This page was translated automatically using artificial intelligence (DeepL). The German version is binding. More information about automatic translation
(Bielefeld) On 31 January 2025, Lukas Ewecker (Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Weissach Research Centre) successfully completed his doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.) at Bielefeld University. Professor Thomas Villmann from the Faculty of Applied Computer Sciences and Biosciences and the Saxon Institute for Computational Intelligence and Machine Learning (SICIM) at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, and Professor Barbara Hammer from Bielefeld University, had taken on the supervision of the doctoral thesis just over four years ago as part of a project-based collaboration. This has now been completed with great success: Mr Ewecker’s doctoral thesis was awarded a ‘magna cum laude’ by all three expert reviewers, and his oral defence was also recognised as successful.
Thesis topic: Proactive Vehicle Detection at Night in Urban Environments
In his thesis, Lukas Ewecker investigated how AI algorithms can be used to detect vehicles in urban night-time traffic situations on the basis of light characteristics, when the vehicles are not (yet) directly visible but can only be detected via light reflections. To this end, he first conducted extensive test studies on the anticipatory perception of participants in night-time traffic situations, in order to gain insight into context-related perceptual processes and their temporal cognitive processing. These investigations formed the basis for the development and implementation of a video data collection programme, which served as the foundation for a corresponding database for training AI models. Of particular practical interest were, amongst other things, the validated assessment of night-time traffic situations using semi-automated methods and the use of ‘game-oriented’ assessment methods as an alternative to costly expert assessments. The quality of this generated data was then demonstrated using examples from several AI models.
This research helps to assess traffic situations in autonomous driving in a proactive manner and to design appropriate anticipatory driving behaviour, thereby enhancing road safety. Lukas Ewecker’s work is the continuation of a collaboration between the Porsche Research Centre in Weissach and Professor Thomas Villmann that has now spanned 10 years, having begun with Sascha Saralajew, a former student at Mittweida University who has since obtained two doctorates. Since then, researchers from Weissach have also been regular participants at the annual international AI workshop ‘Mittweida Workshop on Computational Intelligence – MiWoCI’, which, incidentally, will take place this year from 1–3 September 2025, marking its 17th edition.
Text: Prof. Thomas Villmann
Photo: private
