Toward the autonomous car

Automotive Design & Production, Oct, 2005 by Antonio Benecchi, Craig Berkowitz, Francis Cizmar

Various media, ranging from action movies to the most erudite automotive engineering journals, depict vehicles capable of autonomous driving and little, if any, human interaction. Such developments captivate the general public's attention while simultaneously drawing laughter from the skeptics. As usual, the truth of the autonomous vehicle lies somewhere in the middle. This middle ground is known today as "Vehicle Infrastructure Integration," or simply "VII," As its name implies, VII encompasses the integration of the vehicle with the infrastructure on which it travels, and vice versa. The idea of "wired cars" and "intelligent highways" communicating with each other has been studied in depth for many years, and is slowly on its way to becoming a reality in some areas of the world. In the U.S., the Federal Government, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), has identified VII as one of the nine key initiatives that are being researched within its Intelligent Transportation Systems division.

In a nutshell, VII can be seen as the backbone of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), since it requires cooperative technology and policy development from everyone who has anything to do with mobility: Federal and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), legislators, law enforcement, and especially automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Due to the complexity brought about by such massive interaction, most efforts are directed toward those technologies that can reasonably be expected to be offered to the public over a three-to-five year time horizon. A cooperative effort already in place is the VII Coalition, which is comprised of several OEMs and various Federal and State transportation agencies. Currently, a number of high-priority, safety-related issues are driving VII research, such as systems that warn the driver of potentially dangerous road conditions due to weather or other phenomenon, excessive curve speed/roll-over hazards, and even traffic signal and stop sign violations.

Regulatory/public-sector implications

Since one of the major components of VII is the roadway itself, if follows that those entities entrusted with its efficiency and upkeep are involved in VII research. Federal, state, and local governments are allocating resources for the testing and validation of a nationwide VII system. The USDOT's funding of VII research has been steadily increasing in recent years as the program goals have solidified. In addition to the Federal program funding, several states have contributed local money to VII-related initiatives (e.g., Indiana has provided a $1.5 million grant to develop intelligent highways, and Florida has been developing its expansive i-Florida program with a total budget of more than $20 million). In light of the activity surrounding VII, Federal and State government bodies need to play some role in determining a standard set of protocols to enable system conformity and cross-platform functionality, but more importantly, in safeguarding the security of the data that is collected and analyzed from VII deployments.

The first issue aims to avoid the structural and interface problems that the fledgling telematics industry faced a few years ago. Since a standard communication protocol was not agreed upon up front, interoperability was impossible. As in the computer software industry, a standard operating platform can speed the development of VII while enabling functionality within FCC standards for data transmission. The second issue impacting the regulatory environment is building trust among the public to guarantee that the data and information that is collected from them will not be used improperly or be in violation of privacy rights. To maintain system integrity, data collection should be kept as secure and as anonymous as possible, with personally identifiable data being encrypted.

OEM Applications

OEMs and suppliers have also contributed to the VII vision. Visteon, Denso, Motorola, DaimlerChrysler, GM, and Nissan are a few of the 38-plus entities that helped write the DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) standard for VII data transmission, which is a first major step toward realizing VII. Transplant manufacturers, especially the Japanese OEMs, are in a position to leverage their home market VII experience. In Japan, Toyota has been leading the effort to realize ubiquitous wireless connectivity for cars through the Internet ITS Consortium. Additionally, both Toyota and Nissan are involved in standard-setting for VII communication in the U.S.

Several pilot programs are underway in the U.S. that will gauge the results for VII applications and functionality. One noteworthy example is how GM and the Road Commission of Oakland County, Michigan (RCOC), have partnered in the development and testing of a VII network along a section of highway in the county. This testing involves probe vehicles (i.e., vehicles with embedded data collection sensors and communication hardware) and roadside units that collect traffic and road condition data that is transmitted by the probe vehicles. RCOC is analyzing the test results to determine ways to improve their FAST-TRAC system that adjusts traffic light timing and relays roadway information to drivers via changeable message signs. Another example of public-private partnerships is between Ford and the Minnesota DOT, whose engineers are testing a similar probe vehicle system using a fleet of state-owned emergency vehicles. These engineers are monitoring and transmitting data on vehicle speed, location, direction of travel, use of windshield wipers, and the engagement of traction control systems. A wireless backbone developed by Nextel delivers roadway information collected from the probe vehicles via hardware from Motorola to the state's Condition Acquisition Reporting System (CARS). The information can then disseminated through several channels to improve emergency vehicle response times and to increase travel efficiency.