Available topics for theses
In this page you find a list of potential bachelor and master theses with our research group. These are proposals, but you are more than welcome to come up with your own idea revolving around the research topics of the group.
Experiments with Model Cooperative Driving Cars
Rather than a single thesis, this is a group of multiple theses in cooperation with the Free University of Bolzano-Bozen concerned with the development of cooperative driving solutions on a small-scale platform composed of model automated driving cars (see DonkeyCar).
A thesis in this topic can include
- development of a framework to program the behavior of the cars and to collect data
- the implementation of basic driving algorithms (such as classic Adaptive Cruise Control)
- the implementation of more advanced cooperative driving algorithms (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control)
- the implementation of cooperative manuevers (e.g., cooperative lane change)
- Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) solutions for cooperative driving
- data collection, cleaning, and fusion solutions
Cooperative driving maneuvers
In this thesis you will develop and study mechanisms to perform cooperative maneuvers between vehicles, e.g., cooperative lane changes. The thesis includes a modeling part, where the problem is mathematically formalized, and an implementative part, where the solution will be implemented and tested within the Plexe simulation framework.
V2X-based Collision Avoidance System for MTB Trail Riding
The alps see a surge of trail parks being built. These trails include frequent turns and jumps which are often ridden at high speeds. If bikes block the trail due to a stop or accident, limited line-of-sight can lead to collisions and severe accidents when following bikes crash into the blocking bike. With this work, we want to investigate if V2X communication can provide blocked trail warnings to approaching bikes so that riders can reduce their speed and avoid accidents. For this, a number of technologies that have been developed for collision warning in automotive and street-based scenarios need to be investigated, adapted, and tested for suitability. This includes the V2X communication module and antenna, that need to be adjusted to fit into a bike. Communication ranges and reliability have to be tested in realistic outdoor settings. Second, it needs to be reliably determined whether a bike actually blocks a trail or whether the rider just stopped next to it. For this purpose, GPS accuracy alone is insufficient and might have to coupled with crash detection using motion sensors or camera-based image recognition to detect whether a bike blocks a trail or not. Last but not least, a suitable user interface has to be developed and tested that allows to warn approaching drivers in a reliable and intuitive way which works even during trail rides. The envisioned thesis can address one or multiple of these challenges, multiple students could also collaborate on the topic. The project is collaboration between Ulm University and University of Trento. After prototype development, field tests in the Alps in South Tyrolia / Alto Adige are planned.
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Cooperative Driving
This thesis studies the usage of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for supporting around-the-corner communication in mmWave networks. The final aim is enabling high-bandwidth vehicle-to-vehicle communication for collective perception and/or vehicular edge computing. The thesis deals with the performance evaluation of reflected mmWave links, as well as other higher-level aspects such as resource scheduling.
Impact of Interference by Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces on Inter-Vehicle Communication
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) are devices capable of reflecting wireless signals towards a desired, reconfigurable direction. They have been proposed to solve the signal blockage problem typical of mmWave and THz communication technologies. The principal envisioned use case is coverage extension of mmWave cellular base stations, enabling to reach users “hidden” behind objects such as buildings. Recently, they have also been proposed for vehicle-to-vehicle communications to enhance cooperative driving in urban scenarios or enable data transfer for vehicular edge computing. While the benefits seems clear, the community did not investigate potential drawbacks yet. With respect to cellular networks, each mobile operator might deploy its own surface, and RISs belonging to one operator might cause unwanted reflections that interfere with users of another one. With respect to vehicular networks, local communication signals on a specific road might be reflected towards another one, generating additional interference on the channel. The aim of this thesis is to quantify to which extent RISs generate additional interference and potentially finding a solution to the problem. Such analyses will be carried on through discrete event simulation frameworks such as Plexe, Veins, and OMNeT++. The thesis will be in cooperation with the TKN group of the Technical University of Berlin. You can find additional information here.