The deployment of autonomous vehicles on public roads calls for the development of methods that are reliably able to mitigate injury severity in case of unavoidable collisions. This study proposes a data-driven motion planning method capable of minimizing injury severity for vehicle occupants in unavoidable collisions. The method is based on establishing a metric that models the relationship between impact location and injury severity using real accident data, and subsequently including it in the cost function of a motion planning framework. The vehicle dynamics and associated constraints are considered through a precomputed trajectory library, which is generated by solving an optimal control problem. This allows for efficient computation as well as an accurate representation of the vehicle. The proposed motion planning approach is evaluated by simulation, and it is shown that the trajectory associated with the minimum cost mitigates the collision severity for occupants of passenger vehicles involved in the collision.

The security and safety of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) often influence each other. Ensuring that this does not have negative implications might require a large and rigorous effort during the development of CPS. However, early in the life-cycle, quick feedback can be valuable helping security and safety engineers to understand how seemingly trivial design choices in their domain may have unacceptable implications in the other. We propose the Cyber Risk Assessment Framework (CRAF) for this purpose. The CRAF is based on openly available and widely used taxonomies from the safety and security domains, and a unique mapping of where loss of data security may impact aspects of data with safety implications. This paper represents the first time these different elements have been brought together into a single framework with an associated process. Through examples from within our organisations we show how this framework can be put to good use.

Sensor systems to measure pressure at the stump–socket interface of transfemoral amputees are receiving increasing attention as they allow monitoring to evaluate patient comfort and socket fit. However, transfemoral amputees have many unique characteristics, and it is unclear whether existing research on sensor systems take these sufficiently into account or if it is conducted in ways likely to lead to substantial breakthroughs. This investigation addresses these concerns through a scoping review to profile research regarding sensors in transfemoral sockets with the aim of advancing and improving prosthetic socket design, comfort and fit for transfemoral amputees. Publications found from searching four scientific databases were screened, and 17 papers were found relating to the aim of this review. After quality assessment, 12 articles were finally selected for analysis. Three main contributions are provided: a de facto methodology for experimental studies on the implications of intra-socket pressure sensor use for transfemoral amputees; the suggestion that associated sensor design breakthroughs would be more likely if pressure sensors were developed in close combination with other types of sensors and in closer cooperation with those in possession of an in-depth domain knowledge in prosthetics; and that this research would be facilitated by increased interdisciplinary cooperation and open research data generation.

Research background: Digital ecosystems in Europe are heterogenous organizations involving different economies, industries, and contexts. Among them, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are considered a policy-driven organization fostered by the European Commission to push companies’ digital transition through a wide portfolio of supporting services. Purpose of the article: There are DIHs existing in all European economies, but literature needs more precise indications about their status and nature. The purpose is to study a distribution of DIHs and differences in portfolios of DIHs’ services across European economies. Therefore, the paper wants to deliver more precise data on effects on national and European policies. This is required to define their final role and scope in the complex dynamics of the digital transition, depending on regional context and heterogeneity of industries. Methods: Data on 38 economies was collected from the S3 platform (on both existing and in preparation DIHs) and further verified by native speaking researchers using manual web scrapping of websites of DIHs identified from S3. To find potential similarities of digital ecosystems in different economies as emanated by the existence of DIHs, clusterization (Ward’s method and Euclidean distances) was applied according to the services offered. Economies were clustered according to the number of DIHs and the spread of DIHs intensity in different cities. The results were further analyzed according to the scope of the provided services. Findings & value added: The applied clustering classified European economies in four different sets, according to the types of services offered by the DIHs. These sets are expression of the different digitalization statuses and strategies of the selected economies and, as such, the services a company can benefit from in a specific economy. Potential development-related reasons behind the data-driven clustering are then conjectured and reported, to guide companies and policy makers in their digitalization strategies.

Autonomous vehicles are equipped with advanced vehicle technology (AVT) that will improve road traffic safety and reduce accidents. However, due to the uncertain behavior of other road users, collisions can never be completely eliminated. Collision reconfiguration systems offer a solution by, for instance, changing where vehicles are hit and how the impact force is directed towards them. Unfortunately, the logic behind the decision-making of collision reconfiguration systems is fundamentally different from that of other AVTs. Fundamentally different feedback might thus be required from accident analyses to ensure the successful design of collision reconfiguration systems. Through simulations, this study explores decision-making strategies of collision reconfiguration systems to ascertain the implications of which feedback is required from accident analyses. Results show that different strategies can be statistically significantly different from each other in the way they affect severity; and that a new source of unobserved heterogeneity could easily be small variations in the algorithms used by collision reconfiguration systems. Based on this, three new needs to consider during accident analysis are put forth: firstly, new safety surrogate measures (SSMs) that consider severity are required; one such SSM is proposed; secondly, to identify new unobserved heterogeneity as a result of collision reconfiguration systems, the trajectories of traffic near-collisions should be recorded, and statistical tools to identify comparable scenarios developed. Thirdly, new collision patterns will make it difficult to analyze the implications of reconfigured collisions, which suggests that collision configurations must be carefully recorded to provide early feedback.

Professional skills have long been perceived as lacking in junior engineers. Adopting a social realist theoretical framework of knowledge in practice, a hypothesis-based survey study of early career engineers’ perceptions of engineering expertise was conducted. It investigated a professional skills readiness difference between initial career trajectories (hypothesis 1) through an analysis of engineering expertise perception, and whether this difference decreases over time as engineers mature (hypothesis 2). Both hypotheses were supported by three statistical tests which established the specific nature and size of this difference. Three themes were identified: Academic bias, Technical competence bias, and Rationality bias. Thematic analysis through the framework of these three themes indicates how context and complexity (Semantic dimension) and Knowledge and Knower (Specialisation dimension) were understood in practice. The three themes expressed challenges over these two dimensions in understanding Technical knowledge, Collaboration, and the Legitimate basis for practice, leading to recommendations for education and practice.