DENSE project holds Final Event in Clermont-Ferrand, France

DENSE Final Event

At the premises of project partner Cerema the DENSE project held its Final Event on February 26 2020.

The event opened with a conference part with presentations on the challenges of adverse weather for automated driving, the sensor development that was done in the project and the approach of fusing the sensor outputs via convoluted neural networks (CNNs) using machine learning technologies.

In the afternoon guests had the chance to visit Cerema’s Adverse Weather Platform with the unique fog chamber, where large parts of the DENSE testing and validation had been done in the past almost four years. The importance of having the chance to test and validate new sensor hardware in controlled environment conditions was presented in further demonstrations that were prepared by the project partners. Prototypes of a road state sensor, a Shortwave-Infrared (SWIR) LiDAR and a Gated-Cam were shown live at the event. On top of this, guests had the opportunity to firsthand experience two driving demonstrations onsite, showing the DENSE all weather sensor-suite in action.

“We could demonstrate the results we have achieved in action and show our guests the impacting factors and challenges towards reliable sensors in adverse and harsh weather. From single pieces of hardware, prototypes, to an integrated sensor suite and driving demonstrations, most aspects of the DENSE project were on display today.” said project coordinator Werner Ritter of Mercedes-Benz.

Over 80 people from all over Europe followed the invitation and attended the Final Event at Cerema in Clermont-Ferrand, France.