IIIUS Institute Director Prof. Dr. Thomas Schlegel (right) and Waldemar Titov (left) responsible for the topic of public transport
Research at Furtwangen University - IADAPT project aims to optimise guidance systems
The concert or the Bundesliga match is over - and hundreds of people are waiting for the train, which is overcrowded. Does it have to be like this? Furtwangen University (HFU) has launched a new research project to improve local transportation. The “Intelligent User Interfaces for Adaptive Control Center Systems” (IADAPT) research project focuses on interactive technologies and the modern control centre workplace. Professor Dr. Thomas Schlegel from the Institute for Intelligent Interactive Ubiquitous Systems (IIIUS) at Furtwangen Campus is working on the project together with Professor Dr. Verena Wagner-Hartl from Tuttlingen University Campus. The pioneering project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The aim of the project is to develop an adaptive control centre for the coordination of public transport. The system should adapt dynamically to users and situations, for example if more trains than usual are needed on a railroad line because they are being used by guests at major events.
As a first step, work processes will be evaluated, information and communication processes will be put to the test and user interfaces of existing control centre systems will be examined. The aim is also to further develop how control centre and driving personnel communicate with each other. The Intermodal Transport Control System (ICTS) of the Karlsruhe partner company INIT is at the heart of the implementation. Research is to be carried out into how control centre personnel can communicate better with this ITCS and also with other participants such as emergency services.
“We are researching technologies for adaptive - and therefore intelligent - user interfaces and information in public transport that are not yet available on the market or in applied research,” says Professor Schlegel. “This will change a lot for users. It is therefore important to involve the control centres in the process at an early stage and on an ongoing basis,” adds Professor Wagner-Hartl. Yasmin Dufner, INIT's Project Manager Research, also emphasises the importance of collaboration, “With IADAPT, Furtwangen University and we are helping to significantly improve the processes in the control centre and increase the satisfaction of control centre personnel. We are looking forward to the project.”
Further information on the research project can be found on the Furtwangen University website at: https://www.hs-furtwangen.de/zukunft-forschen/forschungsprojekte/iadapt.