Bosch Australia, came together in August 2016 from across the globe to work with Transport Certification Australia (TCA), the Official Demonstrations Partner for this year’s Congress, to achieve this world-first.
VicRoads has enabled the demo to take place by equipping seven sets of traffic signals to create a ‘Connected Urban Corridor’ along Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. ITS World Congress delegates will be the first to experience the interoperability of these technologies and their potential global application. The open standards demonstration will showcase V2V and V2I technology designed to improve efficiency and safety. This will include traffic signal phasing technology to optimize traffic flow based on V2I connectivity, with vehicles for example providing driver alerts and communications about road conditions, low bridges, road works or accidents.
Other demonstrations on public roads from the Congress venue, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, will showcase emergency vehicle alerts, mobile tolling and emergency vehicle pre-emption. Delegates who attend the demonstrations at Albert Park, home of the Australian Grand Prix, can experience remote parking technology, highly automated vehicles, the latest in V2X communications, shared driverless transportation, and state-of-the-art perception systems demonstrating real-time localization. The Cohda Wireless demonstration will take V2X to the next level, showcasing GPS-less positioning for V2X. In environments where GPS is challenging, Cohda’s technology enables vehicles to position themselves and transmit messages containing GPS coordinates, even if GPS signals are unavailable.
Chris Koniditsiotis, TCA’s CEO and chairman of the 2016 ITS World Congress Demonstrations and Exhibition Committee, said, “It’s rewarding to see the caliber of demonstrators involved in this year’s Congress, and even more rewarding to see technology providers actively cooperating with each other to achieve cooperative outcomes. It’s this type of cooperation, which will be on display during the 2016 ITS World Congress in Melbourne, that will deliver the promised outcomes from connected and automated vehicles. It’s also a further showcase of how Australia’s ingenuity, in partnership with demonstrators from across the globe, delivers outcomes that lead the world.”
ITS Australia’s CEO, Susan Harris, added, “These technologies have the potential to deliver a step-change in road safety outcomes, ease congestion, and reduce emissions. Australia is among world leaders in ITS and it is fitting that Melbourne, the world’s most liveable city, will host a world-first demonstration in C-ITS.”
