NextMove's participation in the BRAVE project: studying the acceptability of automated vehicles

Safe, autonomous and connected mobility

BRAVE is a European project involving ten partners (including research institutes, automobile clubs and companies) of several different nationalities. NextMove actively participated in this project as a partner, enabling the cluster to provide its industrial network with high-quality research results on the acceptability of automated vehicles and the solutions to be implemented in terms of the human/machine interface.

After being selected following a call for projects launched by the European Union, the ten BRAVE project partners received overall funding of around 3 million euros through the Horizon 2020 multiannual research and innovation program to carry out their research, over a period running from June 2017 to February 2021.

The BRAVE project combined technical and societal research. Indeed, a large part of the mission consisted in studying the societal factors that could influence the acceptability of the automated vehicle. To this end, the relationship between the driver and the automated vehicle, as well as that between vulnerable road users and the automated vehicle, were analyzed. "During the BRAVE project, the various partners took the point of view of the user, both inside and outside the vehicle, in order to identify all the factors that could influence the acceptability of the automated vehicle," explains Florent Anon, head of the cluster's Road User Safety theme.

We can provide high-quality scientific results to cluster members working on the acceptability of automated vehicles.Florent ANON, Head of Innovation and Europe Projects, NextMove

The starting point of the study was to investigate how users felt about autonomous vehicles. The aim was to understand people's expectations, but also the obstacles they perceive with regard to automated vehicles.

Once this initial stage had been completed, the focus turned to the development of human-machine interfaces designed to facilitate the relationship between the two, and improve the acceptability of the automated vehicle for the driver as well as for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. "In particular, we need to identify how the car can interact with its immediate environment, for example with a pedestrian approaching a pedestrian crossing, and inform him that it has seen him and that it is safe to cross," explains Florent Anon.

NextMove's involvement in the BRAVE project was structured around the strength of its network. "Our participation in a project of this type gives us access to high-quality information, which we can then transfer to our network of scientists and industrialists," adds Florent Anon.

29 European experts on the Advisory Board

Involvement in the BRAVE project has also been a major asset in expanding NextMove's network of partners at European level, and thus reinforcing its action and visibility on the international stage.

BRAVE

FUNDING : About 3 million euros COMPOSITION OF CONSORTIUM : 10 partners from 7 countries

brave-project.eu