The EU project HARMO aims to make connected and automated mobility safer and more people-centered
TRL-5 models for better prediction of human driving behavior
Research Focus: Mobility and Logistics
Who hasn’t been there? We drive, for example, our daily, familiar route to work in the city and aren’t really fully focused behind the wheel—we’re more or less in “autopilot mode.”
So instead of reacting the same way in every traffic situation, we’re influenced by the familiar route and our knowledge of the area. This also changes how we focus our attention on the road, assess risks, and interact with other road users. For autonomous vehicles, this poses a challenge to reliably predicting human traffic behavior. This is where the new EU project HARMO comes in.
Practical findings and guidelines for the future evaluation and acceptance of automated vehicles
Current autonomous systems have difficulty predicting human behavior, as experienced drivers know their way around the city. While most models assume that drivers are always attentive, real drivers often rely on relaxed, automated habits when driving on familiar routes.
To ensure that automated driving systems behave safely, naturally, and predictably in traffic, we are now conducting research in the newly launched EU project HARMO on TRL-5 models that can better understand human driving behavior and predict it more reliably, enabling more appropriate responses while driving. Together with partners from across Europe, we will develop dynamic models that reflect how human driving behavior changes with increasing experience and combine these with planning approaches that integrate human-like behavior with clear safety rules.
By testing these approaches in realistic traffic scenarios, we aim to provide practical insights and guidelines that can support the future evaluation and acceptance of automated vehicles.
With this knowledge, we can then better develop and validate automated driving systems to make connected and automated mobility safer and more human-centered—in keeping with the project’s name, “Human-Aware Road Mobility Optimization,” or HARMO for short.
The research project runs until September 30, 2029, and is funded by the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.