On 16 November 2023 Dr Cornel Klein (Siemens AG) gave a talk in the special lecture series of the Elite Graduate Program “Software Engineering”. The topic of the talk were the challenges and problems of developing an autonomous regional train. Dr Klein explained the project safe.trAIn and how it contributes to the development of autonomous trains.
Autonomous trains are appealing for different reasons. First, they would allow more train traffic despite a lack of train drivers. But digitization of train operations also helps to reduce costs and it enables better service for customers.
But currently autonomous trains are only possible in a very limited area of application (e.g. underground railways). To enable the use of autonomous trains in regular traffic, a lot of challenges must be solved. One important aspect is object recognition, from the position of the tracks to the detection of obstacles. For this problem, machine learning is a possible approach, but the quality assurance of AI-based systems is a challenge. To make such systems reliable, a lot of work remains to be done.
Text: Elite Graduate Program "Software Engineering"
