Austrian traffic technology company Kapsch TrafficCom has successfully completed the installation of connected vehicles equipment and conducted pilot tests of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications on a motorway in Lithuania.
Working in strategic cooperation with the Lithuanian systems integrator and project management company Belam, Kapsch was able to successfully complete the deployment of V2X equipment on Lithuania’s A1 motorway (European route E85) from the country’s second largest city, Kaunas, to the capital, Vilnius.
Installation work started in September 2017, with pilot tests of the V2X technology taking place in January this year. The project was commissioned by the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communication, and forms part of the country’s preparations for the future widespread introduction of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) across Europe.
The V2X technology deployed by the Kapsch-Belam partnership enables the exchange of data between vehicles and their environment using 5.9GHz wireless communication. Real-time information is sent and received between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (V2I) to support road users and traffic service centers in their decision-making processes. Information ranging from road works to weather conditions, speed limits or probe vehicle data were put on trial using Kapsch’s latest-generation RIS-9160 roadside units (RSU). The information was distributed to OBUs (onboard units) installed in the test cars, with the system also working the other way round.
The OBUs are connected to the test vehicles’ electronic control units (ECUs), reading the sensor information, and sending data about the status of the vehicles equipment, such as fog lights, windshield wipers, and hazard warning lights, to the RSUs. In addition to the testing with the OBU, information was also visualized on an Android tablet running the Kapsch V2X app. The company has been developing V2X technology since 2007, and working within the international standardization process of 5.9GHz V2X communication, Kapsch has pioneered the development of general standards for both Europe (ETSI ITS-G5) and for the USA (IEEE WAVE).
“In a world of growing connectivity, cooperation between vehicles, drivers, road operators, infrastructure and partners is a necessity,” said Roman Himmler, area sales manager at Kapsch TrafficCom. “We successfully finished the testing in the middle of January, which was the first of its kind for Kapsch in Lithuania. Our V2X is tailored exactly to the requirements of communication on the roads.”
Eduardas Grinaveckas, acting deputy director of the Lithuanian Road Administration, noted, “The Kapsch-Belam partnership performed this important and innovative project in time and according to high standards of performance and technology.”
