Keynote Lectures

Autonomously Driving Trucks - Challenges and Opportunities
Reinhold Behringer, Knorr Bremse GmbH, Germany, Germany

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems: Towards High-Level Automated Driving
Meng Lu, Dynniq, Netherlands, Netherlands

Last-Mile Logistics in Urban Areas
Tolga Bektas, University of Liverpool Management School, United Kingdom, United Kingdom

Autonomously Driving Trucks - Challenges and Opportunities

Reinhold Behringer
Knorr Bremse GmbH, Germany

Brief Bio
Since April 2019 Reinhold Behringer is working at Knorr Bremse GmbH on the development of autonomous truck systems. He previously (7/2017-3/2019) has been employed by Daimler-Protics in the development of Augmented Reality system for passenger vehicles. He is currently Visiting Professor at Leeds Beckett University, where he was Professor of Creative Technology from 2005 to 2017. His R&D focus in this position was on eLearning, location-based application development and mobile devices. He has two degrees in Physics (1988: MA, SUNY Buffalo, USA. 1990: Diplom in Physics, University Würzburg, Germany) and a PhD in Engineering (1996: Dr.Ing., UniBwM München, Germany). His main professional expertise is in autonomous road vehicles and real-time computer vision systems. He participated in the first US DARPA Grand Challenge (2004) and earlier in the development of the very first autonomous road vehicle which was driving on public roads in Germany (1995). For this vehicle, he has developed a real-time computer vision system for road/lane detection and following. During his following work at Rockwell Scientific (Thousand Oaks, USA) (1996-2005) he has developed prototype systems for Augmented Reality demonstrators and multi-modal Human-Computer Interaction demonstrations, which did employ real-time computer vision approaches for scene detection and motion/orientation tracking. In his current role at Knorr-Bremse GmbH he is involved in the development of neural network concepts for utilizing data from a variety of sensors with the goal to enable autonomously driving trucks in SAE level 3 and higher.

Abstract
The development of autonomously driving trucks could be the first business case where autonomous driving technology is used purposefully in a commercial environment. In recent years, trucks in Europe are already required to have specific driver assistance technologies installed, for safer driving on motorways avoiding collisions. Trucks have a lot of kinetic energy because of the potentially large mass (e.g. 40 tons). Therefore, safety of truck driving does have a high priority, because accidents are often fatal. All truck manufacturers and also suppliers are working towards higher degrees of autonomy of truck driving, with the goal of reducing the number of accidents. Specific challenges are the different constraints regarding sensor mounting. Most truck cabins have their own motion characteristics due to specific suspension technologies, which need to be taken into account when mounting sensors. Also the maneuverability of a truck is different than that of a passenger vehicle.
This talk will present the challenges in the development of fully autonomous trucks and will focus on specific recent developments which will lead to a revolution of the road freight transport systems.

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems: Towards High-Level Automated Driving

Meng Lu
Dynniq, Netherlands

Brief Bio
Dr. Meng Lu, Strategic Innovation Manager at Dynniq, The Netherlands; Member, Board of Governors of IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society; Steering Committee Member, IEEE Future Networks - Enabling 5G and Beyond; Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems; Member of the Editorial Board of IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) Intelligent Transport Systems; Ex[ert, ISO/TC 204 and CEN/TC 278 (NEN - The Netherlands); In 2011-2015 Programme Manager at Dutch Institute of Advanced Logistics, The Netherlands; In 2009-2010 Visiting Professor at the National Laboratory for Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, P.R. China. Since 2002 active in the areas of ICT-based (C-)ITS and logistics. Participation in European initiatives and projects since 2005, as Coordinator, WP Leader and/or Partner.Education: PhD at LTH (Faculty of Engineering), Lund University, Sweden; Master's title and degree of Engineering in The Netherlands and P.R. China.

Abstract
Around fifteen years ago, the development of cooperative systems started. Short-range communication would provide connectivity between neighbouring vehicles to exchange information, both of their own position and velocity, and of information observed by vehicle sensors, e.g. concerning obstacles on the road or road surface conditions. The idea was that this would enable a whole range of new safety and driver comfort applications. Also other road users, especially vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, could participate in such connectivity, now that smartphones had become widespread. Deployment of cooperative systems has been less rapid than of autonomous systems, partly due to the higher level of complexity of the technology. Also, these systems are less known by the general public. But certainly they are a prelude (and an indispensable component) of an even more advanced technology, which has come to rapid development in recent years, and is receiving widespread attention, also from the general public: automated driving. In view of its complexity, several levels of vehicle automation are distinguished, from no automation at all to high-level and full automation.
This speech presents recent results of the ongoing efforts for development and deployment of cooperative systems for road transport. These systems use communication between vehicles, as well as between vehicles and infrastructure, other road users and network, for exchange of information, enabling various applications for safety, efficiency and comfort. Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), also referred to as connected vehicles, are a prelude to, and pave the way towards road transport automation. Vehicle connectivity and information exchange will be an important asset for future highly-automated driving The speech provides an insight in the state of the art of C-ITS, especially addresses the important role of ICT infrastructure, and presents the main achievements in recent European projects.

Last-Mile Logistics in Urban Areas

Tolga Bektas
University of Liverpool Management School, United Kingdom

Brief Bio
Tolga Bektas is Professor of Logistics Management and Director of Research for the Operations Management Subject Group at the University of Liverpool Management School. He holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering (2005) from Bilkent University, postdoctoral research experience at the University of Montreal from 2005 to 2007, and held academic posts at the University of Southampton from 2007 to 2018 prior to joining the University of Liverpool. His research interests are in the planning and optimisation of operations arising within freight logistics and distribution, including vehicle routing and scheduling, intermodal transportation and urban logistics, with a particular emphasis on reducing environmental externalities from transport. He has been investigator in a number of externally funded projects on railway timetable optimisation, maintenance planning in sea vessels and last-mile distribution in cities. He has published widely in international journals, presented keynotes at national and international conferences, and authored a book titled Freight Transport and Distribution printed by CRC Press.

Abstract
Freight transport makes up 16% of all road vehicle activity in UK cities, with lorries and vans performing 30% of their total activity in urban areas. Around 2.4 billion parcels were sent in the UK in 2017-18, for example, giving rise to significant operational challenges in performing last-mile deliveries. In this talk, I will present some of the findings of the research project titled FTC2050: Freight Traffic Control 2050 (http://www.ftc2050.com) that looked at the collective transport and energy impacts of current 'business-as-usual' carrier activities in London. The aim was to improve carrier collection and delivery schedules by investigating the potential of new business models for reducing localised transport impacts. I will describe the practical challenges faced by last-mile logistics operators, and present alternative distribution models in the way of improving the overall efficiency of the operations.