Center Overview
We have coined the term "Mobility Culture" to describe the concept of mobility, including its technological and social infrastructure, with mobility at its core. This concept encompasses mobility for the elderly to participate in social activities, evacuation in disaster response, automated driving, and energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction in road traffic. We conduct research aimed at building mobility that is safe, secure, convenient, and environmentally friendly.
We primarily address the following issues.
Information and communication systems for disasters utilizing automobiles
Fundamental research on the introduction of automated driving systems
Advancement of ITS and road traffic management
Cross-disciplinary research on IoT-related fields
Keywords and Main Research Themes
Mobility, ITS, automated driving, HMI, road traffic management, disaster information systems, energy network systems, artificial intelligence, international standardization
Fiscal Year 2020 Business Plan
■ Activities Continuing from FY2019: Background, Rationale, and Goals
We will continue to work on the following issues that were addressed in FY2019.
Information and communication systems utilizing automobiles
Fundamental research on the introduction of automated driving systems
Advancement of ITS and road traffic management
Cross-disciplinary research on IoT-related fields
International standardization activities in ITS and other areas
Regarding (1), we will continue activities for the domestic deployment of VHUB (led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) and proceed with considering its use in Ichinomiya Town, Chiba Prefecture, one of the Olympic venues.
Regarding (2), we will advance research on HMI and safety education methods in line with the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Phase 2 / Automated Driving (Expansion of Systems and Services) / Advancement of Automated Driving. We will also continue research on ODD and ISAD (Infrastructure Support Levels for Automated Driving), which is considered to support it.
Regarding (3), we plan to continue joint research with the Metropolitan Expressway Company, Limited (analysis of mixed traffic of automated and conventional vehicles). We also plan to continue research on ITS information and communication systems in the 5G era, commissioned by the ITS Service Enhancement Organization (ITS-TEA).
Regarding (4), we will consider the application of MaaS (Mobility as a Service), for which various services and businesses are being proposed and promoted, particularly in mountainous regions and areas affected by the nuclear power plant disaster.
Regarding (5), as in the previous fiscal year, we will conduct activities to support the development of international standards at ISO/TC204, ITU-T, ITU-R, and the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC).
■ New Activity Goals, Content, and Implementation Background for FY2020
As some research projects, including Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi), concluded in FY2019, we aim to have new research projects and initiatives adopted and launched.
Fiscal Year 2019 Business Report
■ Implementation Details, Research Outcomes, and Degree of Achievement Against the Business Plan for the Fiscal Year
Regarding "(1) Information and communication systems utilizing automobiles," to promote the domestic deployment of the results of VHUB (a communication hub utilizing vehicles during disasters), we made a proposal to the disaster prevention council of our partner, Ichinomiya Town in Chiba Prefecture, and continued the work in progress.
Regarding "(2) Fundamental research on the introduction of automated driving systems," within the "Research on HMI and Safety Education Methods in Line with the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Phase 2 / Automated Driving (Expansion of Systems and Services) / Advancement of Automated Driving," we conducted on-site surveys and analysis based on observational video data concerning interaction and communication between automated vehicles and surrounding traffic participants. We also carried out VR experiments on the negative effects of communication through combinations of vehicle behavior and external HMI, extracting fundamental knowledge and conducting initial studies. Furthermore, we initiated research on ODD (Operational Design Domain), considered essential for the practical application of automated driving, and were commissioned by the Highway Industry Development Organization (HIDO) to conduct research on this topic.
Regarding "(3) Advancement of ITS and road traffic management," we continued to conduct fundamental research on traffic flow in mixed traffic conditions with automated and conventional vehicles in collaboration with the Metropolitan Expressway Company, Limited (commissioned joint research). We were also commissioned by the ITS Service Enhancement Organization (ITS-TEA) to conduct "Research on Technological Trends Related to the Business Development of ETC/ETC2.0."
Regarding "(4) Cross-disciplinary research on IoT-related fields," we continued research on IoT information and communication network systems, open platforms, and data linkage platforms applying IoT and AI technologies. Additionally, as part of fundamental research for creating Big Data for ITS and automated driving, we presented "Construction of a Standardization Activity Support System Using ITS Ontology" at the 15th National Convention of the Information Systems Society of Japan.
Regarding "(5) International standardization activities in ITS and other areas," we continued to support the development of international standards at ISO/TC204, ITU-T, ITU-R, and the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC).
Achievements in Social Contribution, Including Published Papers, Conference Presentations, and Events
Published papers: 6
Kazunori Matsuhashi, Naoki Tanaka, Tatsuru Daimon, Kenichi Kasazumi, and Toshiya Mori, "A Fundamental Study on the Effects of the Positional Relationship between Displayed Content on a 3D Head-Up Display and the Real Environment on Driver Discomfort," *Transactions of the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan*, Vol. 51, No. 2, February 2020.
Nanaka Asai, Kanoko Goka, and Hiroshi Shigeno, "An Incentive Mechanism for Sustainable Cooperation in Mobile Cloud Sensing," *Transactions of the Information Processing Society of Japan*, Vol. 61, No. 2, March 2020.
Rei Yamashita, Takahiro Imakyurei, Satoru Okamoto, and Naoaki Yamanaka, "An Electrical/Optical Hybrid Switching Data Center Network Control Method Utilizing Hadoop Application Characteristics," *IEICE Transactions on Communications (Japanese Edition) B*, Vol. J102-B, No. 4, pp. 310–18, April 2019.
and 3 others
Conference presentations: 33 at international conferences, 8 at domestic conferences
Invited lectures at international conferences: 6; Exhibitions, events, etc.: 12
Participation in international standardization activities: 4 times
Notable Achievements Through Center Activities
"Research on HMI and Safety Education Methods in Line with the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Phase 2 / Automated Driving (Expansion of Systems and Services) / Advancement of Automated Driving" was adopted. We began the research, extracting fundamental knowledge and conducting initial studies.
We were commissioned by public ITS-related organizations for the following projects and proceeded with research and investigation by defining specific items for each: "Survey and Research on ITS, Road Traffic Environment, Energy, etc." (commissioned research from the Highway Industry Development Organization), "Fundamental Survey on the Business Development of ETC2.0 Services and New ITS Services" (commissioned research from the ITS Service Enhancement Organization), and "Joint Research on Responding to the Spread of Automated Driving on the Metropolitan Expressway" (joint research with the Metropolitan Expressway Company).
Received a letter of appreciation for FY2019 from the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC) for "Contributions to the standardization activities of the 'Standard Specification of Information and Communication System using Vehicle during Disaster,' which was established as an APT Recommendation."
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Members
Project Members
Principal Investigator
Hiroshi Shigeno
ProfessorFaculty of Science and Technology, Department of Information and Computer ScienceTakahira Yamaguchi
ProfessorFaculty of Science and Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering