The project CATAPULT is based on knowledge and results from previous projects where the partners have been involved.
Austria
Innovative aspects & complementation of current knowledge: the ongoing Austrian flagship project Digibus Austria (Salzburg Research) pursues the goal to develop methods, technologies and models for ensuring a reliable and traffic-safe operation of automated shuttles (automated driving level 3). FACTUM as a partner in this project is involved in the development of interaction concepts for passengers and for interaction with the surroundings. The results of the qualitative interview data will be used in the CATAPULT project as well.
Within the SURAAA projects (Smart Urban Region Austria Alps Adriatic) an autonomous shuttle connects the rail station in Pörtschach (Carinthia, Austria) and a popular lake (Wörthersee). It is a service used by different user groups and will provide valuable data for the CATAPULT project.
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) based on the concept in the Urban Mobility Package consider the whole functional urban area, and foresee cooperation across Project no. 875022 different policy areas as well as with local residents and stakeholders. AustriaTech is a partner in the current Interreg CE project DYNAXIBILITY (DYNAXIBILITY4CE, 2020) which will – among others – work on the further development of the SUMP Practitioner Briefing on Road Vehicle Automation in sustainable urban mobility planning. Within the CATAPULT project a contribution to the further development of this Practitioner Briefing can be made, by gathering the knowledge about specific requirements and needs of underrepresented group. Additionally, the serious game developed in the project can be used and adapted to other SUMP-topics for further need analyses. Further results of European projects and actions dealing with the issue of accessible and inclusive mobility systems will be considered (e.g. AM Inclusive!, STRIA Roadmap, AVENUE, HiReach, Mobility 4you, OptiMaaS, MOMENTUM, MoTiV, INDIMO, TRIPS).
Belgium
TOP Noordrand stands for a territorial development program aiming at the development and implementation of a creative vision for the future development in the area North of Brussels including a plan to introduce automated shuttle services. In CATAPULT we will research what is needed to safeguard (or improve) the mobility of pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, among others, in local communities when automatic vehicles are introduced.
Sweden
In Sweden, the Linköping based project “ELIN” with an automated shuttle service that supports both a residential area and a university campus will be carried out. Of interest is the connection to a school with children with specific needs and a care facility for elderly but active people.
The Guidance to Autonomous Vehicles project, which finished at the end of 2020, was a study of using tactile feedback as a means of guiding the blind, deaf, and deaf blind to and from autonomous vehicles. The project results that detail some of the difficulties this user group have in interactions with autonomous vehicles is relevant for CATAPULT.
ADAS and the Elderly is a currently active project being conducted by RISE in partnership with Smart Eye and Aptiv. The project aims to specify what needs the elderly might have when using ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). The methods used to clarify the needs of this user group are relevant for CATAPULT.
K2Centrum is the national knowledge center in Sweden for research and learning about public transportation. RISE has been active in a study where the purpose was to capture the needs and wishes of the visually impaired regarding support for making travel accessible by the autonomous buses of the future. The focus has been on digital solutions and where two sister projects have been used as input. One project is about AR-based solutions in public transport, the other is the mobility platform in Linköping called Ridethefuture, in which 2 electrified AV shuttles buses have been used for fellow passengers with the aim of capturing the reflections of the visually impaired.
EU projects:
In the EU Horizon 2020 project SHOW – SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption the use of electrified, networked and automated fleets in passenger transport and logistics in (peri-) urban areas will be demonstrated in 15 European countries, including Austria, Belgium and Sweden. SHOW aims to provide a comprehensive pathway towards how such new mobility services can be brought from testing grounds to real world operation. CATAPULT will be identifying specific requirements of user groups, so that they can be considered in all stages of design and introduction of such new mobility services.