Demo 99 Attendees Experience Vehicle Smarts and Ohio Heat -- Demo ’99 Highlights
IV Quarterly
October 1999

A recap of the historic demonstration of intelligent vehicles -- cars, trucks, and motorcycles -- held July 26-28 at the Transportation Research Center's test track in East Liberty, Ohio.

The scene at the Tent: Demo ’99 (TRC, East Liberty, Ohio, USA)

Held July 26-28 at the Transportation Research Center test track in East Liberty, Ohio, Demo ’99 attracted 260 people from the ITS/IVI community and the media.  The purpose of the demo was to showcase the latest in intelligent vehicle applications.

Widely considered a success, many people said that the demo exceeded their expectations and felt that they had greatly expanded their awareness of the IV arena by attending.  Comments from demonstrators -- those bringing vehicles -- also indicated that they found the event valuable, through the positive visibility gained and new business connections made.  Dick Landis, chair of the ITSA CVO committee, said, “This is an example of ITS America at its best, in bringing together diverse industry players around a common theme, in order to cultivate deployment and future markets.”

Ten cars and five trucks were equipped with driver assistance technology (see sidebar), providing a diverse experience for the attendees.  The demonstrations varied  from close-to-market devices for heavy trucks, to emerging applications for transit buses (precise docking) to experimental systems (fully automated vehicles from Ohio State University). The opportunity for attendees to actually drive demonstration vehicles was a new aspect of this Demo compared to previous Demos in ’97 and ’98.  Cooperation between the vehicle and the highway was demonstrated by both 3M (with SmartTape magnetic tape) and TransIntel.

U.S. government officials also found the event useful.  Toni Wilbur, newly appointed Technical Director within the FHWA Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R&D, said, “I really enjoyed it — the Demo was perfect as I was starting my new job.  The hands-on aspects really made all the difference — you could either ride or drive in everything.  It’s so much more memorable that way.”

“I was impressed with the magnitude of it, since it was all industry driven,” said Ray Resendes, program manager for the USDOT Intelligent Vehicle Initiative.  “We are beyond early units, to having advanced technology on-board.”

Cross-industry networking was supported by a diverse set  of attendees.  Among others, Eaton, Honda, Landstar, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Nissan, TransCore, and the U.S. Postal Service had representatives present.  ITS America, which began planning for the event last January, also considered the event a success, according to Steve Keppler, Director of the ITSA Vehicle Systems Department.  ITSA completed certification rides prior to the event, focusing on safety and Demo quality.

European attendees, in discussions prior to the Demo, expressed significant interest, yet bemoaned the fact that it conflicted with their vacation season; few Europeans actually attended.  In contrast, there were many Japanese participants.

OSU’s Experimental Vision cars await their next run at Demo ‘99

Media coverage, which was important to demonstrators and to ITS America, was considered adequate but somewhat low — local newspapers and television stations attended, as well as trade press.  CNN showed interest in the Demo but did not attend.

3M’s lane tracking Expedition

Caltrans’ Guided Snowplow

One disappointment in the Demo was the lack of transit buses (Ann Arbor Transit Authority cancelled a few weeks prior to the Demo), and the lack of any representatives from transit agencies in attendance.  Only PATH’s demonstration of a bus precision docking system represented transit applications in any real way.

Stars of the Show

Based upon discussions with many of the attendees, several aspects of the Demo emerged as especially interesting.

The Volvo heavy truck was probably the most popular, for the design of the cab overall, the level of integration of vehicle systems, and particularly the operation of the Eaton VORAD EVT-300 Adaptive Cruise Control.  Because the Volvo truck was in radio contact with its target vehicle,  it was clear to attendees that the throttle of the car was controlling the speed of the truck.  The truck also executed a quick stopping maneuver at the same time as a car in the adjacent lane — both vehicles stopped in approximately the same distance, allowing Volvo to show their advanced stopping capability.  Overall, the presence of three heavy trucks solidly placed commercial vehicles in the forefront of IV deployment.

The SafeTrak Lane Departure / Drowsy Driver Warning System (produced by Assistware -- see related article on page 27) was very visible, as it was installed on both the Volvo and the Mack truck.  The unit on the Mack was the latest generation prototype, capable of tracking the lane and also providing a “steering precision index” which gave the driver a “score” of his performance in tracking the lane.  The Freightliner truck had a similar device in operation.  Several attendees were surprised as to how close to market these devices are.

The 360-degree monitoring capability of the Altra collision warning system was of high interest, particularly to truckers.

Freightliner Performs Dramatic Braking Demo

The Freightliner truck equipped with an Electronic Braking System performed a special demonstration on Monday for the press.  In this demo, a very slick surface was created on a special portion of the test track.  The full-size tractor with trailer approached the area at 28 mph and did an emergency braking maneuver.  Using the EBS system, each wheel was braked independently to maintain optimum tracking and deceleration.  The truck came to a rapid stop within its lane.  With current braking equipment (without EBS), such a stop would take much greater distance, with the truck leaving the lane and possibly jack-knifing.

The Eaton VORAD forward collision warning system was present on all three trucks; the FCW capability was only minor to their demonstrations, as they view this as established technology fully in the marketplace.  The EVT-300 ACC system is proving to be very popular among researchers, as it offers an azimuth output for radar returns.

Making Motorcycle History

Demo ’99 was significant in that it offered the first public demonstration of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) radar systems tracking on a motorcycle.  The American Motorcycle Association (AMA) was present with a Honda motorcycle; their rider participated in both the Altra and the Delphi demonstrations, with the radar systems tracking reliably on this small radar target.   For several years, the AMA has publicly stated its concern that vehicular radars may not be able to detect motorcycles in cluttered target environments; thus, this demo was very important to their membership in easing their concerns.  During a break between demos, AMA described to the Delphi representative a fatal motorcycle crash type of which Delphi was unaware: a car making a left turn in front of fast-approaching motorcycle.  The Delphi radar provides the necessary coverage in these situations, but this data is suppressed to prevent false alarms in other situations.  Various methods were then postulated during the conversation in which the Delphi system could shift to different algorithms to detect motorcycles in these circumstances.

New Approaches to Driver Interfaces

New and more sophisticated display technologies were evident in Demo ’99, such as the Muth signal mirrors (Altra, MnDOT) and haptic feedback systems (NHTSA, MnDOT, and Volvo).  In the NHTSA vehicle, attendees noted the high sensitivity of the human body, which can feel even very slight decelerations as an attention cue.  Development of highly integrated and graceful human interfaces is likely to be a new growth area in the IV arena, since the basic sensor systems now have been demonstrated to work well.

What’s Left to Look Forward To?

Looking at the broader array of IV applications, missing from the Demo were advanced driver assistance approaches for heavy trucks (such as truck convoying), guided buses, and low speed automation.  Demonstration of low speed automation (i.e., stop-’n’-go) could be a key attraction in a future Demo, particularly with attendees driving, as this actually may be the first implementation of full automation that becomes available to the general public.

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Mack tractor (right) prepares to enter Demo track as Freightliner finishes a run

For More Information ...

... visit the ITS America web site at www.itsa.org.

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