Participants in the 2021 Tokyo Waterfront Area Field Operational Test decided
－For the distribution of traffic environmental information with V2N－

Translation of Japanese NEDO news release posted on July 1, 2021

The Second Phase of the SIP- Automated Driving for Universal Services ^*1 (hereinafter referred to as "SIP-adus") is proceeding the research and development for the common issues as the cooperative area tackled by industry-academic-government collaboration toward the society where each of us can appreciate safe and secure mobilities with automated vehicles to be implemented, widely recognized and used, by working on reducing the number of traffic accidents, allaviating traffic congestion, securing mobility for vulnerable road users, mitigating shortages of drivers in logistics and mobility services as well as improving their cost efficiency.

(1)Participants in the 2021 Field Operational test selected

In order to promote the more widespread use of traffic environment information, we decided to add information provided from the public wide area communication network (V2N) ^*2 for the test, other than that provided from the infrastructures which had been installed during our past operations.

From March 25th to May 6th in this year, we opened a public call for the test, and selected a total of 22 institutions including domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers, auto parts manufacturers as well as universities (See Attachment 1(61KB) for the detail).

The additional traffic environmental information based on collected probe data, such as traffic congestion data at the lane level, traffic regulation information, falling objects information, weather information, (simulated) emergency vehicles information and vehicle breakdown information and others, will be able to be provided in this test scheduled to get started after this fall .

(2)Building up virtual environment for safety assurance

SIP-adus is promoting the development of more realistic models to simulate a variety of traffic environments in virtual space in order to construct a platform that enables us to verify altogether various sensors such as cameras, Radar and LiDAR as connection with the automated driving system and its outside.

Moreover, we are going to start another test after this fall with additionally selected participants on  virtual space for safety assessment to be built in and around Waterfront city area included in our Tokyo waterfronts test fields.

(3)Publication of the report of the Field Operational Tests in the Tokyo Waterfront area in 2020

SIP-adus has proceeded, with automobile and parts manufacturers, universities, and start-up companies from inside and outside of Japan, the Field Operational Test based on the infrastructures installed for this test, such as ITS radio roadside units and high-precision three-dimensional maps for traffic signal data on general roads over the Tokyo Waterfront area, other than sensors for merging assistance on the Metropolitan Expressway.

Today we release the report by 29 institutions, who run through the total of about 65,000 km during this test from early October 2019 through the end of February 2021 to collect and analyze the test data, then who worked on clarification of the merits brought with the additionally introduced infrastructures and study of how to install necessary infrastructures for automated vehicles and of positive-negative impacts given with these infrastructures and vehicles on the road traffic. (See Attachment 2(1.6MB) for the outline)

• 2nd Phase SIP-adus FY2019 Research & Development

<Major Outcomes for each test area>

(1)Waterfront City area

• ITS radio roadside units as well as high-precision 3D maps, which provides traffic signal light color data in real time and remaining seconds data on traffic signal to show timing when the signal color changes, were installed and used to verify the effectiveness of these signal data as impact assessment on general roads, even under the actual traffic conditions mixed with conventional and automated vehicles, pedestrians, and others.

(2)Haneda Airport area

• The Public Transportation Priority Systems (PTPS) utilizing magnetic markers and ITS radio roadside units, an environment where traffic signal data can be provided as well as a high-precision 3D map were installed and used to study how to control the arrival of automated buses at each stop, on a right position, in timely manner (to prevent delay) and expeditiously (to take shorter average time to a goal).

(3)Metropolitan Expressway connecting Haneda Airport, Waterfront City area and other general roads

• Infrastructures to distribute merging assistance information, which can provide main lane traffic data to vehicles on a merging lane, and ETC gate status information especially in blind spot were installed and verified whether these can realize safer and smoother driving at merging points on express ways.

(Contact for inquiries regarding the contents of this news release)

NEDO Robot and Artificial intelligence Technology Department, SIP group:
Contact Persons:Tanaka,Ito,Watanabe,Yamashiro TEL:044-520-5247