Workshop invitation
SARTRE is a FP7 European project that performs transportation research, namely road train on public roads – also called platooning. There are some similarities and differences to the e.g. European GCDC-project, German KONVOI and the Californian PATH-project, which has been an influence on SARTRE. A road train, according to Sartre, is a collection of vehicles led by a manually forward heavy lead vehicle, and where several following vehicles (truck and passenger cars) follow the leader automatically, both lateral and longitudinally. The vehicles communicate wirelessly to form a cooperative system. Benefits expected are increased comfort, reduced fuel consumption, greater safety, efficient transportation, etc.
Interesting technical challenges
The technical challenges in the project are many and interesting. The reason for you being contacted, however, is to participate in discussions concerning the non-technical challenges in SARTRE and platooning imply!
Examples of non-technical challenges are:
- Legal aspects of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles – e.g. can the driver in the following autonomous vehicles send SMS (mobile phone text messages)?
- What regulations must be reviewed? E.g. the Vienna convention, ECER 79
- What are the pitfalls on the scale between fully manual and fully autonomous driving? Today vehicles are sold with ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) - This can be seen as a simplified form of platooning.
- Strategies for platooning - How do the platooning vehicles operate most safely in various situations?
- Shall the following vehicles follow the leader under all circumstances?
- How will joining vehicles integrate into the platoon?
- What change in responsibility and legal liability is placed on the driver of the lead vehicle?
Workshop in Borås
To get input to the SARTRE project on these non-technical issues we will hold a workshop with high-level people in Borås, Sweden on the 11th of October 2011. On the day before (10th October) there will be a half-day demonstration of platooning. You will be given the opportunity to experience platooning.
This is a project internal workshop with invited participants ie. not public – the media is not invited. There will be an internal film-team at the demonstration. Please suggest other and additional relevant persons from your organization.
Location: SP – Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås. Come to the reception.
Host: Carl Bergenhem, SP – Technical Research Institute of Sweden, participant in SARTRE
Discussions will be held in English.
The tentative programme is as follows:
Monday 10th
- 12:00 Workshop attendees congregate for lunch at SP, Borås
- Welcome and presentation of the demo and details
- Afternoon demo of SARTRE platooning at Hällered
- 19:30 Evening informal walking reception – Borås
Tuesday 11th
- 08:30 Coffee!
- 09:00 Start second day (workshop)
- EU presentation on the “big issue”, funding
- Presentation of SARTRE
- Legal/political/road operator view of platooning
- Research view of platooning
- Passenger Vehicle Vendor view of platooning
- Panel discussion
- 12:00 Lunch at SP
- Heavy vendor view of platooning
- EU view of automatic driving
- Panel discussion
- 15:30 Coffee and End
Indicate your wish to participate via email to carl.bergenhem@sp.se, or elisabeth.smedberg@sp.se
More information about the SARTRE project is available at: www.sartre-project.eu
Background information
Background information to the workshop is found on the top right of this page. The project publications are available for download at the publications tab.