FLEXible use case – enhancing the Tonsley shuttle trial

Using the lessons learnt from the Flinders Express (FLEX) autonomous shuttle trial conducted at the Tonsley Innovation District by Flinders University, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, RAA and other industry supporters, this project will deliver new and innovative use cases for FLEX.

The use cases will investigate, ‘What’s next?’, with operational modes for autonomous vehicles (AV) by delivering use cases such as removing the on-board operator, using vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications to improve performance and safety through traffic signal intersections, trialling on-demand services, and finally, developing a living lab that will serve as a future test bed for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV).

Participants

• Department of Planning, Transport, and Infrastructure
• Flinders University
• Royal Automobile Association of SA Inc

Project background

The Flinders (FLEX) shuttle was South Australia’s first AV trial using public roads to offer a first- and last-mile shuttle service to the Clovelly Park train station within the Tonsley Innovation District.

The project has received support from the South Australian Government’s Future Mobility Lab Fund which is aimed at the testing and trialling of automated vehicle technologies.

This next phase of the project will continue to build on the lessons learnt from the initial project and develop new and innovative use cases for FLEX. These use cases will investigate new operational modes for AVs, use vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications technologies to improve performance, and finally, develop a living lab that will serve as a future test bed for CAV.

Project objectives

FLEX has been operating at its optimum on the fixed route within the Tonsley Innovation District. It is proposed that the new use cases and objectives below be developed at Tonsley in a collaborative project between iMOVE, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, Flinders University, RAA, SAGE Automation, and Keolis Downer:

1. Commence operating FLEX without a chaperone on part of the route,
2. V2X test bed

• Complete V2I testing at Alawoona Avenue traffic lights
• Other message usage

3. Introduction of an on-demand service
4. Develop an AV Living Lab at Tonsley, including:

• Mobility as a Service (MaaS) trial
• V2X test bed

The above are new use cases listed in priority order as determined by the stakeholders. These use cases provide a step increase in the research and understanding toward commercial operations of AVs. The delivery of these use cases and the knowledge obtained will lead to the following project objectives:

• Deliver a safety case and trial for the safe operation of a ‘chaperoneless’/remote operator autonomous shuttle on public roads.
• Deliver the requirements for the successful implementation of V2I communications at an intersection and across a road network to ensure efficiency and safety outcomes.
• Develop an understanding and deliver a use case that trials AV on-demand services.
• Deliver a use case that trials CAV as a mode in a MaaS application.

Flinders will make available the enabling AV-related infrastructure at the Tonsley Innovation Precinct in order to allow CAV to test and implement various use cases.

UPDATE: 30 August 2022

Phase 2 of the FLEX driverless shuttle in Adelaide’s Tonsley innovation district was re-launched at a media event attended by iMOVE’s MD Ian Christensen. See Ian, and the shuttle, in action in this Channel 7 news story.

PROJECT WRAP-UP

Project completed

Work on this project has been completed, and its final report is available for downoad below.

The project was delivered focusing on four key use cases:

1. Commence operating FLEX under simulated remote operations

Validation of the technical and safety requirements to operate the AV without an on-board chaperone.

2. Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Testbed

• Complete V2I testing at Alawoona Avenue traffic lights
• Other message usage (e.g. simulated signalised pedestrian crossing)

3. Introduction of an on-demand service

Digitally connect patrons of FLEX so that the vehicle could prioritse passenger transport trips directly to the vehicle, based on demand.

4. Develop an Autonomous Vehicle Living Lab at Tonsley, including

• Mobility As A Service trial
• V2X testbed.

Key outcomes

Remote operations

• The specialised National Operations Centre (NOC), developed by SAGE at Tonsley, provided valuable insights into the integration of technology required to remotely supervise and monitor the safe operation of level 4 AVs.
• The inclusion of on-board technology such as CCTV and intercom enhanced the onboard user experience and safety of passengers.
• Frequent manual intervention limited the project’s ability to provide a positive use case for removal of the chaperone while maintaining a safe level of operations. A more sophisticated and reliable Automated Driving System platform is required to enable safe operation without a chaperone in certain operational design domains.
• The use cases relied upon the integration of Application Programming Interface (APIs) to allow for communication between the in-vehicle systems and the NOC. Access and the integration of the APIs proved lengthy and onerous.

V2X Testbed

• The traffic signal interface developed by the project allowed real-time communications to the AV, and successfully prioritised traffic signals for the AV by predicting the speed that the AV should operate to ensure a green light on the right-hand turn into Alawoona Avenue.
• This demonstrated that C-ITS technology could provide a safe and reliable solution to enable the efficient movement of AVs on the road network.

On-demand services

• The MaaS (Mobility as a Service) RAA Go app interface and integration allowed for the AV to meet the regular train services at the Tonsley station, creating a seamless first and last mile service from the station to the Tonsley precinct.
• The RAA Go app interface provided an Australian-first application of an AV integrated into a MaaS trip planning tool, allowing the user to plan their multi-modal journey end-to-end. For example, from Adelaide CBD to the Tonsley precinct, utilising FLEX from the train station.
• The MaaS RAA Go app interfaced with roadside information kiosks at Tonsley allowing visitors access to a fully digital booking system, connecting all users with the AV and other transport modes.
• The AV ecosystem should consider open-source arrangements for APIs. In addition, the integration of APIs requires a level of expertise and capability that will need to exist across all elements of the ecosystem.

AV Living Lab

• The AV technology ecosystem created at Tonsley could support additional vehicles/transport modes, able to seamlessly integrate into the precinct and the connected technologies adding value to the Tonsley AV testbed environment.