Researches
Research Concept
We conduct research across three technological fields based on AI and data science: “data accumulation and analytical infrastructure for road conditions,” “visualization and control for road and traffic management,” and “next-generation road and traffic management utilizing renewable energy.” We are committed every day to advancing road and traffic management in order to realize safe and comfortable transportation, including autonomous vehicles.
01：Data collection and analysis platform for road condition
By enabling the low-communication and real-time collection of winter road environments through edge computing and making it possible to construct a digital twin using AI, we contribute to winter road traffic management, including accurate prediction of weather and traffic conditions, rapid and appropriate traffic control and mobility restrictions, and snow removal operations.
02：Visualization and control for road and traffic management
Winter road condition changes that hinder the movement of people and goods in snowy and cold regions such as Hokkaido—including heavy snowfall, visibility impairment, snowdrifts, and road surface freezing—are visualized through a digital twin constructed based on AI, and we are investigating a framework that can be utilized for winter road traffic management.
03：Next-generation road and traffic management utilizing renewable energy
Natural forces abundant in Hokkaido, such as snow, water, and wind, are major factors that obstruct mobility through poor visibility and snowdrifts; at the same time, these forces also offer diverse possibilities. By harnessing wind as energy near roadways, the force of wind acting on the road can be attenuated. We are exploring future road management systems that focus on the relationship between natural energy unique to winter roads and transportation.
Introduction to the Tools Used in Our Research
Compact In-Vehicle Computers and AI
By enabling the low-communication and real-time collection of winter road environments through edge computing and making it possible to construct a digital twin using AI, we contribute to winter road traffic management, including accurate prediction of weather and traffic conditions, rapid and appropriate traffic control and mobility restrictions, and snow removal operations.
Virtual Reality (VR) for Simulating Road Spaces
Prior to conducting real-vehicle experiments for autonomous driving and in hazardous winter road environments, we analyze the behavior of vehicle occupants and road users using VR. At the same time, we also use VR to examine information infrastructure that supports safe and smooth road use when augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) become easily and high-quality available in the future.
Research Examples
01：Data collection and analysis platform for road condition
• Research on super-resolution specialized for pose estimation
• Research on detecting abnormal data using a classifier trained only on normal data in road spaces
• Research on classification criteria for road surface conditions in winter
• Research on order-dependent bias in human labeling
02：Visualization and control for road and traffic management
• Research on forecasting freight traffic demand considering climate change
• Research on a method for identifying traffic congestion areas using aggregated QK diagrams
• Research on the development of evaluation methods specialized for information interfaces on winter roads
• Research on information presentation focusing on surrounding recognition behavior during operation of driver assistance systems
• Research on differences in individual driving characteristics and takeover in automated driving systems
03：Next-generation road and traffic management utilizing renewable energy
• Research on quantifying the sense of security based on biological data of road users
• Research on travel time estimation on winter roads