Integrating V2X Communication and Infrastructure Sensing for Urban Digital Twins

This thesis introduces a proof-of-concept for a Digital Twin supported by technologies defined in the European ITS-G5 standard, primarily Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAMs) and Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENMs), through a series of Roadside Units (RSUs) that participate in vehicle communication and forward all received messages to the system. CAMs, used in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITSs) to augment the perception of all entities, enable the Twin to track the movement of cars on a virtual map. DENMs, generated in the presence of hazardous situations, on the other hand allow the system to detect adverse events in the network and respond accordingly. To demonstrate the ability of the twin to act on the data it gathers, a new simulation tool is introduced to test optimal strategies for redirecting traffic after a road closure. The system also features a component to analyze the collected data, a web application to visualize it, and an interface to configure the simulation environment by changing the network, traffic scenario, and percentage of intelligent vehicles. An introduction to ITSs is followed by a background analysis of the available technologies, the state-of-the-art of Digital Twins, and the chosen simulation framework (the SUMO/Artery/OMNeT++ stack). The design of the custom Twin is then described in detail. Tests are conducted to assess the accuracy of the data collection strategy and evaluate how decreasing the penetration rate of the Cooperative Awareness (CA) service affects the creation of local traffic models. Use cases for both the traffic simulation tool and the Twin itself are presented at the end of the document.