EU project WATCH(es)-OVER people in transit
EU-funded researchers have taken road safety one step further by developing a system that keeps an eye on vulnerable road users. The WATCH-OVER ('Vehicle-to-vulnerable road user cooperative communication and sensing technologies to improve transport safety') project, backed with EUR 3.32 million in funding under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), developed the technology in two versions: pre-crash system and warning system. The sensor technologies currently available on the market do not have a visual on obstacles or have restricted views of the lateral and longitudinal areas. Experts say no sensor-based system exists that can carry out preventive detection in varied situations. Enter the WATCH-OVER project whose partners say it is harder to protect more vulnerable road users (VRUs) than car drivers. VRUs are defined as individuals that are not equipped with airbags, roll-cages and seat belts, for example cyclists and pedestrians. At the same time, they often emerge in the area of a potential accident unexpectedly. The project's technology will prevent accidents thanks to its highly advanced sensing system that tracks road users. The end result is that cars and VRUs will be able to 'see' and 'communicate' with each other. WATCH-OVER uses a stereo camera system for the pre-crash version, while a mono-camera system, combined with communications technologies, is used in the warning system. Since sensors are activated just before impact, and fail to track VRUs further away, the researchers recognised that other technologies are needed to support the sensors. 'This is vital because camera-based systems cannot see around corners, for example,' project coordinator Dr Luisa Andreone said. In order for the warning system to work, drivers and other road users have to cooperate. VRUs should wear or carry a type of transmission device that alerts drivers of their proximity. The partners recognise that the success of this system would depend on its integration into existing electronics or clothing. To prove this principle, the partners developed a wearable device. Despite the results, the warning system is not yet commercial-ready, the researchers said. 'You have to remember that this was a scouting project,' Dr Andreone said. 'We were pioneering a new area for road safety using communications technologies. We showed that the principle is sound, but more work is needed to make the warning version of the system ready for market.' The challenge for the project partners is to accurately distinguish between safe and dangerous situations. Doing so would minimise 'false alarms' that are triggered by inaccurate 'angle-of-approach' calculations, they said. 'You might have a pedestrian walking down the street who has no intention [of] crossing the road. Obviously [in this case] the driver should not receive a warning. It would make the system useless,' the project leader explained. Other challenges are the costs and complexities associated with in-car technologies. Designers and engineers will have to keep this in mind when developing technologies for the future. 'The technology used by vulnerable users must be extremely portable, reliable and should require very little power,' Dr Andreone suggested. While some issues still need to be resolved, the project has shown to the industry that new and improved protection measures for VRUs is 'within reach', she added.