Workshop: Remote operation of CAVs 2023

Title: On-road remote driving, situation awareness, and limits of teleoperation

Presenter: Marek Vanžura (George Mason University, USA) [Online]

Abstract:
This talk will present findings and results from the project Situational awareness in drivers of teleoperated vehicles which experimentally studied the limits of on-road teleoperation in relation to both a driver's situation awareness and the capabilities of wireless networks. The results relevant to road safety were then reflected in the design of a new ergonomic remote control station for on-road teleoperation.

Title: A Survey of Teleoperation: Driving Feedback

Presenter: Lin Zhao (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)

Abstract:
Teleoperation can be regarded as an effective backup system for self-driving vehicles, which could take over vehicle control in some special scenarios that the automated vehicles could not handle. However, there are still many challenges in teleoperation, such as low situation awareness. This could potentially be dangerous in some extreme situations. However, it could be effectively improved by providing suitable driving feedbacks. Hence, this article provides a timely and comprehensive review of existing and possible driving feedback techniques in teleoperation. They are presented from the point of view of video feedback, steering force feedback, motion-cueing feedback, audio and vibration feedback, and other non-conventional feedback modes. Then, the current challenges, future trends and opportunities in teleoperation are presented and discussed.

Title: Remote Operations of Unmanned Systems: How it started vs. How’s it going

Presenter: Prof. Mary “Missy” Cummings (George Mason University, USA) [Online]

Abstract:
Remote operations has evolved significantly over the past twenty years in supervising unmanned aerial vehicles, but unfortunately these lessons have not been learned in the surface transportation community for unmanned ground vehicles. In this talk, Prof. Cummings will detail how self-driving cars need to adapt lessons learned from aviation and what gaps need immediate attention.

Title: High-fidelity Teleoperation for Heavy Duty and Fast-moving Vehicles

Presenter: Sanat Mharolkar (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Abstract:
Making vehicles fully autonomous is still a big challenge in a world as unstructured as ours. There are many situations on the road as well as off the road that require human intervention and control. Therefore, most regulations require a safety driver to be onboard an autonomous vehicle at all times to monitor the situation and take control when required. A logical step towards greater autonomy and removing the need for an onboard safety driver is teleoperation or tele-driving. Apart from being a good backup for autonomous vehicles, teleoperation is also a good alternative for situations in which a human driver is at risk or in an uncomfortable environment, such as excavation, construction, mining and cold chain logistics. Teleoperation of such a variety of vehicle types has many challenges, especially when operating heavy duty or fast-moving vehicles. We present a high-fidelity teleoperation system that is specifically designed to overcome these challenges. Using a multi-camera system for wide-angle views and blind spot coverage along with a motion platform that mimics the vehicle’s motion and accelerations, we can provide a realistic and immersive driving experience that makes tele-driving significantly easier and natural. The motion and video synchronization also helps prevent motion sickness for drivers who need to teleoperate over long periods of time. Our system is specifically designed to promise low end-to-end latency and low bandwidth consumption, so that it can work over various network connections such as 4G, 5G and long-range Wi-Fi.

Marek Vanzura
George Mason University, USA

Marek Vanzura received his Ph.D. in 2019 from Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, with a dissertation on the impacts of remote operations on the minds and mental health of military drone pilots. From 2018 to 2023, he was the Head of Autonomous Driving Department at CDV - Transport Research Centre in Brno, where he led several national and international projects, including a project focused on remote driving (teleoperation). Since 2023, he has been a faculty member at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Andreas Schrank, M.Sc.
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Transportation Systems, Germany

Andreas Schrank is a Human Factors researcher at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Transportation Systems. He obtained his Master’s degree in Psychology from Heidelberg University, Germany, while also studying in Istanbul, Turkey, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. In his research, Andreas Schrank focuses on human-machine interaction in the realm of automated driving with an emphasis on the Human Factor in teleoperated automated vehicles, particularly regarding roles, tasks, systems, and user-centered interfaces. He is involved in major EU research projects like “Hi-Drive” as well as several German national research projects on this topic.

Maytheewat Aramrattana, PhD
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), Sweden

Maytheewat Aramrattana is a researcher at Vehicle Systems and Driving Simulation unit at The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). He received his B.Eng. (2010) in Electrical Engineering from Kasetsart University (Thailand), and a M.Sc. (2013) and Ph.D. (2018) in Computer Science and Engineering from Halmstad University (Sweden). His current research interests are in modeling and simulation of cooperative intelligent transport systems, and teleoperation of connected and automated vehicles.

Lin Zhao
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Lin Zhao was born in Hebei, China. He received his M.S. degree in automotive engineering from Chongqing University, Chongqing, China in 2019. He is currently working toward his Ph.D. degree at the Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Engineering Sciences, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Dr. Tao Zhang
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA

Dr. Tao Zhang has been leading research, product development, and corporate strategies for over 30 years. He is now managing the Transformational Networks and Services research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was the CTO for the Smart Connected Vehicles business at Cisco Systems, and the Chief Scientist and Director of multiple research groups focused on mobile and vehicular networking at Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bell Communications Research). He cofounded three industry consortia, including the OpenFog Consortium. Tao holds over 100 patents awarded globally and coauthored two books on vehicular networks and all-IP mobile networks. He has cofounded several successful international conferences. Tao served as the CIO and a Board Governor of the IEEE Communications Society, a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, and an editor or guest editor for numerous journals or their special issues. Dr. Zhang is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Society for Information Reuse and Integration, and a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Academy.

Prof. Mary “Missy” Cummings
George Mason University, USA

Professor Mary (Missy) Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004. A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the U.S. Navy's first female fighter pilots. She is a Professor in the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing and is the director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC). She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow, and recently served as the senior safety advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Her research interests include the application of artificial intelligence in safety-critical systems, assured autonomy, human-systems engineering, and the ethical and social impact of technology.

Sanat Mharolkar
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Sanat Mharolkar is a PhD student and researcher in the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, NTU Singapore. His interests are in robotics and autonomous vehicles, specifically in context-aware perception and high-level decision making for autonomy as well as teleoperation.