After three years of research, the WIVW together with eleven other project partners from industry, science, software development and infrastructure, presented the results of the research and development project ATLAS-L4 (Automated Transport between Logistics Centers on Expressways at Level 4) on May 7th and 8th 2025.

It was impressively demonstrated that the project goal of developing an autonomously driving truck (level 4) for transportation between logistics hubs on expressways has been achieved.

In addition to driving demonstrations on the grounds of the ADAC Mobility Test Center in Penzing and on the freeway (with live broadcasting to the event), around 200 guests were able convince themselves of the project results at an exhibition covering approx. 1,000 square meters as well as in scientific presentations.

The WIVW gave a presentation on “Teledriving Simulation as a Research Tool - the Effects of Uplink and Downlink Latency on Remote Driving” and showed its teleoperation simulator in the exhibition area. This teleoperation workstation, coupled with the driving simulation in SILAB, enables remote control of a virtual truck, so that interested guests could experience teleoperation for themselves.

As part of a project commissioned by the Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik e.V. (FAT), the WIVW investigated “Measures for building and maintaining situational awareness in the context of automated driving”.

The project examined exemplary measures with regard to their effectiveness in either maintaining an appropriate level of situation awareness (especially at SAE level 2) or restoring it in good time (especially at SAE level 3). After a detailed literature analysis and evaluation of previously investigated measures from various areas (e.g., HMI concepts, cooperative concepts, training concepts, driver monitoring concepts), two measures were selected for each automation level L2 and L3 and investigated in a simulator study.

At L2 and L3 comparably, this was a situation-specific display concept. At level 2 in addition, a concept for the situation-adaptive adjustment of warning thresholds of the driver monitoring system was investigated. At level 3, an approach was investigated that issues situation-dependent and DMS-controlled monitoring requests instead of takeover requests. The two variants were each compared with a basic variant defined according to current regulations.

The final report has now been published and can be accessed here.

On May 20 and 21, the WIVW will contribute to the first-ever “Practical workshop on Autonomous and Teleoperated Driving” at the safe.tech conference 2025 in Munich. We are looking forward to sharing and discussing our experiences under the title “Human Factors in Teleoperation - Potentials of the Simulator as a Research and Training Tool”.

In keeping with the motto “Practical Workshop”, participants will also have the opportunity to experience remote control of a vehicle up close on our teleoperation simulator!

The latest version of our simulation software SILAB 7.3 contains many features that further optimize its application in research and development as well as overall usability. In addition to the many new graphical objects, some highlights are given below. Furthermore, we will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Assistance and automation

• All SILAB editions include an assistance package that corresponds to SAE J3016 driving levels L0 - L2. In addition, the mandatory systems for new vehicles prescribed in the EU regulation 2019/2144 have been considered.
• The existing automation package has been expanded to include manual, assisted, semi-automated and highly automated driving (SAE J3016 driving levels L0 - L4).

Interfaces

SILAB is now offering new options for utilizing and connecting advanced hardware and software:

• Eye tracking: PupilLabs and Tobii Glasses.
• Physiological measurements: BiosignalPLUX and LabStreamingLayer.
• Videos: Recording with OBS Studio.

Depending on the application, the requirements for a driving simulation can change. SILAB Extension Packages enable a targeted enhancement of the functional scope of SILAB.

Examples include the integration of third-party software for vehicle driving dynamics, the connection of up to five simulators to examine interactions in the same virtual environment, the integration of assistance and automation systems, or an app-based secondary task package. The possibilities for expanding SILAB are manifold and open up new topics in the field of driving simulators as needed.

A complete description of the currently available SILAB Extension Packages can be found here.