Network of automated vehicles: The AutoNet2030 vision

AutoNet2030 – Co-operative Systems in Support of Networked Automated Driving by 2030 – is a European project connecting two domains of intensive research: cooperative systems for Intelligent Transportation Systems and Automated Driving. Given the latest developments in the standardization of vehicular communications, vehicles will soon be wirelessly connected, enabling cooperation among them and with the infrastructure. At the same time, some vehicles will offer very advanced driving assistance systems, ranging from Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (C-ACC) to full automation. The research issues addressed in AutoNet2030 are as follows: how can all these vehicles with different capabilities most efficiently cooperate to increase safety and fluidity of the traffic system? What kind of information should be exchanged? Which organization (e.g. centralized or distributed) is the best? The purpose of this paper is to introduce the vision and concepts underlying the AutoNet2030 project and the direction of this ongoing research work.