CARISSMA - A beacon in road safety research

Team

Career at CARISSMA

Integral vehicle safety

"We believe that nature has created optimised processes through evolution, from which we can also learn in vehicle safety research."

With the aim of realising a global safety system that uses the bionic principle to replicate the human senses of feeling, hearing, seeing and communicating, CARISSMA is researching the networking of active and passive vehicle safety systems. Based on this holistic approach, passive restraint systems, for example, can benefit from the predictive accident prediction of active systems by incorporating the mechanical safety structures in the vehicle and help to prevent accidents or minimise the consequences of accidents.

Unprotected road users

"People at the centre"

People - whether pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists - are the focus of CARISSMA research. In line with the 4th Road Safety Action Programme, increasing the safety of vulnerable road users is a key objective of the European Union's "Vision Zero" strategy. In contrast to car manufacturers and suppliers, who usually focus on drivers and vehicle technology, CARISSMA offers a reverse perspective on road safety research and is considered a pioneer in this field.

Interdisciplinary research

"Vision Zero" is our unifying, interdisciplinary element"

Interdisciplinary research in the field of road safety is to be made possible under the umbrella of CARISSMA. In order to achieve the international goal of zero road deaths, "Vision Zero", the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the THI Business School are conducting closely networked research with partners from other scientific disciplines and industry on highly complex road safety issues in the context of future challenges such as demographic change, digitalisation and networking, automation, electromobility, faster technological change and shorter development cycles. In addition to the research and development of technological innovations, interdisciplinary collaboration also enables their feasibility and market launch potential to be assessed with regard to legal, ethical, ergonomic and socio-economic issues.

Internationalisation

"Regionally rooted with international appeal"

In addition to regional and national research collaborations, CARISSMA maintains strategic partnerships with selected international universities, research institutes and industrial partners. A particular focus is on the emerging markets of Brazil, Colombia, India and China. On the basis of joint research work and active participation in international associations, we are thus coming closer to the global goal of "Vision Zero" step by step.

Vision of CARISSMA

In accordance with the mission statement of Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, we define our vision as follows:

With the aim of being Germany's leading mobility university, we convince through outstanding research in the field of road safety as well as efficient mobility solutions and their application.
We take our socio-political responsibility seriously and place the protection of the most vulnerable road users at the centre of our research.
Our research is application-orientated and we attach great importance to close networking with national and international companies, universities and research institutes.
We offer our employees the opportunity to work scientifically in a great location, supported by functioning structures, together with strong industrial partners.
We offer our students an excellent, interdisciplinary and internationally orientated range of courses with high practical relevance, the opportunity to work on innovative research topics and good career prospects in science and industry.

Research programme

CARISSMA's research programme aims to continuously improve car safety in the overall context of road safety, i.e. the safety of all road users.
The primary goal is the realization of a global safety system which, by networking environment-based sensors using the bionic principle, emulates the human senses of "seeing", "feeling", "hearing" and "communicating" and, based on this information, recognizes and averts potential dangers from the environment.

Our human senses are perfectly attuned to the environment. Thus we react to potential dangerous situations in a fraction of a second. With the help of sensory impressions we perceive the environment, process this information in the brain and act or react to a wide variety of situations. CARISSMA research is based on this scheme, which has been refined in the course of evolutionary history.

CARISSMA is based on the assumption that nature develops optimised structures through evolutionary processes from which man can learn. Using the bionic principle, evolutionary biological phenomena are transferred to automotive engineering.

How should this transfer take place?

While today's safety functions are mainly/primarily implemented as individual systems, CARISSMA's "global safety system" is based on the networking of active and passive safety functions. Based on the bionic principle, an imminent danger in road traffic is first perceived by the "global safety system" via sensors and then processed in a computer unit. The "global safety system" communicates with the environment and, if necessary, initiates measures to prevent accidents.

Perception: seeing (e.g. radar, camera, lidar), hearing (e.g. CISS structure-borne sound system), feeling (e.g. motion sensors, PTS pressure measurement systems, acceleration and rotation rate sensors)
Information processing: algorithms for accident avoidance (e.g. warning elements, brakes) and mitigation of accident consequences (e.g. airbag, seatbelt tensioner)
Communication with the environment: Car2X (e.g. WLAN, mobile radio, LTE).

[Translate to English:] Globales Sicherheitssytem besteht aus 1) Sehen 2) Hören 3) Fühlen 4) Kommunizieren

Social-Political Relevance

Improvement of Road Safety: A Global Issue

According to World Health Organization (WHO) studies, there is a strong connection between the probability of becoming a victim of road accidents and the level of income: 90% of all fatal road accidents happen in low-income and middle-income countries that reflect in turn a share of 48% of the registered vehicles worldwide. Whereas in low-income and middle-income countries the road victims are especially unprotected road users, the most common road victims in highly developed countries are car occupants. In developing countries people belonging to socioeconomic subgroups are particularly vulnerable, bearing a high risk of being injured or dying in road accidents.

Road accidents do not only generate considerable suffering, but also enormous macroeconomic costs of about $520 billion worldwide. Injuries caused by car accidents are the second most frequent cause of death among children aged between 5 and 14 and the most frequent cause of death among young people between 15 and 29 years. For people aged between 30 and 44 such injuries are on third place on the WHO list of the most frequent causes of death after AIDS and tuberculosis. WHO estimates that ignorance could make this situation even worse and that road accidents with 2,4 billion deaths might become the fifth most common cause of death in 2030.

Europe has already shown a growing need for political and economic action in order for improving road safety. The sociopolitical approach “Vision Zero” is one of the basic principles of European transport policy. It aims at developing a error-tolerant, global road system for the long-term reduction of road deaths to zero. Professors of Ingolstadt University, who are involved in the CARISSMA project, consider that having the right to individual mobility should not represent at the same time a danger for other road users. Therefore, the global road system should be future-oriented and capable of anticipating and especially tolerating human errors.
Thus, the intensive implementation of such systems capable to detect critical situations and to assist the driver at an early stage will beome more and more important. The CARISSMA research approach will support this particular development from the very beginning by exploring integrated safety systems and developing all necessary test facilities at a very early stage. A further objective of our university is to provide the argumentative basis for political decisions in the transport area and to draw more attention to the vulnerable road users with the help of CARISSMA .

General statistics on road accidents in Germany (destatis)

Scientific Advisory Board of CARISSMA

Board of Directors of the Scientific Advisory Board

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Quirin Sterner, CARIAD SE, Predictive Safety Development Manager
Prof. Klaus Kompaß, KKo4Safety, Business Owner

Members

Martin Friedrichsen, AUDI AG, Director Development Vehicle Safety
Direktor und Prof. Andre Seeck, Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt), Director Automotive Engineering Department
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Bogenberger, Technische Universität München, Head of the Chair of Traffic Engineering
Jochen Zimmermann, Continental Automotive GmbH, Director of Research Development