Robert Thomson

Robert Thomson is a Professor at Chalmers University of Technology’s Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2) department, specializing in Vehicle Safety. With over 35 years of experience since 1988, his work spans crash testing, accident analysis, numerical modeling, and vehicle test data interpretation. Key research themes include injury mechanisms in collisions, crash compatibility between vehicles and infrastructure, and biomechanical modeling of human reflexes and posture.

• Current Projects: Road Work Warning II (VINNOVA), Säkrare utformning av lastbilsfront (Swedish Transport Administration), Virtual Evaluation Tools for Pedestrian Safety (VINNOVA)
• Methodologies: Finite element human body models, driving simulators, uncertainty analysis, real-world data modeling

Recent publications focus on:

• Pedestrian/cyclist trajectory prediction using Social-LSTM
• Gender-specific head-neck biomechanics in low-speed impacts
• Crash compatibility assessments for heavy goods vehicles
• Balance recovery strategies in public transport passengers

He actively collaborates with:

• Organizations: VINNOVA, European Commission, Swedish Transport Administration, RISE Research Institutes
• Institutions: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lund University, Technical University of Denmark