“Priority 2030”: young scientist of Moscow Polytech to increase safety of autonomous transport

Following the results of the third grant competition named after P.L.Kapitsa, seven postdocs – candidates of sciences, as well as scientists with a PhD degree, were employed at Moscow Polytech. The competition is held in the framework of the implementation of the federal program of the strategic academic leadership “Priority-2030”. In this program, Moscow Polytech takes part with a strategic project “Affordable Electric Vehicle”.

Young scientists joined the team of Moscow Polytech with their ideas and scientific developments. The University, in turn, provides them with an opportunity to conduct research in priority areas of the University and in leading students’ scientific projects.

This chance was used by Yuri Furletov, a MADI graduate with a PhD degree from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany). The scientist has experience of working as a teacher and a researcher at his home university, in Germany, at the Financial University, the Institute of Precise Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), and other scientific and educational institutions. At present, he is an associate professor of the Advanced Engineering School of Electric Transport and a senior researcher at the Department of Ground Vehicles at Moscow Polytech.

The sphere of Yuri Furletov’s scientific interests is Autonomous Driving and Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), sound signals processing, as well as the system of remote diagnostics and monitoring the technical condition of the vehicle.

The young scientist received the grant named after P.L. Kapitsa for the research in applying algorithms of sound signals processing in the systems of autonomous driving and the infrastructure of a smart city.

The topic is relevant, as it is directly connected to safety of autonomous transportation means. Safety problems or emergency situations often occur because of the errors made at various levels of automation. In general, they can be classified as the environmental perception errors, decision-making mistakes and control errors.

“Autonomous driving systems are considered to have at least the same characteristics and possibilities, as a human–driver. Modern systems mainly rely on the systems executing vision functions, such as lidars, radars and cameras. At the same time, the driver behind the steering wheel is also hearing. The sound may be a source of additional information, which is important for perception of the environment and making decisions,” - says the scientist. It is sound that can complement the picture of the environment, as well as serve as a source of data for the predictive diagnostics of a vehicle”.

Absolutely any movement of a human or a mechanism is accompanied by a sound, and transport environment is not an exclusion. The bells of bicycles and trams, road noise, sirens, sounds of internal combustion engines, among others, contain a lot of additional information about traffic conditions. A vehicle for the selection of correct movement strategy can use this information. 

“With access to this grant, I will start developing new methods and algorithms of digital processing of acoustic signals for unmanned vehicles, driver assist systems, highly automated vehicles and infrastructure of a smart city,” - says Yuri Furletov.

Also, in the framework of the “Project Activity” discipline, the scientist together with students is already engaged in software and hardware development for the system of “computer hearing” of AV. It is planned that the team will create a prototype of the complex, as well as a microphone module, which may be installed on a vehicle. 

“Moscow Polytech is seen to me as an excellent place for conducting my research, and one of the leading universities of Russia in the sphere of automotive transport. The University has modern infrastructure and good rigging for conducting practically any works in the sphere of automotive industry. I have plans to create my own scientific team, and later also a laboratory in the sphere of automotive systems and software. I am communicating with students and post-graduates with whom we plan to conduct research together. I do hope that Moscow Polytech will provide me with such an opportunity,” - says Yuri Furletov.

Reference: Pyotr Kapitsa is a Soviet physicist, engineer and innovator. Nobel Prize winner (1978), twice Hero of Socialist Labor, founder and director of the Institute of Physical Problems (IPP), one of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.