Publication

Cooperative vehicle systems and cooperative functions are increasingly interesting phenomena for research as well as practice. As interlinked vehicles form higher order systems we can expect new approaches to individual (e.g. safety) as well as collective problems (e.g. traffic management). However, the roll-out of cooperative vehicle systems is hampered by intricate network effects. On the one hand, any cooperative system relies on substantial installed base of compatible in-car devices. On the other hand, to attract enough interest to build this installed base, these systems have to support a wide range of different agendas, often resulting in conflicting requirements. We argue that the contemporary discourses on co-operative systems are far too techno-centric and largely rely on a few benchmark applications, making a poor basis for requirements elicitation. Essentially, this report contributes by deriving a model for how to conceptualize and categorize cooperative functionality. This theoretical model aims for improved understanding of the potential role and meaning of cooperative systems. The model is based on three fundamental dimensions; spatiality, temporality, and scope. In this context spatiality and temporality refers to the separation in space and time of collaborative entities, while scope refers to the number of entities involved in collaboration.