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Community Added Value and Contribution to EU Policies
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- 4.1European dimension
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4Community Added Value and Contribution to EU PoliciesThe DENSETRAFFIC proposal addresses the policy of the EU to develop Information Society technologies in a way that they will impact on the everyday lives of all citizens to raise their expectations for a better quality of life. In this case it is for safer driving conditions and a reduction of collisions by incorporating innovative technology into vehicles that will enable them to recognize the problem, warn the driver and automatically affect the vehicle’s control system to avoid the collision completely or, at least, minimize the damage resulting from it. In addition, the proposal intends to address the cost of such sophisticated systems in order to reduce them so that the system can eventually be incorporated into all vehicles, benefiting everyone, men and women equally. The system involves the integration of sensors and software with the vehicle’s control system as well as testing the system to prove reliability. The technologies involved require the expertise of companies specializing in a variety of different areas situated in various European countries: ERA, antenna technology from the UK, EADS, part of the European consortium for space and aviation, worked on the RF transceiver in Germany, UMS worked on MIMIC technologies for the system in France, Groeneveld Groep, a Dutch company was responsible for dissemination and interface with the entire European automotive industry and RoadEye, an Israeli company, was responsible for the system design and algorithms as well as the coordination of the project. An important consideration for including companies from different countries is the growing awareness of the need for vehicle standardization across Europe – vehicles are often assembled from parts manufactured in other countries and manufacturers of vehicles have assembly plants in countries often dictated by economic considerations. For this reason new systems need to meet standards of all European countries and standards are becoming unified. The system is designed especially for European roads and driving conditions and integration of the DENSETRAFFIC system will avoid the necessity of importing competing technologies developed in the US and Japan in order to implement EU policy. 4.1European dimensionEurope’s roads become more crowded every year with a large percentage of the vehicles travelling across borders. Trucks represent much of the cross-border traffic, are involved in many collisions and contribute to loss of life and heavy damage. In general, trucks are involved in 5-9% of all accidents. The proposal initially addressed the system for use in trucks, which are responsible for relatively greater damage than cars when involved in collisions because of their greater weight. During the course of the development it was clear that there is no clear advantage to use trucks for testing purpose and that passenger cars with close loop ACC are easier to operate and the principal characteristics can be mimicked as well. It has been reported that 80% of trucks travel less than 100 km on an average journey. This means that they are involved in distribution, often negotiating very dense urban traffic. The DENSETRAFFIC system will help to improve the safety of trucks and passenger cars in Stop&Go and cut-in situations and the planned future incorporation of stereoscopic vision technology will improve urban driving even further. At the same time, there is a trend for some trucks to travel extremely long distances. In the last four or five years there has been an increase on European roads in the number of trucks similar to the US Class A trucks used for very long hauls. These are larger and heavier, with larger, more luxurious cabs and hauling heavier loads. As the Eastern European economy grows, more trucks are involved in carrying goods between Eastern and Western Europe. There is a correlation between increased economy and truck miles. To handle this traffic more roads will be built, as the Eastern European railways do not meet Western European standards and upgrading them is much slower and more costly than building roads. There is some consideration being given to road trains, involving even bigger cabs. With the increase in size of a truck, braking becomes more problematic and increased safety features, such as collision avoidance, more important. In April 1997, a new EU Communication establishing a programme for the period 1997-2001 was adopted. The Communication takes stock of road safety matters in the European Union for the years 1993-1996. Among other trends it noted that figures vary widely from one country to another and there was an explosion in the number of cars in certain Member States that has gone hand in hand with a worsening of the situation in those countries. The Commission noted that there is an economic justification for taking measures costing up to one million Euro in order to save a single life ("the million Euro rule"). Using this approach, the Commission identifies several courses of action including the use of collision warning and cruise control systems. A reliable cruise control system, such as DENSETRAFFIC, will allow more vehicles to occupy the same area of roadway with greater safety and will reduce the strain of driving in dense traffic conditions. 4.2European added-valueThe complex nature of the DENSETRAFFIC proposal involves specific expertise in a number of areas, not all of which can be found in any one specific country. As a result, the Consortium includes companies with outstanding expertise from all over Europe: ERA, a UK company, leading experts in the design and development of RF equipment including antennas, EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company) from Germany, who designed, produced and tested the RF module, UMS (United Monolithic Semiconductors) from France, who developed the MMIC chipset, the Dutch Groeneveld Group, suppliers of products and services to the road transport industry, RoadEye, the Israeli coordinators of the project, who was responsible for the multi-beam radar concept/design and system integration, and algorithm development, and TNO from Netherlands, who was responsible for the integration of the FLR into the vehicle electronics, road testing and verification of prototypes in a test car. Involvement of these companies resulted in a product that meets all European standards. 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