Car@TUM: Automated Driving in Urban Areas (completed: 2018)

Project Description

Automated driving in urban areas is far more complex than driving on freeways, for which a number of functionalities is already under development and partly implemented or under test in the field. The aim of the research project is therefore to investigate urban driving situations that are well suitable as driver assistance or automated driving functions. The focus is primarily on the traffic and vehicle functionalities.

In the course of the project the first step is to identify and describe particularities of urban driving situations (particularly in contrast to freeway driving situations) systematically from the perspective of the microscopic and tactical driving behavior of the ego vehicle. The higher complexity of driving in urban surroundings is, among others, due to the mix of many different road users. The behavior of these therefore needs to be investigated in detail. This way, reactions and driving strategies of automated vehicles can be adapted accordingly. Through generalization and abstraction, suitable situation and behavior models will be developed which can serve as a basis for the development of new functions for automated driving. A core element of this is the observation of representative urban traffic situations and environments.