An Operational Perspective on the Organisation of Large Scale Field Operational Tests of Intelligent Vehicles

Field Operational Tests (FOT) are large-scale test programmes aiming at a comprehensive assessment of the efficiency, quality, robustness and acceptance of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) solutions used for smarter, safer and cleaner and more comfortable transport solutions. The operational aspects for the organisation of large scale FOT have been carefully described during the preparation of the euroFOT project funded by the EC DG information Society and Media. euroFOT involves 1000 vehicles with four vehicle management centres and 11 operation sites spread over most of Europe. This paper relates to the euroFOT project organisation and summarises the most important issues to take into account before and during the operations of a FOT based on lessons learned during pilot and ramping up of operations.