Shimizu's Institute of Technology Starts Field Tests for Connected Automated Driving Ecosystem

Shimizu Corporation (President: Kazuyuki Inoue) is researching and developing mobility systems equipped with fully autonomous driving technology to communities and buildings. Shimizu is prototyping a control and monitoring system to support the safe and smooth travel of connected autonomous vehicles, and has begun field tests to verify the system. The system was implemented at the Shimizu Institute of Technology in Koto City, Tokyo, and the tests are being carried out in collaboration with Tier IV, Inc., a venture company developing autonomous driving software and related services.

As technological development quickly moves toward practical autonomous driving solutions, Shimizu expects that autonomous driving technology for transportation of people and goods will be in widespread use in various building complexes and city areas. Meanwhile, to automate vehicle navigation, we need to build infrastructure with precise data, coupled with 3D digital maps of the locations, as well as on-site support for safe autonomous vehicle navigation and seamless mobility in designated areas.

For the field tests at the Shimizu Institute of Technology, Shimizu is providing high resolution 3D maps, one requirement for autonomous driving. Shimizu has also developed a control and monitoring system for integrated management of information including data such as BIM (Building Information Modeling) of the Institute’s buildings, vehicles’ location and status.

In the field tests at the Institute of Technology, Shimizu connects the center’s control and monitoring system with the autonomous vehicle control system developed by Tier IV through a cloud server. We then conduct simultaneous driving tests of multiple autonomous vehicles equipped with Tier IV’s autonomous driving software, as well as tests for autonomous control of building equipment in response to vehicles. In the simultaneous driving tests, Shimizu confirms how well vehicles operate based on instructions from the control and monitoring system, and Shimizu facilitates safe driving by utilizing surveillance cameras and AI image recognition technology to assess the status of vehicles and people. At the center, Shimizu tests technology for automated control of door operations in synchronization with vehicle arrivals. These tests serve as a technical element for the seamless movement of autonomous vehicles both indoors and outdoors.

To shape an environment where autonomous vehicles and people coexist, Shimizu plans on developing and piloting integrated control systems for vehicles and elevators to connect with pedestrian navigation systems. Based on the results of these tests, Shimizu will design more sophisticated autonomous driving and smart building connection technology. Shimizu is working towards the goal of building eco system for such as shopping complexes, offices, hotels, factories, distribution facilities, college campuses, hospitals and mass transit terminals by March 2020.