First winner of GCDC 2011: team Annieway

Team AnnieWay of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany wins first Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge!

Ruud van Heugten, Noord-Brabant provincial executive for Mobility and Finance, joins team AnnieWay, winner of the GCDC 2011, in a toast.The first Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge (GCDC) on Sunday 15 May was won by the German team AnnieWay of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. During the Cooperative Driving Weekend, part of Automotive Week 2011, it had the best cooperative driving result in an exciting international challenge against ten other teams. “Both the partners involved – High Tech Automotive Campus, TNO, Province of Noord-Brabant, SRE and Helmond municipality – and the participating teams were very enthusiastic about how this GCDC went.

The GCDC demonstrates that cooperative driving technology works when it comes to reducing traffic jams and it generates good results in the area of cooperation as well as accelerates innovative solutions for better mobility. In brief, we are positive and that means we certainly intend to carry on,” says Nico Zornig, Mobility Business Line Manager at TNO.

“The Noord-Brabant authorities support the Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge and innovative traffic technology. We see what intelligent transport systems have to offer not only as an opportunity to boost accessibility in the Brainport region but also as a significant economic opportunity for high-tech industry. The government supports the High Tech Automotive Campus, the A270 test facilities and the GCDC,” commented Ruud van Heugten, Noord-Brabant provincial executive for Mobility and Finance, on presenting the prize to the winning team.

Eleven teams took part in the GCDC 2011, including three from the Netherlands (TU Eindhoven, TU Delft / Applied Science University of Arnhem and Nijmegen, and Fontys Hogescholen / University of Twente / Waterloo University [Canada]), three from Sweden and one each from Germany, Spain, Latvia, Turkey / United States (Ohio State University) and England. Two teams took part with a truck. The vehicles were given tasks for both urban and highway situations. The winner was determined following a series of contests and positional changes among the vehicles. “So the vehicle that responded quickest to the shockwave and had the least amount of road space necessary to do so was the winner,” explains Bastiaan Krosse, Senior Project Manager for Mobility at TNO.

team Annieway

 Encouraging and accelerating innovation

Through this challenge TNO is encouraging and accelerating developments in cooperative driving, applicable to all kinds road vehicles. What is characteristic of these cooperative vehicle systems is that all kinds of vehicles are connected and communicate with each other and with the roadside infrastructure in an open system. The GCDC is TNO ’s invitation to the world’s smartest brains to conceive the best solutions in open cooperation and to test these in open competition, all in the realistic setting of the A270 highway between Eindhoven and Helmond. The GCDC opens up the road to cooperative systems. For more information, go to www.gcdc.net.

Automotive Week

This event is part of Automotive Week from 14-22 May 2011 in the Brainport region around Eindhoven and Helmond. Under the theme ‘Building the future in mobility’ industry, knowledge institutions and government are presenting their automotive technology and smart mobility innovations to both international professionals and the wider public. For more information, go to www.automotiveweek.nl

You can find the Annieway teampage here.