USDOT Releases Announcement of Roadway Departure Operational Test Solicitation
IVsource.net
21 March 2001

The US IVI program is looking to begin new work in roadway departure warning.  The Commerce Business Daily announcement is summarized here.

As part of the USDOT Intelligent Vehicle Initiative, the government has made a pre-announcement of its upcoming solicitation for proposals for testing of Roadway Departure Warning Systems (RDWS).  The solicitation, DTFH61-01-X-00053, seeks a cost sharing partner (at 35% or greater) who can develop and implement a Field Operational Test (FOT) for a system to warn a driver when he or she is about to drift off the road, or when their speed is too fast for an upcoming curve.

The solicitation states that systems that use the Global Positioning System (GPS), or some type of Differential GPS in conjunction with accurate digital maps, are "acceptable and are encouraged," and that vision-based systems that read and interpret information from the relevant existing infrastructure and vehicle environment are "acceptable. "

In an apparent attempt to seek beyond the current generation of lane departure warning systems that are on the market, the announcement says that systems that are currently in production will not be considered for test.  Pre-production systems are the focus of this operational test cycle.  More details will be provided in the formal solicitation, which is due to be released around April 6.

The government wants the FOT to proceed in two phases, with an intervening decision milestone.  Phase I focuses on engineering development of test vehicles and performance verification; Phase II includes the fabrication of the field test fleet, performing the field test, and evaluation of field test data (automatic collection of data during the FOT is a requirement).

USDOT's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center will act as independent evaluator for this FOT.

Apparently, IVI program managers want to see things happen quickly -- they expect the field test data collection to start this calendar year, with all testing completed by the end of 2003.

Proposals are due on May 17, 2001.  Interestingly, the announcement is mum regarding any qualifications for proposers, such as requiring an automotive OEM or first tier supplier to be on the team, as has been the case in past solicitations.  In fact, it says that "all responsible sources" may submit a proposal.  Also, even though public statements of government officials have described this initiative as being focused on light vehicles, the CBD announcement does not speak to any restrictions on vehicle type.  (This seems to be implied, however, by the announcement's stipulating that "applicants will recruit drivers for the field test who will be allowed to take a vehicle
for a short period of time on the public roads at their discretion.")  Both the team makeup and vehicle focus may be addressed in more detail in the formal solicitation.

The government's electronic posting system (www.eps.gov) is the place to look for the full solicitation and any amendments.  The full link is: http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS.woa/wa/SPF?A=P&P=DTFH61-01-X-00053&L=30

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