News

A warm welcome to our seminar series during the autumn! We are back with inspiring and knowledgeable seminars about vehicle and traffic safety September 3. The main objectives with the seminars are to share knowledge, get inspiration to new projects and network. The seminars are hosted by some of the leaders for our four research areas, competence networks and connected research resources. We gather around various themes together with experts, and we also invite other relevant speakers for our community. Due to the Corona situation we will continue to hold the seminars online, at least in September. Don't miss the opportunity to learn and network! Welcome!

Below please find a preliminary schedule for the autumn 2020.

September 3, week 36: SAFER’s new partners Asymptotic and 4S – knowledge and contribution to SAFER’s research
Asymptotic is a cross-industry tech startup focusing on the development and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to business. 4S is working strategically with sustainable systems and has its roots in SAFER. The company works methodically with sustainability as an overall holistic subject, taking both social, global, economic and technical aspects into consideration. Both companies hold core competencies for traffic safety research and utilization.

September 10, week 37: Physiological measurement methods in traffic safety research
Christer Ahlström, VTI, and Robin Palmberg, KTH, will present their latest research on how various physiological measurement methods can be used in traffic safety, for example to assess the driver’s state. Robin Palmberg will present the project MERGEN, looking into how we can use new technologies, like smartwatches and smartphones, to collect, e.g. biometric information such as heartrate that can tell about the mental state of the person, like if the person is stressed or not.

September 17, week 38: Safety Culture For Automation In Transport Companies and eye tracking
Christina Stave, VTI, presents the results in the SAFER pre-stuy ” Safety Culture For Automation In Transport Companies Safety Culture For Automation In Transport Companies”, which now has been concluded. In this study, our researchers from VTI, Volvo and TØI have investigated the safety culture of companies that handle automated vehicles, e.g. looking into how safety culture can contribute to solving the safety challenges in companies with automated vehicles and what the new role of safety culture in companies with automated vehicles is. At this seminar Katja Kircher, VTI, will also share some things to think about when using eye tracking as a method in transportation research.

September 24, week 39: Euro-NCAP upcoming rating scheme
Rikard Fredriksson, Trafikverket, will present the upcoming requirements in EuroNCAP, including e.g. distraction and also the future development of the rating scheme. Fredrik Åkesson, AstaZero, will present the development of the test methods linked to the forthcoming scheme and discuss the possibilities as well as challenges ahead.

October 1, week 40: Nudging traffic safety - experiences from the MeBeSafe project
SAFER's project MeBeSafe has investigated how the behavioral theory nudging can be used to unconsciously influence people to a safer behavior. The project, which has been ongoing for three years, is now concluded and the main results will be presented.

October 8, week 41: Automotive safety assurance
Fredrik Sandblom, our Research area director for Systems for accident prevention and AD, will preliminary present some key findings and project related to the competence network Automotive safety assurance.

The seminar week 41 is hosted by Fredrik Sandblom, Research Area Director for Systems for Accident prevention and Automated driving and also Competence network leader for Safety Assurance at SAFER. David Fitzek, PhD student at the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, employed at Volvo Group Technology wil present "Quantum computing – an overview". Insights from the first commercial autonomous transport solution project
will be presented by Roberson Oliveira, PhD, Senior Project Manager at Volvo Autonomous Solutions, Volvo Group.In 2018, Volvo Trucks signed a landmark agreement with Brønnøy Kalk AS in Norway to provide its first commercial autonomous solution transporting limestone from an open pit mine to a nearby port. In this presentation we will learn more about the findings discovered while developing the product, and in particular how safety can be ensured when operating in off-road conditions.

October 15, week 42: SAFER’s international collaborations
We will present an overview of our international partnerships, focusing on China. Among other things, Niklas Strand, VTI, and Rob Thomson, Chalmers, will present the project that we conduct within the CTS platform “Heterogeneous Traffic Groups Cooperative Driving Behaviours Research under Mixed Traffic Condition”. In this project will new methods for evaluating the safety and traffic flow impact when autonomous vehicles mix with manually driven vehicles be developed.

October 22, week 43: The Role of Road Design and SAFER's special project on hygiene procedures in testing 
During the spring and autumn several of SAFER's pre-studies have been ongoing and at this seminar Debora Lombardi presents ”The role of road design to support psychological processing and safe behavior of vulnerable road users at complex intersections: A feasibility study in traffic simulators”. Arne Nåbo from VTI will give a status report on SAFER's special project on hygiene procedures. The background to the project is the ongoing pandemic, how can we ensure that we conduct our studies involving humans in a healthy and safe way in our research and test activities to not spread viruses?

October 29, week 44: Autumn break

November 5, week 45: Human body protection
Our Research area director for Human body protection, Jolyon Carroll, will host this session.

November 12, week 46: Automated driving level 5
Marcus Rothoff, Volvo Cars, will present what is really meant by "level 5"; what kind of technology is included, which challenges exist and when can we expect to see this type of vehicles on the roads. Torbjörn Norlander from NEVS presents how they look upon future mobility.

November 19, week 47: Competence network Human behavior
This week Giulio Bianchi Piccinini, SAFER’s competence network leader for Human behavior ,will host the seminars. Topics to be decided.

November 26, week 48: Databases available for research
We present an overview of the data bases available for research at SAFER. Tomas Fredlund, the Swedish Transport Agency, gives an overview of STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition); how to access, set-up and its content. We also present the ongoing pre-study on how to develop STRADA with more details and information to facilitate even better research.

December 3, week 49: AI as a tool in SAFER’s research
We present a summary of the ongoing activities at SAFER to use AI as a tool in our traffic safety research.