Matthias Neubauer

Alexander Schirrer

Alexander L. Gratzer

Sebastian Thormann

Stefan Jakubek

Wolfgang Schildorfer

This open access book presents research and evaluation results of the Austrian flagship project “Connecting Austria,” illustrating the wide range of research needs and questions that arise when semi-automated truck platooning is deployed in Austria. The work presented is introduced in the context of work in similar research areas around the world. This interdisciplinary research effort considers aspects of engineering, road-vehicle and infrastructure technologies, traffic management and optimization, traffic safety, and psychology, as well as potential economic effects. The book’s broad perspective means that readers interested in current and state-of-the-art methods and techniques for the realization of semi-automated driving and with either an engineering background or with a less technical background gain a comprehensive picture of this important subject. The contributors address many questions such as: Which maneuvers does a platoon typically have to carry out, and how? How can platoons be integrated seamlessly in the traffic flow without becoming an obstacle to individual road users? What trade-offs between system information (sensors, communication effort, etc.) and efficiency are realistic? How can intersections be passed by a platoon in an intelligent fashion? Consideration of diverse disciplines and highlighting their meaning for semi-automated truck platooning, together with the highlighting of necessary research and evaluation patterns to address such a broad task scientifically, makes Energy-Efficient and Semi-automated Truck Platooning a unique contribution with methods that can be extended and adapted beyond the geographical area of the research reported.

Research and Evaluation

Energy-Efficient and Semi-automated Truck Platooning

Christian Stary

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This volume presents several case studies highlighting the latest findings in Industry 4.0 projects utilizing S-BPM features. Their potential is explored in detail, while the limits of engineering a company from a communication-centred perspective are also discussed. After a general introduction and an overview of the book in chapter 1, chapter 2 starts by condensing the industrial challenges driven by the German “Industry 4.0” trend to form a concrete vision for future production industries. Subsequently, chapter 3 introduces the basic concepts of S-BPM and its capabilities, in particular for supporting the restructuring of processes. The next three chapters then present various case studies, e.g. at an SME offering the production of atypical, unique and special purpose machinery, equipment and technologically complex units particularly useful in the automotive and electronic industries; and at a further SME producing highly-customized floor cleaning machines. Rounding out the coverage, the last two chapters summarize the achievements and lessons learned with regard to the road ahead. Overall, the book provides a realistic portrait of the status quo based on current findings, and outlines the future activities to be pursued in order to establish stakeholder-centred digital production systems. As such, developers, educators, and practitioners will find both the conceptual background and results from the field reflecting the state-of-the-art in vertical and horizontal process integration.

A Stakeholder Approach

S-BPM in the Production Industry

Matthias Neubauer

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