Masters students continue to show interest in writing their master thesis within STAD. Koen de Clercq and Ruben Camphuijsen have both graduated after performing a master research with Pablo Núñez Velasco as part of their committee.
Koen de Clercq used Virtual Reality to investigate the effects of external human-machine interface (eHMI) mounted on automated vehicles on pedestrians perceived safety to cross. He tested four types of eHMIs (1) the Frontal braking lights, 2) a Knightrider animation, 3) a Smiley and 4) a Text showing ‘WALK’). The participants reported to feel more safe to cross for longer when confronted with an automated vehicle with eHMI as compared to one without. In addition, the Text eHMI was found to be the least ambiguous.
Ruben Camphuijsen looked to what extent of (shared) automated vehicles contribute to the restructuring of the public space in the Netherlands and he did a case study of Amsterdam. He built a model in Python to analyse several large datasets for the different scenarios he foresaw. It was found that smart mobility can, depending on the scenario, result in a reduction of parking capacity between 0% and 88%. The reduction in parking capacity results in freed up space, which can be transformed into a new function and contribute to the restructuring and transformation of the public space.
Their theses can be found on the publications page.