Back to search

FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

WebECA: Disseminating the results and benefits of advanced road weather data

Awarded: NOK 1.0 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

322240

Project Period:

2021 - 2022

Funding received from:

Organisation:

Location:

Winter road weather such as found in Scandinavia poses a serious challenge for vehicle safety. Nevertheless the human driver is quite capable of adjusting the driving style to remain in a relatively safe operational envelope. The required intelligence to adjust the driving style is however completely missing from the current generation of self-driving cars, as well as the driver assistance systems that are found on cars today. TracSense AS aims to study and develop a solution to better predict and interpret the road weather conditions, and thereby offering optimized operational safety for next-generation cars. In a response to this need TracSense is developing a novel optical sensor system which can estimate the road conditions with high accuracy. This includes classifying the type of contamination, and the resulting friction coefficient. The goal of the WebECA project is to create dissemination material, consisting of a web-based visualization of the data, in an effort to demonstrate the value of the data generated by the system. That is to say; to visualise the power of the system?s architecture and data structure to society and industry. In practice this means that we will create a demonstrator system that is accessible to all and provides an easy-to-understand visualization of the data that is collected. These last months we have working on the development of a novel visualisation tool that provides an overview of the road conditions on a national level (Norway), where a proprietary predictive algorithm supplements the forecast data. The system is a cloud-based solution, which is being set up to be accessible by anyone with an interest in the data. The basic information is being made available to the wider public, while actors from the industry are invite to apply for advanced priviledge access, which gives access to more data layers. We have been working on the dissemination activities, which includes outreach to potential stakeholders (universities, authorities and industrial partners) and are actively engaged in further exploring the potential use cases of the technology. We have also been preparing what is required for wider dissemination (conferences / expos) planned for upcoming quarter. Unfortunately recently we were informed that both expositions are postponed, and therefore we aim to find an alternative outlet, or otherwise participate in the delayed edition of these expositions and conferences.

When evaluating the objectives that we set out for this project the company was successful in meeting the goals of demonstrating the technology to an international audience. We managed to attract a number of interested parties, of one which resulted in a prestigious demonstration project, which is expected to be extended this upcoming winter. Through direct outreach and (scientific/industrial) expositions we were able to bring to light our novel technology that was developed in the H2020 project. The reception was overall very positive. Internally, the company obtained valuable feedback about potential use cases and room for improvement.

The proposal of the supplemental project is to create dissemination material, consisting of a web-based visualizations of the data, supplemental animated data, and finally disseminate these through public events (conferences & expos) and direct networking alike. The sole purpose is to disseminate the project results and, equally important, the power of the system’s architecture and data structure to society and industry.

Funding scheme:

FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

Funding Sources