CES is participating in the BERTHA Project to Shape Human-Like Autonomous Driving
Continental Engineering Services is collaborating with leading European innovators in the BERTHA project, BEhavioral ReplicaTion of Human drivers for Connected and Automated Mobility (ccAm), an ambitious initiative driving the future of autonomous mobility. Backed by the EU’s Horizon Europe program, BERTHA is reimagining how autonomous vehicles interact with the world by teaching them to drive more like humans, adapting, reacting, and making decisions with nuance and awareness.
Running from November 2023 to October 2026, BERTHA brings together 14 partners from 6 countries, supported by a €7.9 million budget under Horizon Europe. As one of the project’s core partners, CES is contributing its expertise in AI and automated mobility to shape the next generation of intelligent, human-aware driving systems.
What is BERTHA?
At the heart of BERTHA is the development of a scalable and probabilistic Driver Behavioural Model (DBM) grounded in Bayesian Belief Networks. This model is designed to capture the full spectrum of human driving behavior, from logical decision-making to emotional and perceptual responses, enhancing the naturalness and safety of automated driving systems.
By embedding this model in connected autonomous vehicles, BERTHA aims to build greater public trust, improve user experience, and advance road safety across diverse driving conditions.
Building a Human-Centric Driver Model
The DBM will reflect the complexity of human behavior behind the wheel. It considers the physical, cognitive, and emotional dimensions of drivers while incorporating personal, cultural, and contextual influences that shape real-world decision-making. This comprehensive model will be integrated into the BERTHA HUB, an open, transparent, and scalable simulation environment. The HUB will enable a variety of use cases, simulating diverse driver types and environmental conditions to accelerate the development of reliable, human-centric autonomous systems.
Testing Through Real-World Demonstrators
BERTHA will validate its approach through a suite of demonstrators. A key component is the BERTHA HUB prototype, a collaborative platform for evaluating Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) technologies. The project also leverages a CARLA-powered simulator, integrating the DBM into realistic traffic scenarios where AI-driven vehicles interact with diverse driving personalities.
Further demonstrators will apply the DBM to live driving functions, examine its performance in urban automation, and assess its impact on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), ensuring practical applicability and robustness in real-world contexts.
Deliverables and Innovations
The BERTHA project will culminate in the development of a comprehensive Driver Behavioural Model that includes distinct but interlinked modules for decision-making, motor control, emotional (affective) processing, and perception. This model will be supported by a mathematical framework and enriched with data collected from simulations, real-world testing, and user profiling. The results will feed directly into advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), enhancing their responsiveness and adaptability. Additionally, the model will be integrated into CARLA-based AI vehicles capable of simulating a range of driving personalities, pushing the boundaries of how autonomous systems can reflect the nuances of human behavior on the road.
