All roads lead to Huddersfield
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:53:00 BST
A University of Huddersfield professor had a vision that the power of Artificial Intelligence could be harnessed to control the mounting complexities and curb the spiralling costs of future road transport systems. Other scientists shared his excitement at the possibilities.
So now Professor Lee McCluskey is presiding over the creation of a major Europe-wide network designed to explore what looks set to be an important new area of research. It is will receive funding of several hundred thousand Euros – but when completed it could contribute at least 56 million Euros annually to the EU.
The research group headed by Prof McCluskey – who is a globally respected expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) – is named Autonomic Road Transport Support Systems, or ARTS. And it has won the backing of an influential organisation named COST, which stands for European Co-operation in Science and Technology. Backed by the EU, it operates under the aegis of the European Science Foundation.
The mission of COST is to provide funding and support for new European research communities, linking experts across the EU. The level of funding that it will provide to the Autonomic Road Transport Support Systems project might be of the order of 500,000 Euros over four years. During the first year, it will receive some 86,000 Euros.
Scientists from many other UK and European universities, working in fields such as computers, engineering and transport studies, will come together and pool their research, with the goal of developing advanced computer systems able to make decisions that will enable them to control and optimise traffic flows and carry out other tasks designed to improve transport efficiency and control costs.
At least 16 European countries will be involved in the project and Prof McCluskey has assembled a management committee of 25 professors and leading researchers from throughout the EU. Eventually, up to 60 university departments and transport companies could be involved.
"It is going to be a big network. And Huddersfield is leading it!"
It was in late 2006 that Prof McCluskey was invited to take part in a brainstorming event organised by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. As an expert in Artificial Intelligence, he devised a project to harness its potential in the field of transport. Others – scientists and industrialists - rapidly joined him in a consortium to develop the idea. Professor McCluskey went through a long and demanding process to secure the influential backing of COST.
"It began with a flash of inspiration, and I persisted with the idea. It is a long term project and quite adventurous", said Prof McCluskey. But now he heads a growing European consortium of scientists who could hold the key to the transport needs of the future.
