Andrea Simone
by Andrea Simone | Mar 21, 2018
ORGANISATION
Name of the Organisation: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
Organisation Short Name: UNIBO
Organisation Type: HES
Country: Italy
ACTIVITY
Topic(s) of interest from 2018-2019 Transport Work Programme:- LC-MG-1-9-2019: Upgrading transport infrastructure in order to monitor noise and emissions
- LC-MG-1-10-2019: Logistics solutions that deal with requirements of the ‘on demand economy’ and for shared-connected and low-emission logistics operations
- MG-2-7-2019: Safety in an evolving road mobility environment
- MG-2-8-2019: Innovative applications of drones for ensuring safety in transport
- MG-2-9-2019: Integrated multimodal, low-emission freight transport systems and logistics (Inco Flagship)
- MG-4-5-2019: An inclusive digitally interconnected transport system meeting citizens' needs
- MG-4-6-2019: Supporting Joint Actions on sustainable urban accessibility and connectivity
- DT-ART-03-2019: Human centred design for the new driver role in highly automated vehicles
Fields of Activity: UNIBO is the second largest university in Italy and one of the most active in research and technology transfer. It stands among the most important institutions of higher education in EU with 87,000 enrolled students, 2,857 Academic staff, 1,198 post-docs, 1,606 PhDs, 3,014 administrative and technicians staff units. The activities are implemented in 5 Campuses based in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Bologna, Forlì, Cesena, Ravenna, Rimini) and a permanent headquarter in Buenos Aires, Argentina. UNIBO offers 51 PhD/Doctoral degree programs and 64 Master's degree programs. At EU level UNIBO ranks 2nd University in Italy and 37th in Europe in the ranking of top 50 Higher or secondary education organizations in FP7 signed grant agreements in terms of counts of participations (EC 7th Monitoring Report). UNIBO is involved in 270 projects funded in FP7 (87.7 Mil€ granted), 41 of which are PEOPLE projects, with 11 ITN (3 coordinated by UNIBO). In H2020, UNIBO is involved in 144 funded projects (48,98 Mil€ granted), 31 of which are MSCA projects (16 ITN -3 of which coordinated by UNIBO-, 8 RISE -3 of which coordinated by UNIBO, 2GF, 4 EF, 1 NIGHT coordinated by UNIBO). According to the DG EAC (April 2014) UNIBO ranks 1st University in Italy participating in MCA. UNIBO is member of the 3rd cohort of the EC Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group for the alignment of its policies and practices to the principles of the European Charter for Researcher & the Code of Conduct and it has been awarded by the EC DG Research & Innovation the use of the logo Human Resources Excellence in Research. At UNIBO, research activities are promoted, coordinated and supported by the 33 Scientific Departments and by the Research and Knowledge Transfer Division, with the support of the European Research & Innovation Office which has more than 10 years experience with European projects. In the Department of Engineering a research group is carrying research on Road pavement materials, Road Safety Analysis, Road Safety Design and human factor interaction.
Skills and Experise Offered: UNIBO has performed already multiple road user behaviour analysis in real and simulated conditions on several national and international research projects.
UNIBO was involved in different projects related to the subject of the proposal (e.g. the measurement of subjects in real life or multiple subjects). Such projects are listed below:
1) Research agreement, to promote technical cooperation and expertise exchange between UNIBO and LEPSIS (IFSTTAR). This agreement have produced results on the following topic: Vision. Road User Behaviour and Simulation. The research area "Simulation" focus on the development of valid travel simulators to study the behavior of road users. These valid tools for design work iterate between a development activity and evaluation activity.
2) Research project with the road authority “Provincia di Bologna” This study is based on the use of a device that measures objectively what the road user really perceives while driving along the road. Eye movements were recorded through ASL Mobile Eye-XG equipment. Two digital high resolution cameras were attached to lightweight eyeglasses. One camera recorded the scene image and the other the participant’s eye. The ability to connect a perception to an indicator allows evaluating whether the road, as it is perceived by different types of users, it is readable for everyone and if certain design choices may be modified to achieve a greater accessibility for particular classes of users. The innovative device also allows checking whether the selected design solutions in common use are properly sensed by the driver. The checks have included controls related to the transition zones, readability of the road with respect to the number of items that the user perceives and the link between the driver and the performance characteristics of the vehicle. The purpose of this research project is to make the road layout more readable by road user's perspective.
3) Research project with the road authority “Provincia di Reggio Emilia on the road safety impact of vertical signs. With the Mobile-Eye Tracker device is possible to evaluate the impact of the vertical signs on the road safety. The results of the experiment are discussed in terms of relative frequencies of seen/not seen signs. The data obtained from the experimental field have been compared for the urban and suburban zones and for all the typical users individuated in the experiment.
4) Research project with the road authority “Provincia di Forlì” on a Before/After study of innovative road safety engineering solutions.
5) Research project with the Department of Psychology “Università di Bologna” on “New interaction models and Human factors studies for accessible, safer and inclusive urban road transport” Vulnerable road users crashes are rarely the result of a single mistake. Moreover, mistakes are not always the fault of the driver or of the VRU. Engineering principles sometimes conflict with human perceptions and behavior and we must be aware of these influence and attempt to offset or accommodate these in designing safer urban roads.
The research group that deals with road safety is currently focusing on the human factor and driver’s psychology since the design of the environment can be adjusted to human capabilities. In order to study the driver-road interaction the looking behavior has been studied using a mobile eye tracker. The ongoing studies focus on the role of vertical traffic signs in influencing driving, the transition zones between rural and urban areas, the risk associated to advertising signs. Currently are also studied even more modes of transport including bicycles. These activities are supported by agreements in place at the DICAM and collaborations with the Psychology Department of the University of Bologna.
• M. Costa, A. Simone, V. Vignali, C. Lantieri, A. Bucchi, G. Dondi (2014) "Looking behavior for vertical road signs". Transportation Research Part F: Psychology and Behaviour. Volume 23, March 2014, Pg. 147–155.
• Lantieri C., Lamperti R., Simone A., Vignali V., Sangiorgi C., Dondi G.. 2015 Mobile Laser Scanning System for Assessment of the Rainwater Runoff and Drainage Conditions on Road Pavements" Int. J. Pav. Res. Tec. 8(1):1-9. ISSN 1997-1400.
• Lantieri C., Lamperti R., Simone A., Costa M., Vignali V., Sangiorgi C., Dondi G. 2015. "Gateway design assessment in the transition from high to low speed areas". Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Volume 34, 12 August 2015, Article number 843, Pages 41-53. ISSN:13698478
Keywords: Road Safety Analysis,
Road Safety Design
human factor interaction
eye movements;
speed;
driver perception;
fixation distance
Previous FP Projects Participated: At EU level UNIBO ranks 2nd University in Italy and 37th in Europe in the ranking of top 50 Higher or secondary education organizations in FP7 signed grant agreements in terms of counts of participations (EC 7th Monitoring Report). UNIBO is involved in 270 projects funded in FP7 (87.7 Mil€ granted), 41 of which are PEOPLE projects, with 11 ITN (3 coordinated by UNIBO). In H2020, UNIBO is involved in 144 funded projects (48,98 Mil€ granted), 31 of which are MSCA projects (16 ITN -3 of which coordinated by UNIBO-, 8 RISE -3 of which coordinated by UNIBO, 2GF, 4 EF, 1 NIGHT coordinated by UNIBO). According to the DG EAC (April 2014) UNIBO ranks 1st University in Italy participating in MCA. UNIBO is member of the 3rd cohort of the EC Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group for the alignment of its policies and practices to the principles of the European Charter for Researcher & the Code of Conduct and it has been awarded by the EC DG Research & Innovation the use of the logo Human Resources Excellence in Research.
CONTACT
Contact Person: Andrea Simone
Position in the Organisation: Associate Professor
Telephone: +390512093522
Email: andrea.simone@unibo.it
