VTE December 2022

Volunteers and event captains at FSAE-A

Smart charging through a smart phone

Scholarship program at QUT

VTE Published By:

Society of Automotive Engineers - Australasia

ABN: 95 004 248 604

Address: PO Box 103, Werribee Vic 3030

Phone: 0403 267 166 Email: info@sae-a.com.au Web: www.saea.com.au

Membership & Subscriptions

Rose De Amicis

Email: rose@sae-a.com.au

Events

Cara Coughey

Email: events@sae-a.com.au

Board of Directors:

Chairman & CEO

Adrian Feeney

Board

Mohammad Fard – Technical Director

Bernie Rolfe – FISIT & SAE Liaison

Greg Shoemark – Gov’t & Industry

Liaison

James Soo – Autonomous/EV Vehicles

Richard Taube – Board Director

Michael Waghorne – Finances

Gary White – Board Director

Magazine

Production:

Editor

Mandy Parry-Jones

Trading Terms Media

Email: mandypj@optusnet.com.au

Mobile: 0409 806 986

Design

Brigid Fraser

Email: fraseram@optusnet.com.au Mobile: 0413 009 122

Advertising

Jill Johnson

Jill Johnson Media

Email: jj@jilljohnsonmedia.com.au

Mobile: 0409 217 624

VTE Industry

Partner:

Excellerate Australia

With 2022 coming to a rapid close and this is obviously the last VTE edition for the year, I want to reflect on the amazing year SAE-A has had.

Things didn’t start off as planned with Formula SAE cancelled again (due to Covid) and the APAC 21 conference delayed until October this year.

There were also numerous face-face events either delayed or cancelled, but things quickly turned around as we regained our freedom to move and meet, then it was back to normal with a rush.

Site tours resumed, webinars were held where travel was not possible for the majority, APAC was finally held, and the biggest success of them all, we just completed Formula SAE after three years of dashed hopes.

It was an amazing event with all teams just glad to be back. Both organisers and teams were a bit rusty from the long layoff, but we did it and we did it well. Unfortunately, many teams from overseas had to withdraw at the last minute, typically from either a lack of funding or vehicle failures that could not be fixed due to supply chain limitations. Two teams from New Zealand took out the coveted overall awards; Waikato for petrol and Auckland for electric cars, our brothers from across the ditch are probably still celebrating and so they should, what a great effort.

Already the Board has met in early December to

Adrian Feeney

Chairman and CEO Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia

look at opportunities for improving the service we offer our members and today I met with KE Creative to review the events from 2022 and to plan for 2023. We will have more to say on these matters early next year.

We all need a break, there is no question about that, but we can do so knowing that as a Society we have learnt lots from this year and the Board is looking forward to growing our profile and our deliverables to make us even stronger. However, we need you to be involved, to renew your membership and to be an active member, we want to hear from you, and we want you to be engaged.

As announced at the AGM earlier this year, I will be standing down as President of SAE-A at the 2023 AGM and so I encourage all members to give this some thought. We need fresh ideas and enthusiasm to take us forward and if that is you, please give it consideration. I personally found the role to be both rewarding and satisfying and it does help in developing certain skills – skills that may be of benefit to you in your career, think about it!

So, on behalf of the Board, our staff and all our supporters, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a successful and rewarding New Year, enjoy your time with family and friends and I look forward to collaborating with you again next year

Volunteers and event captains at FSAE-A – a big thank you

SAE-A thanks the volunteers and event captains who so graciously gave up their time to help run Formula SAE-A

We can’t list everyone, but we would like to acknowledge the event captains who led teams to record, inspect, score, weigh, recover and oversee the program of events.

Graeme Palmer and Michael Franks – Tech Inspection/Tilt Table/ Weigh Station

Luke Phersson – Design

Nick Galm – Cost

Rhiannon Veness, James Hancock, Natalie Ajay – Presentation

Dave Adams – Scoring

Hashan Mendis – Skid Pad and Acceleration

Scott Robinson – Endurance & Efficiency

James Gyomber – Practice Track & Fuel Station

Jon Arbour – Brake & Noise

New Members

The SAE-A would like to welcome the following new members:

Corporate Membership

Flinders University

Student Members

William A’court

Michael Adolph

James Agahi

Zainal Ahamath

Caleb Aitken

Simon Alexander

Abdulrhman Alfarhan

Ed Allison

Shady Alwidyan

Edward Ambrogio

Jack Amos

Isabella Anastovski

Elicia Au Duong

Mohammed Zayan Azad

George Azzi

Ahmed Badat

Caleb Behunin

Peter Bellchambers

Hamish Bewley

Rahul Bhati

Magnus Blums

Daniel Boyd

Alastair Bradford Lucas Bree

Hayden Brims

Nicholas Briozzo

James Bruce

James Burrows

Broughton Caley

Hugh Callaghan

Yizhou Cao

Nathan Chapman

Jack Chappell

Anthony Chen

Woohyuck Choi

Andrew Christy

Dorothy Chung

Karina Cobden

Matthew Cook

Lachlan Cooley

Owen Cope Matthew Cox Nic Cresswell Max Cullen

Kalindu Dahanayake

Nguyen Dao Fletcher Day

Helena De Gruchy

Lisa Dempsey Sarah Denison

Luke Di Dio Caydn Dilkes

Alexandra Dobson

Anthony Domtchenko Noah Dowling Brennan Drach Jack Dunstan Will Eldridge

Evan Favos

Kaenan Ferguson Keith Fernandes Stuart Finch Clark Fountain

Siobhan Fraser

Sophia Angelic Garin

Giuseppe Geracitano

Anish Ghai

Patrick Gleeson Fernanda Gonzalez

Christopher Graham Liam Green

Annabelle Green

Thomas Griffiths

Jayath Gunawardena

Mukesh Gurram

Ethan Guse

Blake Hamilton Mark Hampson

Pavlos hanna Mitchell Hansen

Darren Hayes

William Hegarty Dilon Hewamanna Alexander Hick

Luke Hill William Hinds

Jemma Hodgson Blake Holden

Adam Honeycombe Elliot Hooker Gabrielle Horsnell

Mohammad Abrar Hossain

Jocelyn Hu Jackson Huang

James Hurst Jayden Huynh

Jonathan Hyman Aishi Jain

Gracie Jeffrey Hayley Jiang Tynan Jones

Petar Jovanovic Brendon Jury

Aleksandra Kalinic Rushith Karunaratne

Josephine Kelly Liam Kerr

Timothy Kerr Mitchell Kerrison Brayden Klimmer

Charlotte Knight Larissa Kopf James Krek Shahak Kuba

Lily Lam

Sung Hin Jeffrey Lam

James Larking

Harrison Le Clerc

Daryl Lee Mark Leechman

Xiaoshan Li

Meng Lim

Jason Lorenzo Limas

Casper Linssen

Joanna Liu Nicholas Liu Ben Lloyd Ethan Lo

Graeme Palmer and Michael Franks – Parc Ferme

Isaac Baldry – Volunteer Coordinator

Nick Owen – Autonomous Vehicles

Chris & James Hurren – Vehicle recovery

David Ford – Scoring

Lloyd Morrissey & Grahame Holmes – EV Technical Inspection

Zak Lobko

Fan Jay Loo Arkar Lwin

Lucas Macmillan Michelle Mahoney Dominic Manno Vedant Mantri Mubtasim Masud Nathan Mayhew Max McCoy

Cameron MCDOUGALL Alex McGivern Blair McIntyre Ethan Medway Evan Mitchell

John Molina

Anthony Moon Michael Mramor Nathan Mu Blake Muchmore Shoi Nagase

Jouveer Naidoo Harris Naser

Patrick Nasr

James Neilson Sarah Ng

Steven Nguyen Jack Noble-Adams

Antoni Odziewa Aaron O’Leary

Liam O’Neill

Tristan Oswald Nick Owen

Samantha Palad

Kunaal Patel

Cameron Paterson

Wei Da Paw Alexander Pearl Kai Petie

Cameron Pettley-Gray April Petts

Kaira Pfeiffer Ryan Pike William Poulter

Gabrielle Preston Lucien Procter

Brendan Purdon Shaoqiu Qin Izaak Raaijmakers Nelufer Raji Angus Randell Dananjaya Rankothge Sachin Reeja Pramod

Ilya Remov Samuel Richards Ben Robertson Hamish Rookyard Jack Rush Brock Ryan Nikhita Sahay John Saul Lana Savic Juhana Sayed Joshua Schoeman

Aaron Senn Drumil Sevak Akshay Sewani Gaurish Sharma

Conor Shearing

Kyle Shears

Siddharth Sheth Lachlan Simpson

Hein Thant Sin

Abhi Singh

Indirveer Singh

Jasanpreet Singh

Zachary Smith

Wiliam Smith

Niko Smith

Kyle Sowry-Marychurch

Robert Stanley Isabella Stevens

Tasiaelasilelagi Stowers

Finn Sturman

Grace Sun

Krishiv Suresh

Raeshel Tabone Michael Tait

Tsz Yui Tam

Elizabeth Tan Nicholas Tan Daniel Tang

Sadullah Tasbas Kyle Tesoriero Eugene Tey Amy Thomas

Charlie Thomlinson Matthew Thompson

William Tjen Zayd Tones

Winston Tran Jarrad Turner

Georgy Ushakov

Abhishek Vasdev

Thomas Vidler Kaleb Vidovich Martin Vitesnik Callum Walcroft

Edward Wang

Kavinya Welikala

Jack White

Joseph White Mackenzie Whitehouse Blair Whittaker

Alvian Wijaya Steven Willems

Geoffrey Wong Matthew Wong

Hyeonmyeong Woo Woo Franklin Wright Yi Xia Chenyu Xie

ZhongYu Xu Kaili Xue

Sabrina Yarndley Thomas Yarrow

Aneesh Yellishetty

Xara Young Max Zhang

Scholarship program at QUT to train next gen roboticists

Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will fund a $1.2 million scholarship program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to train the next generation of aspiring Australian roboticists.

The Alberto Elfes Memorial Scholarship Fund will use prize money from CSIRO’s historic podium finish at the 2021 DARPA SubT challenge to sponsor eight scholarships for domestic or international high-performing students belonging to groups underrepresented in the robotics industry.

“In 2021, a group of robotics experts from Queensland took on the world’s best in a competition dubbed ‘the robot Olympics’ and came second in a photo finish,” Professor Elanor Huntington, CSIRO Executive Director of Digital, National Facilities and Collections said.

“Using that prize money to educate a diverse cohort of robotics experts who might be a 2031 DARPA Challenge team will help Australia seize the $22.17 trillion global AI opportunity.

“We know that diversity is the engine room of innovation, and we hope to inspire and support a dynamic new generation of robotics talent,” she said.

The scholarship is a testament to the late Professor Alberto Elfes, a revered leader of CSIRO’s robotics program and driving force behind the team’s participation in the DARPA SubT Challenge.

Diversity in the Australian robotics industry is one of the key obstacles to its growth according to Robotics Australia Group’s A Robotics Roadmap for Australia 2022 report released late last year.

The government’s 2021 STEM Equity Monitor reported men accounted for 87 percent of 2020’s national STEM-qualified occupations.   CSIRO and QUT will jointly oversee applicant selection, course design, education, and mentorship. Applications will open in September 2022 and close in 2027.

The fund will offer a full three-and-a-half-year scholarship and top-up students undertaking robotics-related postgraduate PhD study.

Office of National Rail Industry Coordination to address challenges of rail manufacturing

The Australian Government has announced the Office of National Rail Industry Coordination (ONRIC).

The office will lead a national and coordinated approach to address challenges facing the rail manufacturing sector. The office will deliver the Australian Government’s $14.2 million National Rail Manufacturing Plan. The plan is part of the government’s A Future Made in Australia commitment. It will create skilled manufacturing jobs by building more trains in Australia.

The office will work closely with state and territory governments, manufacturers, industry peak bodies, unions and research organisations to implement the plan. It will:

• establish a Rail Industry Innovation Council to boost local research and development, skills and capabilities

• appoint a rail supplier advocate to help

small and medium-sized enterprises access export and government supply opportunities

• develop a National Rail Procurement and Manufacturing Strategy to support industry productivity and facilitate opportunities for Australian manufacturers.

Robotics Autonomy Software Engineer Fletcher Talbot, Technical Program Manager Rosie Attwell, Mechanical Engineer Lauren Hanson, Software Engineer Tom Molnar, Autonomous Legged Robotics Phd student Benjamin Tam

Technical Program Manager Rosie Atwell, Mechanical Engineer Lauren Hanson, and Robotics Design team postdoctoral fellow Dr. Hansi Weeratunge

CSIRO’s tool for connecting the research sector and business

A new tool to help Australian businesses connect with the research sector has been launched.

The Collaboration Readiness Levels (CRL) tool helps small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) determine the best way for them to engage and collaborate with publicly funded research organisations

“Our research found when SMEs collaborate with universities or research organisations in Australia, they have higher levels of innovation, are better able to deal with uncertainty and are more profitable,” CSIRO SME Connect Deputy Director, George Feast said.

“This novel tool is backed by research which was developed using outcomes from interviews with SMEs and related data analysis in collaboration with partners at the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and RMIT University.

“The tool has been created in response to recommendations in the Enablers and Barriers to Industry R&D Collaboration report, where 800 SMEs said a device like this was needed

to help them successfully navigate research and development opportunities.”

CSIRO’s tool helps businesses understand their readiness level to engage with R&D and links each level with suggested steps to progress activities beneficial to the company.

The five levels of readiness are:

1. Considering

2. Networking

3. Cooperating

4. Engaging

5. Partnering.

“The Collaboration Readiness Levels are also complementary to NASA’s Technology Readiness Levels and can support a holistic view to approaching new collaborative research and development projects,” Associate Dean (Research) Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, University of Queensland Professor Martie-Louise Verreynne said.

Grants’ program means free training for digital jobs

A new grants’ program will help Victorian manufactures develop the digital capabilities they need to maintain their competitive advantage by providing free training to employees.

Applications are open for the $4.5 million Digital Jobs for Manufacturing program, which will help local manufacturers adapt to an increasingly digital world by providing hundreds of workers with sought after skills. Grants of up to $5,000 per employee are available to eligible manufacturing businesses to enrol nominated employees in free 12week training courses with Victoria’s top universities, TAFEs and training providers. The courses run for 12 weeks online and

are part-time which means employees can continue working while they study, allowing them to learn a new digital skill and apply it to their role.

Courses are available in 13 different fields including artificial intelligence, data analytics, cyber security and software development, with specialist courses in robotic process automation, computer-aided design or manufacturing and additive manufacturing to be added later.

Robots and Uni of WA girls at AFR Higher Education Awards

The winners of all eight categories in the AFR Higher Education Awards 2022, which recognise and celebrate the outstanding efforts of Australian universities during the past year, were announced.

QUT was the outright winner, and it was a research team led by Associate Professor Dr Jared Donovan and Associate Professor Glenda Caldwell. The project was an $8 million design robotics project with funding from the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ICRC), Urban Art Projects and RMIT University. The team created a ground-breaking model translating design and robotics research into an advanced manufacturing process.

The AFR categories were community engagement; emerging leadership; employability; industry engagement; opportunity and inclusion; research commercialisation; and teaching and learning excellence.

One of the finalists was from the University of Western Australia Girls in Engineering program, an outreach program to inspire female students to take advantage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) study.

General Briefs

ANCA AIMS

ANCA, a Melbourne advanced manufacturer has launched AIMS (ANCA Integrated Manufacturing System) to automate repetitive tasks.

It will improve efficiency and reduce costs by using smart automation to streamline production linking processes to each other and factory IT systems. It uses robots to transfer material between processes.

ManuFutures expands

ManuFutures is a unique advanced manufacturing innovation hub, located at Deakin’s Future Economy Precinct, that helps businesses to accelerate success.

ManuFutures established in 2018, is helping create more than $1 billion in company value, hosting more than 500 student placements and creating more than 120 direct new jobs.

A $20 million contribution from the Victorian Government will allow the facility to double in size with expansion due for completion by 2023. The expansion will deliver a new, fully equipped and staffed Product Engineering Development Laboratory, six adjustable sized expansion bays and associated offices.

$10m for Factory of the Future

The Albanese Labor Government is giving a boost to advanced manufacturing by supporting the expansion of the Factory of the Future in Adelaide. Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, announced that funding of $10.1 million will help Flinders University grow the facility, located at the Tonsley Innovation District. Mr Husic said the Factory of the Future would work with more than 200 small-to-medium enterprises to build their technological capabilities and help them gain a foothold in critical supply chains. It is estimated that more than 100 students a year from Flinders University will benefit from the Factory of the Future.

Tasmanian manufacturers gain $600,000 in grants

The Tasmanian Government has awarded seven Tasmanian enterprises grants totalling $619,000 to assist in expanding their manufacturing capabilities to support interstate and international market growth opportunities.

It is anticipated this funding will encourage some $1.72 million in total investment and generate more than 80 new manufacturing jobs within Tasmania. Round four of the AMAGP is expected to open in early 2023.

Auto Briefs

Australian fuel quality standards

The FCAI has welcomed the Federal Government’s consultation process on Australia’s fuel quality standards stating that the move was necessary to lower emissions from Australia’s light vehicle fleet. “Automotive manufacturers have been calling for an improvement to Australia’s fuel quality standards for more than 10 years,” FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said. “Currently, we have some of the worse quality petrol in the advanced world. We are pleased to see the Government flag action on 95RON petrol as their preferred option in this consultation process.”

Mr Weber added that it was pleasing the Federal Government was beginning to take action to address emissions in the light vehicle sector. However, the FCAI believed that the quality of 98RON and 91RON needs to be addressed.

Rolls will roll out an electric Rolls

Update on topping up EVs in Australia

There is an assumption that the demand on the electricity grid by many users charging their EVs at the same time will place the system under pressure.

According to case studies compiled by the Electric Vehicle Council, the expected impact of EV charging at times of peak demand will top out at about 250W per EV under the ‘convenience model’.’ This ‘convenience model’ assumes there are no tariffs controlling or incentivising when to charge – drivers will simply charge when it’s most convenient. This is half as much as a small refrigerated air conditioner (500w) and a quarter of some higher-end desktop computers, assuming 80%+ efficiency (700-1000W). With computers being used during the day by people who work from home this represents a significant cost over EVs.

The University of Queensland undertook a study of 239 Tesla vehicles over a six-month period, showing the impact per EV at peak times is within the 150-300W range.

Typically, one kW of charge adds one kilometre of range to an EV every 10 minutes. Put simply, a 10kW charger will give a vehicle 60km of range after charging for an hour. At present, most home chargers are limited to 4.8-7.6kW.

However, the convenience model does not line up with real-world behaviour, as most drivers would charge their vehicles at a charging station during the day (as they’re on the road) and at home at night-time.

The University of Melbourne predicts that 250W per EV is one eighth of the impact forecast under the convenience model. This assumes 80 percent of drivers will use 7kW chargers at home, with a typical 2kW excess on the grid during peak times on weekdays. Most drivers are willing to avoid peak time charging, as it costs less. The EVC and Tesla Owners’ Club of Australia ran a survey in 2022 and showed a majority of Tesla owners charged during the nightly off-peak of 12am2am, and the middle of the day (10am-2pm) when solar production is at its best.

Charles Rolls prophesised an electric future for the motor car. Having acquired an electric vehicle named The Columbia Electric Carriage, he foresaw its suitability as a clean, noiseless alternative to the internal combustion engine providing there was sufficient infrastructure to support it. RollsRoyce CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, made a public commitment to electrification by announcing that he would bring a fully-electric Rolls-Royce to market within the current decade. The car is the Spectre.

Savic Motorcycles two major milestones achieved EV pioneer Savic Motorcycles has achieved two major manufacturing milestones on the road to commercial production with the successful completion of its customised Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Bosch Australia, and the first all-weather road tests on urban and semi-rural roads. The ABS tuning phase was carried out over several months.

Deakin employs the sun to test drive ASCEND

After almost three years of lockdowns, Deakin’s dedicated engineering students are finally at the stage where they are test-driving the car they designed and built for the 2023 World Solar Challenge. Having spent the last few months finetuning the build and measuring the cars’ power through dyno testing, the team is ready to hit the road.

The 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge will be held on 20-27 October 2023 and is a 3000-kilometre race from Darwin to Adelaide. Young engineers from all over the world compete with solar cars over five days. Deakin’s entry, codenamed ASCEND, will be competing in the Cruiser division.

Detailed modelling by the CSIRO says that 250W per EV is about a fifth of the impact forecast under the convenience model.

As of January 2022, there are only about 3,000 public EV charging points in Australia. This comprises AC “trickle” charging with 291 rapid (above 50kW) charging stations and 1,580 regular (below 50kW) charging stations available around the country. About 700 more fast and “ultra-rapid” stations (300kW+) are planned for development within the next five years.

Subscription features in cars are here for good

– or bad

As car manufacturers increasingly turn to the controversial concept of subscription services, vehicle connectivity expert VNC Automotive questions whether consumers are as against the idea of subscribing to vehicle features as many believe.

Rather than paying for an expensive option at the point of sale, there’s the potential for customers to switch on or deactivate options according to their needs and budget.

For instance, it’s likely that heated seats won’t be necessary in summer months but could be activated for winter driving or simply as and when required for seasonal road trips. Subscription features also make the car more configurable for subsequent owners, allowing them to specify features as they would with a new car.

Additionally, customers switching between vehicles could have their subscribed features move with them, with options activated according to each driver’s subscription package.

New figures from YouGov show customers are more tolerant and accepting of rented vehicle access.

Three in 10 (30 percent) of Brits and Americans agree with the statement: “I don’t want to be locked into owning a car because my needs may change.”

The same survey shows a shift towards acceptance of car subscription models such as ‘Care by Volvo’, which allows users to choose vehicles according to their lifestyle requirements.

Younger drivers are tending to shun the ownership model, seeing vehicles as a transient commodity.

Smart charging through a smart phone

According to a new report by specialised site EV-Volumes, global EV sales reached 6.75 million units in 2021, 108 percent more than in 2020.

This volume includes passenger vehicles, light trucks and light commercial vehicles. Moreover, the number of electric vehicles on the road should reach at least 145 million units by the end of the decade as per the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.

At Groupe FIRALP, the move to electric vehicles has been underway for several years. To support this transition to electric vehicles, the group, through its subsidiary EREC, has chosen PcVue Solutions for the supervision of its charging stations.

The project began in 2020 with the aim of managing internally the hundred-22kW charging stations at FIRALP’s 50 branches, offering a flexible solution.

The number of charging stations is currently sufficient for the number

of e-vehicles, but a strong desire of the FIRALP group is to expand its fleet and this may make access to the stations increasingly difficult.

The main problem that EV car drivers encounter concerns cars remaining connected even after a full charge, making the charging station inaccessible for other waiting vehicles.

To solve this challenge, PcVue Solutions offered a solution that allows e-vehicles drivers to sign in with their cell phone when they arrive at parking lots and to indicate the desired charge rate.

PcVue stores the information regarding the charge need and rate and when a charging station becomes available, the PcVue platform is able to notify the driver on his mobile of the charging station to use. Once the vehicle is connected, PcVue will trigger the charging. A configurable time-out is also available if the driver decides to finally not charge his vehicle.

It will be possible for the driver receiving the charging authorization on his mobile to transfer it to a third person in case of unavailability, or simply to postpone it.

These mobile and intelligent solutions allow the parties involved: vehicles, charging stations and drivers, a perfect match between availability, charging and time.

Six fully electric BMW models by 2030

BMW announced a US$1.7 billion investment in its US operations including a US$1 billion investment which is to prepare for the production of electric vehicles at the company’s existing manufacturing facility in South Carolina. And a US$700 million to build a new high-voltage battery assembly facility. By 2030 the company says it will build at least six fully electric models in the US.

“Going forward, it will also be a major driver for our electrification strategy, and we will produce at least six fully electric BMW X models here by 2030. That means: The ‘Home of the X’ is also becoming the ‘Home of the Battery Electric Vehicle’”, BMW Group Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse said.

“In addition, we can showcase BMW Group’s ‘local for local’ principle: Our newly developed sixth generation battery cells, which were

specifically designed for the next generation electric vehicles, will be sourced here in South Carolina - where X goes electric.”

The BMW Group aims to purchase battery cells for its electric vehicles where production takes place. The company has found a partner in Envision AESC, which will build a new battery cell factory in South Carolina, to supply Plant Spartanburg.

Envision will produce newly developed round lithium-ion battery cells, which were specifically designed for the sixth generation of BMW eDrive technology and will be used in the next generation electric vehicles. The annual capacity of the battery cell factory will be up to 30 GWh.

BMW Group has already announced that four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its demand for next generation battery cells.

The cell factories are being built by partners and will each have an annual capacity of up to 20 GWh.

Truck & Bus Briefs

Volta takes the Cake

Volta Trucks and Cake, a Swedish maker of premium lightweight, electric motorcycles, have announced a collaboration aimed at decarbonising and decongesting last mile deliveries, while also improving service to end customers.

“I am super proud to be here to help celebrate 50 years of building trucks here, this country is very important to Volvo Group, and we are here to stay,” Volvo Trucks International Senior Vice President, Per Erik Lindstrom said.

Tom Chapman, Vice President, Mack trucks Australia also took the opportunity to offer his thoughts: “We’ve actually been building trucks in Australia for 59 years now, and this year marks 20 years of Mack trucks being built at our Wacol plant.”

NHVR opens submissions for new projects

Australia’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has opened submissions for Round 8 of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) to fund new projects to deliver a safer heavy vehicle industry. Project submissions must address the themes of safer drivers, safer vehicles or safer road use by investing in driver or supply chain skills and training, vehicle safety technologies and improvements, or heavy vehicle educational tools and resources.

The Australian Government has committed more than $4 million towards Round 8 of the HVSI. Submissions are now open and close on 5pm AEST Monday 20 February 2023.

For more information on the HVSI program, including the submission process and eligibility, visit www.nhvr.gov.au/hvsi

Lap of the Map

Back in 1939, UD Trucks founder Kenzo Adachi embarked on a 3000 mile odyssey to prove the ultimate dependability of the new vehicle. Now, over 82 years later, UD Trucks Australia is heading off on an Adachi San inspired lap of the Australian continent.

Following Australia’s fabled Highway 1, the fully loaded UD Quon CW25 360 will circumnavigate the country, stopping in to visit customers and dealers over the course of the 15,000 kilometre journey.

The first trial, planned in Q1 2023 in Paris will be with the H&M Group, a fashion and design family of brands and businesses. The fully integrated, zero tailpipe emission delivery service from warehouse to end customer uses the most efficient combination of electric trucks and electric two wheelers.

The Volta Zero will act as a mobile micro hub, or mini warehouse. Cake’s electric motorcycles will be loaded into the Volta Zero and deployed into the city centre.

From there, the Cake electric motorcycles will deliver the last mile of parcels to customers.

HDrive hydrogen truck

HDrive, a subsidiary of Australian specialist vehicle manufacturer BLK Auto, announced its entry into the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) truck market, with a range of trucks in production after a successful design and engineering period.

HDrive has already taken several orders for its HFCV trucks, including for a dual control side lifter waste truck and a 6×4 prime mover recently purchased by fuel provider Pure Hydrogen for use by their clients.

HDrive’s HFCV trucks have been designed and engineered in Australia. In a joint venture, HDrive trucks will initially be built at Wisdom (Fujian) Motor Company premises using the proven Ballard Fuel Cells.

The range of trucks will sit alongside BLK Auto’s existing hydrogen coach and electric truck, and bus options.

They are suitable for a variety of heavy-duty industries and with several drivetrain options available, including:

• Prime mover hydrogen trucks

• 4×2 drivetrain, 24 tonne gross vehicle weight

• 6×4, 18T to 70T GVW

• 8×4, 49T GVW

• Refuelling trucks – 6×4

• Dual control waste trucks – 6×4

• Cement mixer trucks – 8×4, 10×4.

HDrive is working with its customers to define requirements for other HFCV trucks to suit demand and improve its already comprehensive aftersales support, cementing partnerships and supply agreements with world-leading companies.

50 years of Volvo trucks built in Australia

Volvo Group Australia has marked five decades of building trucks in Australia with the handover of two special trucks to key customers.

Driverless truck trial on Melbourne’s CityLink

A self-driving connected and automated (CAV) truck is about to start rolling on an Australian road.

This will be the first time an automated truck has been tested on public roads in this country so, it’s an important step towards the CAV-driven future.

This trial will ultimately help better understand how roads and road technology can be futureproofed to prepare for CAVs joining the mix of vehicles already on Melbourne’s roads and beyond.

While CAV trials with driver assistance have already been trialled on our roads, this trial is a little different as the automated truck will be driving itself. Before, the trials tested how the sensors in these vehicles interpret their immediate surroundings (for example, line markings and variable speed limit signs). This time, it will test how one of the roads, CityLink in Melbourne, ‘talks’ to the automated truck by providing its real-time data about traffic and road conditions to guide it on its journey.

The trials will provide valuable insights which will help make informed decisions about future infrastructure and operations. Getting a solid understanding of automated trucks’ interfacing technology is especially important given road freight is projected to grow steadily in the coming decades.

These trucks have the potential to transform the freight industry, helping to move more goods more often and better supporting the needs of both businesses and consumers, so paving the way for their ready adoption is a smart move for everyone.

CityLink is one of the most technologically sophisticated roads in the world, with embedded technology including more than 600 CCTV cameras, automatic incident detection systems and smart sensors to monitor for traffic incidents such as debris and stopped vehicles.

During the trial, real-time data from CityLink’s systems will be fed directly to the CAV truck, enabling it to understand road and traffic conditions beyond its sensors.

During its on-road trials, the truck will only travel at night, when traffic is typically light.

Bustech designs and builds Aussie electric bus

Queensland based bus builder Bustech has doubled down on electric bus development unveiling its own Australian designed and built electric bus chassis at the recent Sydney Bus Show.

Bustech says its new electric bus is fully designed, engineered and manufactured vehicle, using a 452-kilowatt hour battery, which it says is the biggest battery pack currently in operation in Australia in a bus and has a range of 450 km.

The company already has the bus running in the Logan region south of Brisbane with a second unit delivered recently and another eight currently being built for Queensland operation with three more set to be deployed in NSW.

New owners bought into Bustech, with Fusion Capital taking over in 2018 and according to Hall, they brought with them, world class engineering and personnel and the base for developing its own electric chassis.

“Our lead engineer came to us from supercars and everything you see here has been designed from the ground up with the world’s best engineers and so the future is great for Bustech,” said Bustech Chief Operating Officer Martin Hall. “We’re the only true Australian bus manufacturer left in the country with the profit staying here in Australia.”

Bustech can produce up to 200 buses a year with its current setup but Hall said that the capacity is endless, particularly with double shifts, so long as they can employ the staff needed to achieve those numbers.

The vehicle will travel in a dedicated lane from Todd Road on the West Gate Freeway, through both the Burnley and Domain tunnels and onto the CityLink/Monash Freeway, finishing at Warrigal Road. The CAV truck will then turn around and return along the same route.

The truck has been subject to weeks of rigorous testing at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (located in Anglesea), with Transurban and the vehicle’s provider, the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute, putting the truck through its paces in various controlled conditions.

Pilot vehicles will accompany the truck initially, and a team of 24/7 traffic control officers will be monitoring the road and conditions using CityLink’s extensive system of CCTV cameras and monitoring systems.

SEA goes overseas to NZ

The SEA Electric SEA 300-85 EV was showcased at the New Zealand Trucking Industry Show, with the all-electric model set to accelerate the sustainability push across the country’s transport sector.

Now available for order in New Zealand, the model is highly adaptable to a range of final applications, such as dry or temperaturecontrolled freight, as a cherry picker, a tipper, a refuse vehicle and more, with a choice of wheelbase and payload combinations available.

The SEA 300-85 EV represents SEA Electric’s launch as an official OEM, with the line assembled as new at the company’s Australian facility.

Fleet Space Tech extends Adelaide HQ

Fleet Space Technologies marked the official opening of its extended Adelaide HQ with the visit of Susan Close MP, Deputy Premier of South Australia. Ms Close also holds the ministerial portfolios of Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and Minister for Defence and Space Industries.

Fleet Space Technologies has significantly grown its presence in Adelaide to accommodate rapid growth. This includes doubling in the number of highly skilled jobs in the last six months. Fleet now employs 86 individuals across space engineering, manufacturing, commercial and operations functions.

The expansion follows the highly successful introduction of ExoSphere, Fleet’s satellite enabled earth scanning technology for the global mineral exploration industry. It is already revolutionising the way Australian and global mineral explorers find the critical energy transition materials required to meet surging global demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs).

ExoSphere has reported successful results from trials at Australia’s newest Lithium miner Core Lithium’s Finniss Project in the Northern Territory. This technology is being rolled out globally through collaboration with the world’s largest and most progressive explorers. From its base in Adelaide, Fleet has pioneered the use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to drive cost and production efficiencies in the manufacture of satellites. This includes Fleet’s forthcoming planned constellation of 288 microsatellites, including Alpha, which will integrate the company’s advanced beamforming technology and patented antennas to unlock greater connectivity more quickly and in more locations.

Rolls-Royce first run of a modern aero hydrogen engine

Rolls-Royce and easyJet confirmed they have set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aero engine on hydrogen.

The ground test was conducted on an early concept demonstrator using green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power. It marks a major step towards proving that hydrogen could be a zero-carbon aviation fuel of the future and is a key proof point in the decarbonisation strategies of both Rolls-Royce and easyJet.

Both companies have set out to prove that hydrogen can safely and efficiently deliver

power for civil aero engines and are already planning a second set of tests, with a longerterm ambition to carry out flight tests.

The test took place at an outdoor test facility at MoD Boscombe Down, UK, using a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine.

Green hydrogen for the tests was supplied by EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre), generated using renewable energy.

Swinburne takes to the skies with a hydrogen drone

Swinburne’s Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub (AIR Hub) will develop and trial Australia’s first hydrogen propelled drone, thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the Australian Government’s Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships program.

The Hydrogen to the Skies (H22S) project will design and integrate a new hydrogen propulsion system into a large-scale drone, working with Australian partners to help spearhead the commercial development of clean, zero emissions uncrewed air systems. The first prototype is expected to be completed before the end of 2023.

AIR Hub Director Dr Adriano Di Pietro said the project would have significant impacts for Australian industry, with the potential for millions of dollars in technology export revenue by the early 2030s.

“With long range, zero carbon emissions and a low noise footprint, hydrogen powered air vehicles represent the future of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible advanced air mobility,” Dr Di Pietro says.

“We are proud to be putting Australia at the cutting edge of this rapidly growing industry and improving outcomes for regional and remote communities across the country and the world”. Hydrogen propulsion is projected to be a critical turning point for advanced air mobility in regional Australia because it significantly extends range and payload options, compared with pure battery electric propulsion systems.

The project will demonstrate how hydrogen propulsion can be commercially deployed, paving the way for the regulatory and operational developments needed to better connect regional communities.

Valiantly heading into orbit

Brisbane start-up company Valiant Space, which has been supported by the Queensland Government’s Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub, is sending locally-made components into orbit, onboard SpaceX, from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral.

Minster for Regional Development and Manufacturing Glenn Butcher said the components going into space were a first for an Australian company.

Valiant Space co-founder and CEO Andrew Uscinski, 24, said one of the challenges for new businesses in the space industry was the need to validate product by successfully launching it into space.

“We’ve developed Australia’s first in-space chemical thruster for satellites made with non-toxic propellants, and right now our focus is proving it can withstand orbit,” Mr Uscinski said.

The first step in this validation process will occur on a valve that is an integral part of Valiant’s thruster, which will be sent into orbit with SpaceX on board Australian space services company Skykraft’s rideshare service. Once the valve demonstrates it can survive a violent launch, 6-G gravitational force, extreme vibrations, and a wide range of temperatures on its journey into space, Valiant Space’s full

thruster will be launched on a subsequent orbital mission in mid-2023.

Valiant’s young team of three, Mr Uscinski, fellow co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Michael Douw, and lead engineer Benjamin Dodd, are mechanical and aerospace engineers who met at the University of Queensland and started their company while they were students.

The Valiant team identified a gap in the market for space propulsion options that used nontoxic propellants.

“Existing options are made from very carcinogenic and difficult-to-handle chemicals which makes them very expensive because of

$18m for emerging aviation technology

all the development costs,” Mr Uscinski said.

“Our thruster runs on nitrous oxide and propane – like what you would use in a barbecue, but slightly more pure, which gives a comparable performance to the toxic options, but without the need for high-cost handling infrastructure.”

The thruster is mounted on the spacecraft to provide the main propulsion system for the satellite and enables companies to perform fast-acting orbit raising and collision avoidance manoeuvres.

“It means satellites can come online quickly, and they stay in their optimal orbit and last longer in space,” Mr Uscinski said.

The Australian Government has partnered with industry to ensure the take-up of emerging aviation technology in Australia, with more than $18 million awarded for 12 projects under the first round of the Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships (EATP) program.

The EATP program commits $32.6 million to June 2024 to make Australian aviation more competitive, efficient and sustainable. The remaining funding will be allocated as part of Round 2.

Grants supported under Round 1 of the program support a range of projects that include development into digital farming, boosting regional supply chains, connecting regional communities and growing manufacturing in emerging aviation technology.

Applications were assessed through an open and competitive grant process.

AMSL Aero – NSW

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturing focusing on regulatory barriers and trials of air ambulance in regional NSW.

Praxis Labs – SA

Develop structural solar surfaces for the wings of an upcoming fleet of Australian electric aircraft.

Hover UAV - SORA-Mate – All States Develop an online risk assessment tool for drone operators.

Central QLD University – QLD

Develop and trial a prototype drone system capable of AI driven weed detection and herbicide spraying (digital farming).

Wedgetail Aerospace Pty Ltd – WA

Large Drone operations in regional Australia including pilot and maintenance qualifications, capability verification and validation.

Charles Darwin University – NT

Trial of drone service delivery for health-related items between health centres, remote indigenous communities and very remote outstations in NT. The project will test and validate the effectiveness, efficiency, community acceptance and costs of integrating uncrewed aircraft into health supply chains.

Revolution Aerospace Pty Ltd – QLD and VIC Research to support and conduct trials to deliver cargo in Whitsunday region using a variety of drones, delivery distances and delivery scenarios; trials to simulate air taxi operations in the Whitsunday region, and research to develop enhanced uncrewed traffic management services..

Field Master Systems Pty Ltd DFSS – VIC Integrating thermal imaging into drones to detect feral pests.

Swinburne University of Technology (Air Hub) – VIC/NSW

Design and integrate a hydrogen fuel cell into a drone, with ground and flight testing.

Marlee Djinda Pty Ltd – WA

Build, certify and integrate a drone with cameras and sensors to deliver a Landcare management program on the lands of the Kanpa community within the Ngaanyatjarra Aboriginal Land Council in Western Australia.

Swoop Aero Pty Ltd – QLD/NSW

Roll out a large-scale multi-role drone logistics network commencing in the Darling Downs south west region and expanding into south east QLD and northern NSW focusing on pathology and medical logistics.

XROTOR Pty Ltd – VIC

Development, testing and trialling of a new propeller design for both emerging and traditional aircraft with reduced noise impact and higher propulsion efficiency compared to traditional propellers.

Morand can recharge a city car in 72 seconds

Swiss technology start-up Morand has launched a breakthrough energy storage technology, Morand eTechnology, that can recharge a city car in 72 seconds.

The unique hybrid system combines the characteristics of an ultracapacitor with that of a chemical battery to create a durable and ultra-fast energy pack that can be usefully recharged in seconds.

Morand eTechnology is ideal for applications that require fast, semi-frequent charges of around five minutes or less. This opens up the possibility for countless applications, from city cars and drones to e-bikes and e-scooters, robotics, aggrotech, defence, rail locomotives, and more. Wherever there is the requirement for rapid recharging and discharging, eTechnology provides a step-change in capability.

The eTechnology packs use innovative hybrid ultracapacitors (HUC) cells from Sech SA as part of an exclusive partnership. These cells are used in combination with advanced controllers to safely achieve eTechnology’s exceptionally high levels of performance. Independent testing by Geo Technology has conclusively demonstrated the ability of Morand eTechnology to recharge a 7.2kWh

test unit in 120 s (98% charging) at up to 900A / 360 kW.

While there are numerous technologies that can charge and discharge rapidly, they are almost always limited by the number of cycles they can perform before capacity degradation.

Morand’s eTechnology does so with much greater durability than other systems. Testing hasdemonstrated its ability to complete more than 50,000 cycles, with the longest-running test unit now approaching 70,000 cycles. Morand is working with a production partner

to manufacture the units. Although production volumes are currently relatively low when compared to lithium-ion cells, expansive plans to ramp up production are already in place. This will help to bring eTechnology closer to price parity with lithium-ion solutions.

Another important consideration is the total lifecycle of the storage system. With five or 10 times the number of possible discharge cycles, long-term operational costs may be substantially lower than an equivalent lithium-ion system.

Germany approves automated parking system

Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have reached an important

(KBA)

This makes it the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function (SAE Level 4)1 to be officially approved for commercial use.

“The world’s first approval for customer use of our highly automated and driverless parking function, developed together with our technology partner Bosch, shows that innovation leadership and ‘Made in Germany’ go hand in hand,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology

Officer, responsible for Development and Procurement.

“Following the market launch of our DRIVE PILOT Level 3 system, we will soon be offering a Level 4 system for parking with our INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT – all of that this year. We really are showing our customers how technology can make life easier and give back precious time.”

Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility

Solutions business sector said that from the outset, Bosch had taken the approach of making the infrastructure in parking garages intelligent.

Drive in to the parking garage, get out of your vehicle, and send it to a pre-booked parking space just by tapping in a smartphone app –the automated valet parking service has no need for a driver. The vehicle drives itself to its assigned space and parks.

Later, the vehicle returns to the pick-up point in exactly the same way.

This process relies on the interplay between the intelligent infrastructure supplied by Bosch and installed in the parking garage and Mercedes-Benz automotive technology.

Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the vehicle converts the information it receives from the infrastructure into driving manoeuvres.

This way, vehicles can even drive themselves up and down ramps to move between stories in the parking garage. If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle brakes and safely comes to a complete stop. Only once the route is clear does it continue on its way.

milestone on the way to automated driving: Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority

has approved their highly automated parking system for use in the P6 parking garage run by APCOA at Stuttgart Airport.

Tools of the Trade MathWorks MATLAB & Simulink

Across the board and encompassing all engineering streams is a big ask for any company but not for MathWorks.

MathWorks with MATLAB and Simulink has created the tools of choice for engineers and scientists worldwide. Millions use the programs every day to develop and test tomorrow’s products, whether these are new cars or new rockets, and every other engineering feat in between.

The brainchild of MathWorks is actually two very savvy men who saw a need in 1984 for the MATLAB product. Cleve Moler and Jack Little recognised the need among engineers and scientists for more powerful and productive computation environments beyond those provided by languages such as Fortran and C.

In response to that need, they combined their expertise in mathematics, engineering, and computer science to develop MATLAB which combines comprehensive maths and graphics functions with a powerful high-level language.

In addition to MATLAB, MathWorks has Simulink, a product for simulating nonlinear dynamic systems. The company also develops and markets an extensive set of add-on products for specialised application areas, including control design, signal processing and communications, image processing, test and measurement, computational biology, and financial modeling and analysis.

Cleve Moler and Jack Little sold their first licence to MIT in 1984, and have since expanded into a variety of industries, including automotive, education, aerospace, and scientific research. We spoke with Stephane Marouani, who is the country manager for Australia and is an extremely well-qualified engineer.

“The use of our software extends across a wide range of industries, literally across all of the engineering workflow. Typically, MATLAB and Simulink are involved in everything from data acquisition, connecting to sensors, and applying analytics to this data using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and visualization,” he said.

“And it goes all the way to modeling very complex systems: graphically simulating systems on a computer, rather than on hardware, and all the way to generating the code that will go on the hardware.”

Today’s cars contain a significant amount of software, regardless of whether we’re talking about internal combustion engines or EVs. MathWorks provides auto engineers with vital tools to model and simulate behaviours before generating the code that will go into the finished vehicle.

Stephane Marouani

“In the automotive industry, first you have the traditional manufacturers in Australia, like GM and Ford, who still have engineers based here. However, in the last few years, we’ve also seen smaller electric vehicle manufacturers emerge in Australia,” Mr Marouani said.

“In particular, I can talk about Applied EV who is based in Melbourne. The company developed a fully drive-by-software electric

vehicle platform for various applications and, more specifically, self-driving delivery vehicles.

“And why do they use our tools?” continued Mr Marouani. “Because electric vehicles contain a significant amount of complex software. This is ironic as traditional internal combustion vehicles are much more complex from a hardware standpoint than their electrified counterparts.

“There’s a lot of software going into an electric vehicle, and a lot of modeling and simulation involved from the battery design, the battery management system, the control systems in the car, the regenerative braking and the traction control, and all that is driven by software rather than hardware.

“We have a big pool of very talented engineers in Australia because of the country’s tertiary education system and traditional automotive industry development centres – including Ford and GM – still have development centres here.

“So that’s great. But again, we’re a bit far away from the big European and North American hubs. And therefore, there is less of a mix of engineers coming from one company and going to the other. And so, they don’t have as much of this multi-national big corporation, big R&D experience, coming into Australia. But it’s something we can help with at MathWorks because we do have this exposure.

“We develop our best practices and tools based on what we see worldwide in Japan, North America and Europe. We gather all these best practices and features and then we’re able to advise our local customers on the best approach for their challenge.”

But it’s not just car companies that use MathWorks; it is used throughout aerospace including in NASA’s recently returned Artemis I Mission.

“It works in a similar way in aerospace. Obviously, the range of applications is even wider, including guidance and navigation systems, analytics from visualization, image processing, and video processing,” Mr Marouani said.

“It also includes radar system development. We have a wide range of applications in the aerospace industry. The systems are very complex and very sensitive. Verification and validation are very important in the tools that are used to model, simulate, verify and validate all those very complex systems.

“One example is Southern Launch, who created and developed a rocket launching range in South Australia. Our tools help private and public space programs model,

simulate and analyse the vast amount of data that will be generated from launches. “MathWorks does a lot of work upstream, providing tools to all Australian universities, which means at least 90 percent of students and academics in Australia and New Zealand have access to the tools. That ensures that when students complete their studies, they already have a sound understanding of the program.

“A lot of engineering students and scientists coming out of university already know our tools and we provide tuition and online training and curriculum support and so on. When engineers are in the workforce, they buy the tools and we provide training and if needed consulting to help them in the first phase of the project,” Mr Marouani explained.

“We’re not a consulting company, but what we aim for is to our customers perform their best work, so we offer extensive training for MATLAB and Simulink.”

Twice a year every year the company releases a new version with customer driven features brought about after having gathered together customers to listen to their needs and wants. New tools mean sessions are conducted to introduce these and if the tools are a significant upgrade new training materials are produced.

To sum up what MathWorks is about really comes down to allowing engineers, regardless of their industry, to perform their best work in a contemporary environment with tools they already understand.

The Kiwis Conquer Formula SAE-A was finally back on track at

Winton for the 2022 event

What a welcome sight it was in Benalla on 7 December as students from across Australia and ‘the ditch’ flooded into Winton Raceway for the start of the 2022 Formula SAE-A event.

Photos courtesy of Karl Phillipson www.optikal.com.au

Little did we suspect that those from ‘across the ditch’ in New Zealand would snap up the two major wins for the event. But more of that later.

Several intervening years had been plagued by the spectre of Covid and even in 2022 when the threat had lessened many teams from overseas who had put their names down to attend were unable to for various reasons, one of which was no doubt the high cost of freight and air fares which had risen substantially. It is hoped that in 2023 this will subside, and more overseas teams will again join the Australian teams at Winton.

However, everyone was extremely happy to see a full team arrive from Taiwan and though they did experience problems throughout the event everyone gave them assistance when they could and cheered mightily when they received the PACCAR award on the closing night.

“From the teams’ point of view, it’s been three years since they’ve competed that means that a lot of their experience has gone,” explained Adrian Feeney CEO of SAE-A.

“The ones in the final years, they have been the leaders and teaching the newer members of the team coming through and they all moved on which means the teams are now struggling with a lack of experience. And we’re seeing that a lot with some of the questions we are getting.”

There is always some good to come of changes like these, it meant that this year’s event was held on a more level playing field. This was reflected in the results with a very good spread of different universities taking out the various events.

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“Everyone will be making brand new mistakes and the cars may not be as well prepared, designed and built as they have been in the past,” Mr Feeney said.

“The cars evolve and with the break in competition due to Covid the evolution and continuation of the team structure impacted the results. It placed everyone back on a more even footing. “Teams make mistakes and sometimes you learn more from making a mistake. I think from the teams’ point of view there were new problems which they haven’t faced and overcome.”

Teams bumped in on Wednesday 7 December in preparation for the busy start on the Thursday with team registration, technical inspections and briefings and an equally busy day on the

OVERALL WINNERS – IC

1st University of Waikato

Friday that added a few more events to the schedule such as the presentation from teams on the design and cost of their project. Late morning also included a tour by local schools and invited guests. “For all technical inspections this year we planned a schedule to help the flow of inspections to make the process a little more effective,” explained Graeme Palmer, chief scrutineer. Mr Palmer has been involved in this event from the start and has a comprehensive knowledge of Formula SAE-A.

“We even had a volunteer to assist the teams in keeping with the scheduled times. This helped but not every team was ready and not every team has a faultless inspection or passes all required testing without a fix and re-present.

OVERALL WINNERS – EV

1st University of Auckland

2nd RMIT University 2nd University of Wollongong 3rd Victoria University 3rd Swinburne University of Technology

SPECIAL SPONSOR AWARDS

Motorsport Australia Award

Queensland University of Technology Awarded to the team that shows the best spirit

Leap Award

University of Auckland Awarded to the team that best uses simulation

PACCAR Australia Award

National Taiwan University Awarded to the team that displays the PACCAR spirit

Harry Watson Award

Edith Cowan University Awarded to the team that makes a distinct contribution

Business Presentation Award sponsored by Transport for NSW

IC

1st Edith Cowan University 2nd University of Sydney 3rd RMIT University

EV

1st University of Adelaide 2nd University of Western Australia 3rd RMIT University

Cost Awards sponsored by Defence Force Recruiting

IC

1st Edith Cowan University

2nd Victoria University 3rd University of Sydney

EV

1st Griffith University

2nd University of Queensland 3rd University of Auckland

Engineering Design Award sponsored by Toyota

IC

1st RMIT University 2nd University of Waikat 3rd University of Sydney

EV

1st Monash University

2nd University of Queensland 3rd University of Auckland

OVERALL WINNERS (IC) University of Waikato

OVERALL WINNERS (EV) University of Auckland

“With a few university cars not completed and not ready for competition but requesting inspection for training purposes I was in charge of the mechanical technical inspection of five Internal Combustion (IC) engine cars and 16 electric cars (EV) for full competition, and three autonomous cars – here for the first-year demonstration run.”

But it was Saturday when the 25 teams; three from New Zealand, one from Taiwan and the rest Australian really got into gear with the first testing event on the schedule the acceleration run followed in the afternoon by time on the skid pad. Saturday was also the day when the three teams that brought autonomous vehicles were able to demonstrate them on the circuit. Queensland University of Technology, Monash University and the University of Queensland each took their vehicles for a test run on the track to demonstrate the technology and learning that each team had undertaken in this emerging vehicle mobility sphere.

Graeme Palmer with students during a technical inspection

National Taiwan University team

Acceleration Award sponsored by SAE-A

IC

1st Edith Cowan University

2nd University of Sydney

3rd Victoria University

EV

1st University of Auckland

2nd Swinburne University of Technology

3rd University of Adelaide Skid Pad Award sponsored by Henkel

IC

1st Edith Cowan University

2nd University of Waikato

3rd University of Sydney

EV

1st University of Wollongong

2nd Monash University

3rd University of Adelaide

Autocross Award sponsored by SEA Electric

IC

1st University of Sydney

2nd Edith Cowan University

3rd University of Waikato & Victoria University

EV

1st Swinburne University

2nd The University of Auckland

3rd Curtin University Efficiency Award sponsored by SAE-A

IC

1st RMIT University

2nd Victoria University

3rd University of Waikato

EV

1st University of Queensland 2nd University of Newcastle 3rd University of Wollongong Endurance Award sponsored by PACCAR Australia

IC

1st RMIT University

2nd University of Waikato

3rd Victoria University

EV

1st University of Wollongong

2nd University of Auckland

3rd Swinburne University of Technology

“This year we had autonomous experts, electrical experts, EV experts all involved. And we had all this new equipment,” Mr Feeney said. “These cars have been doing trials. And for the first time we had these new special cones set out in the track, the car learns the track then they go into their program. The car programs itself. The ‘fancy’ cones have to be a specific colour and dimensions this is critical for the process.”

Later on Saturday, the much anticipated career and networking expo opened at 7.30pm in the main event space. The late starting time allowed team members time to work on their vehicles before attending the event. Companies including PACCAR, SEA, Thales and Defence Force Recruiting happily discussed opportunities for careers and offered students the chance to see the types of engineering skills most needed for the future.

Finally, Sunday was the end of an arduous challenge for the teams with the final events which included the autocross and endurance runs, some of which were run in the rain with Victoria’s inclement summer hampering some of the teams.

“Accepted entries this year, due to the Covid interruption, included previous year models for the purpose of the university students to obtain some recognition, and in some cases reward for their efforts,” said Mr Palmer.

“I was impressed by the presentation and appearance of a couple of cars and pleased by the offering of sound advice from my team of experienced inspectors, but not all teams had the time for preparation or any testing of their car before the event, so with what was presented it was a credit to all the teams.

“During competition, especially the endurance run, limited or no testing showed through, and eight cars failed to finish. As a result, only six cars elected to give various drivers a chance to run on the Monday drive day.”

Mr Palmer said that from his point of view failure in this event is still success for all the teams entered.

“My standout highlight of this year’s event was when the PACCAR Award, which was

presented to the National Taiwan University for displaying resilience, teamwork and determination under adverse conditions, it was received with great extended applause from all present for the team and their country,” he said.

As mentioned earlier the two overall awards for IC and EV have both travelled overseas to New Zealand with the University of Waikato taking out top spot in IC and the University of Auckland winning in EV. It was pleasing to see these universities not only make the trek across to Australia but being rewarded for their extra efforts. These two teams consistently placed in the results for endurance, efficiency, autocross, skid pad, acceleration, engineering design, and cost.

FORMULA SAE-A 2022 TEAMS

Internal Combustion vehicles

• Edith Cowan University ECU Racing Australia

• RMIT University RMIT Racing Australia

• The University of Waikato WESMO New Zealand

• University of Sydney Sydney Motorsport Australia

• Victoria University Victoria University Motorsport Australia

Electric vehicles

• Curtin University Curtin Motorsport Team Australia

• Griffith University Griffith Racing Team Australia

• Monash University Monash Motorsport Australia

• National Taiwan University NTU Racing Taiwan

• Queensland University of Technology QUT Motorsport Australia

• RMIT University RMIT Electric Racing Australia

• Swinburne University of Technology Team Swinburne Australia

• The University of Adelaide Adelaide University Motorsport Team Australia

• The University of Auckland The University of Auckland Formula SAE TeamNew Zealand

• The University of Melbourne MUR Motorsports Australia

• The University of Newcastle NU Racing Australia

• The University of Western Australia UWA Motorsport Australia

• University of Canterbury University of Canterbury Motorsport New Zealand

• University of New South Wales UNSW Redback Racing Australia

• University of Queensland UQ Racing Formula SAE Team Australia

• University of South Australia UniSA Motorsport Australia

• University of Tasmania UTAS Motorsports Australia

• University of Technology Sydney UTS Motorsports Australia

• University of Wollongong UOW Motorsport Australia

• UNSW Canberra Academy Racing Australia

Autonomous vehicles

• Monash University Monash Motorsport Australia

• Queensland University of Technology QUT Motorsport Australia

• University of Queensland UQ Racing Formula SAE Team Australia

Ada Lin1,*

1 New Business Solutions, Lexus Australia, 155 Bertie St. Port Melbourne VIC 3127

* Corresponding author: ada.lin@toyota.com.au

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems Research within the AIMES Environment

APAC-21-126

1. Introduction

Each year more than 1,100 road users lose their lives across Australia, and around 40,000 are admitted to hospital. Innovative approaches to road rule enforcement, driver behaviour, driver assistance, vehicle design and road design have reduced the harm caused by road crashes, particularly those of high severity.

Many countermeasures have addressed the protection of vehicle occupants and, more recently, the avoidance of crashes. The rollout of technologies that sense and ameliorate imminent crash risks is now receiving considerable attention with the advent of advanced sensing, connectivity and automation. Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) allow vehicles to communicate with roadside infrastructure through vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), with a cloud-based central facility through vehicle-tonetwork (V2N) and with other vehicles through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), communications. Based on C-ITS messages exchanged, drivers are presented with safety alerts about immediate and upcoming hazards (Figure 1). C-ITS increase the drivers’ situational awareness to put them in the best position to react to safety risks.

Austroads found that if C-ITS technology was deployed in Australia at scale, a reduction in fatalities of up to 23% and injuries of 28%

could potentially be achieved [1]. Production vehicles have been equipped with C-ITS in markets such as Japan since October 2015. Toyota/Lexus has sold more than 250,000 vehicles across 19 models (as of September 2021) equipped with C-ITS technology - “ITS Connect”. A 2019 survey of ITS Connect customers indicated that over 70% of them found it helpful, especially where line-of-sight was obscured [2].

Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem (AIMES) is a real-world platform for testing and demonstrating emerging connected transport technologies in complex urban environments in Carlton, Victoria. It incorporates over 100 kilometres of Melbourne road network, where partner organisations have been installing diverse technologies for sensing, connecting, visualising and analysing mobility systems since 2015.

In 2021, Lexus Australia developed and evaluated C-ITS safety applications (also called use cases) in the AIMES precinct to study the effectiveness of applying C-ITS in Australia.

2. AIMES Use Cases

For AIMES, the following V2I/V2N use cases were verified:

• Advanced Red-Light Warning (ARLW): alerts drivers to a risk of a red-light signal violation unless they apply the brakes

• Turn Warning Vulnerable Road User

ABSTRACT

AIMES ecosystem provides a real-world platform for collaborative trials based on the streets of Melbourne to test integrated transport technology to deliver safer, cleaner and more sustainable urban transport outcomes. Lexus Australia conducted Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) research within the AIMES ecosystem, including the development and demonstration of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicleto-network (V2N) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) safety applications (also called use cases). V2I safety applications involve direct communication between C-ITS vehicles and roadside units that broadcast live signal status and road geometry information of the intersections to alert drivers to the risk of violating red-light signal and running into pedestrians/cyclists crossing during the permitted phase. V2N safety applications include long-range communications with a cloud-based central facility to alert drivers to road hazards, traffic jams, and roadworks and provide drivers with information about static or variable speed limits. The extension of V2V on communication with emergency service vehicles and public transport vehicles allows sharing of awareness messages between different vehicle types. Notifying drivers of the stationary and approaching emergency service vehicles can assist in avoiding collisions and shorten travel time for ambulances. Tram awareness alerts and tram passenger warnings can potentially mitigate vehicle collisions with trams and passengers, enhancing public transportation’s efficiency and safety. This paper discusses the importance, design and evaluation of C-ITS use cases in AIMES and highlights key findings and next steps for C-ITS deployment in Australia.

KEYWORDS: Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems; Connected Vehicles; C-ITS Safety Applications (Use Cases).

(TWVR): alerts drivers to a pedestrian crossing during the permitted phase

• Road Hazard Warning (RHW): alerts drivers to hazards, such as debris or water on the road or a crash

• Back-of-Queue Warning (BoQ): alerts drivers to a traffic jam

• Roadworks Warning (RWW): notifies drivers approaching or driving through roadworks zones, providing speed limit

• In-Vehicle Speed (IVS): provides drivers with information about static or variable speed limits.

The following V2V use cases, which enabled communication with emergency service vehicles and public transport vehicles, were newly developed and evaluated:

• Emergency Service Vehicle Notification (ESVN): notifies on the direction of the approaching emergency vehicle and instructs drivers to comply with regulatory

speed when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle in action

• Tram Awareness Alert (TAA) and Tram Passenger Warning (TPW): alert drivers on approaching trams and passenger disembarkation/embarkation status.

3. Live Traffic Signal Status Integration

The Carlton testbed was set up in cooperation with AIMES stakeholders to enable V2I/V2N use cases. A roadside unit (RSU) was installed at the southern end of the intersection (Figure 2) to allow the transmission of intersection geometry information (map) and traffic light signal status via ITS-G5 (Figure 3).

For testing, the use case parameters were configured to be very conservative so that alerts could be triggered at greater distances from the intersection at low vehicle speeds. Therefore, how the different factors impact the use case timing and accuracy could be investigated whilst ensuring the safety of testers and other road users. However, this would be changed to avoid triggering warnings unnecessarily in a more realistic driving scenario.

ALRW and TWVR alerts were successfully triggered according to the Signal Phase and Timing Extended Message (SPaTEM) broadcasted by RSU. The broadcasted SPaTEMs were in sync with the actual status of the traffic light (Figure 4) that integrated with the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) (Figure 5). SCATS adapts traffic signal timing in real-time to match the traffic conditions, installed in over 55,000 intersections across 187 cities and 28 countries worldwide [3]. In Australia, there are 15,169 SCATS intersections (as of May 2022). Whilst more testing and detailed analysis are still underway, the latency for delivering signal status information into the vehicle was obserbed to be negligible. Other factors, such as communicaiton range of the RSU (Appendix A) and vehicle positioning accuracy

(Section 6) can also affect the relevece of the driver alerts.

Most recently (September 2022), integration and testing of two more SCATS intersections along Victoria Parade for C-ITS applications were commissioned. For widespread deployment of SCATS integration for C-ITS applications in Australia and beyond, system compatibility and rollout plan shall be investigated further.

4. Emergency Service Vehicle Notification (ESVN)

4.1 Importance of ESVN

Ambulance Victoria (AV) provides emergency medical response for over 5.8 million people across the state. AV has a fleet approaching 1500 vehicles and, in 2021, travelled more than 40 million kilometres responding to over a million cases. In the year 2020-2021, there were 801,984 Triple Zero (000) calls for assistance; more than 80% required emergency response on-road, and others by air [4]. The ambulance response is progressively increasing over the years (Figure 6).

Responding to time-critical emergency cases brings a much higher risk of motor vehicle crashes. That risk is elevated in metropolitan areas where it becomes necessary to cross multiple intersections. Reports on incidents have shown that other road users neither hear nor see the approaching ambulance. Improving public awareness of emergency vehicles to shorten emergency response time has become necessary. Providing in-vehicle warning of an emergency vehicle approaching would encourage the drivers to give way.

In Victoria, Road Safety Road Rule, Part-7, Division-4, Rule 79A [5] states that vehicles should not exceed 40km/h when passing emergency vehicles that are stationary or moving slowly (less than 10km/h). The road rule aims to ensure the safety of emergency service workers performing work on the

Figure 2. RSU Installation at Gertrude/Nicholson Intersection

Figure 3. ARLW System Architecture

Figure 4. Live SPaTEM and ALRW (Left) / TWVR (Right) Alerts

Figure 5. System Integration of SCATS Intersections

Figure 6. Number of Emergency Road Responses [4]

road or roadside and others at the scene [6]. Providing in-vehicle warning of approaching a slow or stationary emergency service vehicle and instructing speed reduction to regulated speed is intended to encourage the drivers to comply with the road rule.

4.2 ESVN Use Cases

For vehicle communication with emergency service vehicles, two different use cases were implemented and evaluated (Figure 7). Both targeted to improve the efficiency of ambulance service and increase the safety of the personnel and assets of emergency services:

• Emergency Service Vehicle Awareness Alert: the driver is notified about approaching an emergency service vehicle (ESV) with an active lightbar with its distance and direction.

• Emergency Service Vehicle Slow-Down Alert: the driver is instructed to reduce speed to 40km/h when approaching a slow/stationary ESV on active duty (with lightbar ON)

4.3 ESVN System Setup

Enabling ESVN involved mounting the onboard unit (OBU), the device to enable the vehicleto-vehicle communications, on the roof of ambulance and Lexus vehicles (Figure 8).

their status using Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), which includes parameters such as location, speed, direction, heading and role of the vehicle. In the case of special vehicles such as emergency service vehicles, lightbar and siren information is also a part of CAM.

The ambulance lightbar 12V-DC signal was converted to a digital signal and fully integrated with the OBU. For Lexus vehicles, the safety alerts are presented to the driver via a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) with visual warnings (display an icon with the distance between the vehicle and ESV) and audio warnings (in human speech, such as “Caution! Approaching emergency service vehicle. Reduce speed to 40km/h”). The warning configuration was appropriate without causing driver distraction (Figure 9). Visual warning with distance information and audio warning with directional information in a

human speech made the warning contextual and relevant, keeping the drivers’ focus on the road.

4.4 ESVN System Evaluation

To study the effect of ESVN in the real-world environment, different scenarios, including vehicles approaching each other from different streets and the stationary ambulance scenario, were evaluated. The directional tests (Figure 10) indicated that the directional alerts with human speech ensured that the driver paid attention to the road and promoted direction. With the tuned parameters that consider driver reaction time and vehicle braking capacity, the alerts were timely and precise, with sufficient time for the driver to react.

The stationary ESV test (Figure 11) indicated that when the vehicle was travelling at different speeds, the alert was triggered based on the speed and distance to the stationary ambulance (Appendix B).

The driver had enough time to safely reduce the speed to the regulatory limit of 40km/h before passing the ESV to ensure the safety of the emergency service personnel working on the road or roadside.

ESVN demonstrated a significant increase in situational awareness amongst the vehicle drivers. As a result, this could allow the ESV to provide a quicker emergency response by travelling more smoothly in live traffic and reducing incidents involving them. Therefore, ESVN allows for a safer and more efficient working environment for emergency services.

5. Vehicle Communication with Public Transport

5.1

Importance of Vehicle Communication with Trams

Melbourne’s tram network is one of the key public transport systems in the city, and it is the largest in the world, with 250km of double track and over 400 trams of various types in service on a typical weekday and annual pre-covid patronage of around 200 million boardings a year. Over 70% of the network is shared with other road users. 80% of injuries on public transport in Victoria in 2018 occurred on the tram network. Yarra Trams reported more than 1,100 vehicle-totram collisions (97% of the collisions were the fault of motorists) in 2018 [7]. Around 70% of vehicle collisions are due to vehicles merging

Direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication relies on Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) ITS-G5, a standard C-ITS communication protocol defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Vehicles periodically exchange

Figure 9. Example ESVN driver alerts – ESV on the left

Figure 10. ESV Awareness Alert

Figure 11. Approaching a Slow/Stopped ESV

Figure 12. Vehicle-to-Tram Collisions at Bridge Road (Left) and St. Kilda Road (Right) [8]

Figure 7. ESVN Use Cases

Figure 8. ESVN System Architecture

midblock or U-turning in front of a tram. These collisions can result in severe damage to the vehicles and severe injuries to the road users (Figure 12). In addition, vehicle-to-passenger collisions, in which vehicles pass stationary trams while passengers are boarding or getting off the tram, pose a significant risk.

From 1st July 2014 to 30th June 2019, there were 128 passengers knocked down, some resulting in severe injuries that required emergency response [9].

Enabling trams to communicate with surrounding vehicles to alert drivers of approaching trams and passenger disembarkation/ embarkation status can potentially mitigate vehicle collisions with both trams and passengers, hence enhancing the efficiency and safety of public transportation.

5.2 Tram Awareness Alert (TAA) and Tram Passenger Warning (TPW) Use Cases

TAA alerts the driver when the vehicle is turning across the tram tracks while a tram is approaching from behind (Figure 13) under the following conditions:

1. the turn indicator signal is active, which can be determined by monitoring internal vehicle signals or

2. the vehicle is in a dedicated-turn lane,

which is determined by comparing the vehicle’s location with map content containing road geometry and lane configuration.

TPW alerts the driver when the vehicle is approaching a stationary tram at a tram stop, where passengers are disembarking or embarking (Figure 13, bottom). For this trial, whether the tram is currently disembarking or embarking passengers is determined based on the status of tram doors (open or closed).

5.3 TAA and TPW System Setup

The two applications are primarily based on vehicle-to-vehicle communication via ITS-G5. As shown in Figure 14, the tram broadcasts a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), including location, heading and speed information, and embarkationStatus field (based on information about the door status). The map containing road geometry and lane configuration information is delivered through Map Data Extended Messages (MAPEM) via ITS-G5 from a roadside station or cellular connection from a cloud-based central facility.

This project benefitted from an earlier project funded by the Victorian Government Department of Transport under the Smarter Journeys Program [10] in 2018, where 29 B-class trams were equipped with OBUs. The existing CAM was updated with an additional data field to show the embarkation status in the tram.

Lexus vehicles are equipped with OBUs to compute the use case algorithms. The driver awareness alerts were presented via the human-machine interface (HMI) (). For TAA, the visual warning is presented with t audio alert “Tram approaching”. For TPW, the visual alert, including the distance between the tram and the vehicle, is displayed with an audio alert, “Caution, pedestrians”, being played.

5.4 TAA and TPW System Evaluation

The dedicated and structured testing of all applications and scenarios was done during a night testing activity outside of regular tram operating hours, which meant trams could freely move on tracks based

on the test scenarios. In addition, the test area was partially closed off to traffic to enable tram and test vehicle movement in a safe environment and without interference from other traffic participants. The test was conducted from 1 AM to 4 AM on 7th December 2021 on Lygon Street in Melbourne. Figure 16 shows the closed stretch of road shaded in green. The intersection of Lygon St / Princes St was used for some limited testing but not closed to other traffic.

Following test scenarios were executed during the TAA evaluation:

Figure 13. TAA (top) and TPW (bottom) Use Cases

Figure 14. TAA and TPW System Architecture

Figure 16. Vehicle/Tram Night-Time Test at Lygon Street

Figure 15. TAA and TPW Driver Alerts

1. The vehicle activates the right indicator while a tram is approaching from the rear of the vehicle in a neighbouring lane (Figure 17, left)

2. The vehicle enters a dedicated right-turn lane while a tram is approaching from the rear in a neighbouring lane (Figure 17, right).

Both TAA scenarios were successfully triggered (pink paddles).

In this particular test of the vehicle travelling in the right-turn lane, the alert was triggered very early (~150m from the intersection stop bar) where the right turn was not yet possible. In the future, improvement in only showing an alert at a certain distance to the stop bar of the lane based on the vehicle speed can be considered to avoid unnecessarily early warnings. This use case can also be particularly useful for the area where both signals for vehicles and trams can be green simultaneously.

For example, at the Lygon St / Princes St intersection (Figure 18) used for this testing, a right-turning vehicle still needs to give way to a tram approaching from behind even though it has a green signal.

The tram passenger warning was successfully triggered when the vehicle approached a stationary tram with its doors open. Figure 19 shows an example of the alert being triggered (shown with red “P” paddles). This application improves the safety of tram passengers when cars and trams are in shared lanes. However, relying solely on the door status to trigger an alert could be too late for a vehicle to stop behind the tram. For future improvement, some foresight into the intention of the tram and its passengers could be useful. This could be achieved by developing a new signal for a boarding passenger or a passenger stop request to set the embarkationStatus field, which should also be crosschecked in the vehicle to the tram location and nearest tram stop to provide relevant alerts.

The successful development and evaluation of TAA and TPW is a big step towards safer roads where public transport and cars are mixed. It not only helps drivers conform to local road rules but can avoid vehicle-to-tram and vehicleto-passenger collisions.

6. Challenge in Vehicle Positioning Accuracy

C-ITS vehicle uses positioning technology to compute vehicle trajectory (location, speed, and heading), compare it to the location of traffic events and map information, and carry out threat assessment to generate driver safety alerts. Specifically for intersection related use cases, positioning accuracy is critical, as the vehicle needs to determine which lane it is located.

Positioning data was acquired using a dedicated positioning system, which utilises satellite navigation data from multiple global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and further enhanced with corrections from nearby ground reference stations provided through a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) service (Figure 3). The positioning quality is affected by any obstruction to the vehicles’ view of the sky and connection to satellites.

As shown in Figure 20, different positioning accuracy (RTK modes) are represented

with coloured dots: Green (with RTK fixed, correction is applied with optimal results and high confidence), Yellow (RTK float, correction is applied, but the confidence of the correction is not as high) and Red (GNSS only).

There were differences in the positioning quality at different approaches when driving through the intersection.

Figure 20. Nicholson St Southbound (Top)/ Northbound (Bottom) Positioning Accuracy

Figure 19. Demonstration of Tram Passenger Warning

Figure 18. Green signal phase for both tram and vehicles

Figure 17. Demonstration of Tram Awareness Alerts

For Nicholson St southbound approach, closer to the intersection, the positioning mode is mainly RTK fixed, where the alerts were triggered correctly. However, tree growth on the Carlton Gardens side of the road for the northbound approach obscures a large sky area and prevents satellite signal acquisition. The positioning system repeatedly switches between different modes, decreasing positioning accuracy and preventing relevant and accurate warning triggers (shown with yellow paddles).

For all C-ITS use cases, system limitations related to the positioning accuracy (Appendix C) of the vehicles can affect the quality of the driver alerts.

7. Conclusion and Next Steps

AIMES offered exciting opportunities to investigate the requirements for the largescale deployment of C-ITS technologies. The integration of roadside infrastructure with live SPaTEM, V2I/V2N in the AIMES precinct, and reliable V2V communication with emergency service public transport vehicles allowed all C-ITS use cases to be verified successfully. This demonstrated an increase in situational awareness amongst vehicle drivers and strong

collaboration between governments, industry stakeholders, public service and academic sectors to form the base for a significant step towards safer roads where multi-modal transport and road users are mixed.

Positioning and mapping are essential factors for C-ITS technology, and there should be further studies in these areas. By seeking to integrate real-life traffic events such as live traffic light status and traffic status, all stakeholders have recognised the need for robust, meaningful and current data streams to support use cases.

ESVN is one of the most important safetyrelated C-ITS services to be deployed and can also be extended to other emergency services such as police and fire response. Rolling out the vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology to many traffic participants, not only passenger vehicles but also specialised vehicles like ambulances, fire trucks or police cars, trams and buses, would greatly increase the penetration rate of C-ITS to maximise its benefits. This can be supported by evaluating retrofit solutions for existing long/medium-life assets.

While specific to Victorian legislation, C-ITS use cases may be extended to other states according to individual states’ requirements; national consistency would facilitate quicker and more standardised adoption. The data exchanged between traffic participants via ITS-G5 must be anonymous and authentic. The ITS standards and well-known harmonising platforms like C-Roads in Europe already define several security requirements and governance specifications. Similarly, these need to be deployed and evaluated in Australia. As C-ITS development and rollout progress, collaborations between government and industry must be continued to define the data requirements and systems to support C-ITS and the broader management and optimisation of transport networks. Representatives should be nominated to lead harmonisation in Australia to ensure smooth deployment and interoperability across the nation.

Refer to the public white papers [11] for more comprehensive details.

8. References

[1] David B. Logan, Kristie Young, Trevor Allen and Tim Horberry (2017). Safety Benefits of Cooperative ITS and Automated Driving in Australia and New Zealand, Austroads Research Report. AP-R551-17.

[2] Toyota Motor Corporation (2021). TOYOTA ITS Web Exhibition 2021 -V2X-. https://www.toyota.co.jp/its/en/2021/

[3] Transport for NSW (2022). SCATS and Intelligent Transport Systems. https:// www.scats.nsw.gov.au/

[4] Ambulance Victoria (2021). Ambulance Victoria Annual Report 2020-21. https:// www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/wp-content/

uploads/2021/10/Ambulance-VictoriaAnnual-Report-2020-21.pdf

[5] Road Safety Road Rules 2017 S.R. No. 41/2017 Authorised Version incorporating amendments as of 4th November 2020 (Authorised Version No. 009)

[6] Victoria State Government (2021). Law enforcement & emergency vehicles. https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/ safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-toz-of-road-rules/law-enforcement-andemergency-vehicles

[7] Victoria State Government (2022). Tram collisions on the rise. https://transport. vic.gov.au/about/transport-news/newsarchive/tram-collisions-on-the-rise

[8] Yarra Trams (2019-12). Separation and Tram Safety Report. https://www. parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/ committee s/SCEI/Inquiry_into_the_ Increase_in_Victorias_Road_Toll_ / Submissions/S40_-_Yarra_Trams_ Redacted.pdf

[9] Yarra Trams (2020-05). Tram Stop Road Safety Data Insights Overview. (Unpublished Yarra Trams analysis)

[10] Victoria State Government (2017-01). Grants, Trials and Partnerships.

[11] Lexus Australia et al., (2021). Enabling Infrastructure to Vehicle Communication for Safety Applications of Connected Vehicles in Carlton, Victoria – Initial Test; Enabling Emergency Service Vehicle to Vehicle Communication for Safety Applications in Australia; Enabling Public Transport to Vehicle Communication for Safety Applications in Melbourne, Victoria. The University of Melbourne https://eng. unimelb.edu.au/industry/aimes

Appendix A – ITS-G5 Communication Range

The range of ITS-G5 short-range communication message reception is affected by obstacles that impede line-of-sight communication between the RSU and Lexus vehicles.

At Gertrude/Nicholson intersection, the RSU was installed at the Southern end of the intersection (Figure 21). The building at the intersection’s southeast corner limited the communication range on Gertrude St.

Compared to both Nicholson St approaches, the range in Gertrude Street was almost halved (150 meters). In this case, the communication range is likely to be sufficient. However, the location of the RSU installation must be carefully selected to optimise communication range in all directions.

Appendix B – ESVN Alert Distance at Different Vehicle Speed

The aambulance was determined to be stationary when its vehicle speed reported in the CAM was less than 3km/h. When the

Figure 21. ITS-G5 Range

Lexus vehicle approached the ambulance at the speed of 60, 80 and 100km/h, the alert was triggered at different distances accordingly (Figure 22).

Appendix C – Positioning Accuracy

The positioning system is paramount to any C-ITS-enabled vehicle to save lives, as positioning accuracy is critical for delivering accurate and contextual safety warnings to the driver.

With this study, positioning performance in the local environment, where Lexus Vehicles operate in AIMES, were identified. Figure 23 shows the heat map of the positioning accuracy in the Carlton neighbourhood and Melbourne CBD. The heat map provides a high-level overview of positioning errors (Green: 0-30cm, Amber: 30cm-3m, Red: more than 3m) seen by the vehicles to determine the quality of C-ITS warnings presented to the driver. In other words, this information can be used to determine the reason for particular false positives or missing alerts due to positioning errors. Compared to Carlton, in Central Business District (CBD), where there are tall buildings and tree cover, the positioning accuracy was at its lowest when the antennas were obscured from receiving line-of-sight satellite signals. Conversely, the accuracy was high when there was no obstruction.

In addition to the environmental factors, positioning accuracy varies when receivers with different brands and grades are used. While line-of-sight satellite signals were obscured, dead reckoning, a technique to estimate the current position based on a previously determined position, can be applied. An Inertial Navigation System (INS) uses rotation and acceleration information from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to

compute a relative position over time. The following figure shows the positioning result when using a receiver unit with tactical grade IMU (Figure 24); high positioning accuracy was achieved throughout.

Using an INS-based GNSS receiver with RTK configuration and connecting to an RTK correction service that can dynamically connect to the nearest reference stations would offer the best positioning capability to deliver appropriate driver alerts. Positioning and other enabling technologies will evolve between now and any prospective implementation in vehicles for Australia. Deeper integration with existing vehicle systems and advanced driver assistance systems will lead to greater accuracy of information presented to the driver and minimise false warnings.

Figure 23. Position Accuracy in Carlton Area and Melbourne CBD

Figure 24. Position Accuracy of Receiver with Tactical Grade IMU

Figure 22. ESVN alert triggering at different vehicle speeds