SEPEX – Semana de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão – is a yearly event at UFSC campus where UFSC researchers and their partners present their main results and success stories in teaching, research and further outreach to a broad public. It is the biggest scientific promotion event in Santa Catarina. In 2018, the whole pedestrian simulator project of CARISSMA was exposed at SEPEX week and most of the public could experience virtual reality for the very first time.
SEPEX is a yearly opportunity for the academic community of UFSC to share their results with the broad society in the state of Santa Catarina. The event takes place at UFSC campus, on an open area of round about 5,000m². Completely open to the public, the exposition week includes around 200 stands with projects on areas such as communication, culture, education, technology, environment, work, human rights and health. The multimedia character of the exposition allows the public to experience research and created knowledge. A comprehensive program of mini-courses, lectures, cultural events and seminars on scientific initiation helps to deepen knowledge and understanding of those interested.
In the past, a CARISSMA research group had the opportunity to run tests with its self-developed pedestrian simulator at UFSC in order to collect data regarding pedestrian behaviour in a variety of different road scenarios. The researchers, both from Brazil and Germany, subsequently discovered and compared different behaviours in different countries. The results serve to develop an on-board pedestrian detection system for vehicles, adjusted to different countries and markets.
Matheus Zimmermann
THI