Minnesotans Show Off Intelligent Buses and Plows at ITS America Annual Meeting (07/2003)

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA) held its 13^th annual meeting and exposition during May 19-22 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. While the dominant focus of the conference was on intelligent highway technology, there were several excellent sessions on intelligent vehicle activities. In addition, the University of Minnesota ITS Institute provided a varied set of tours and demonstrations based on their intelligent vehicle research.

Leaders Speak at Mega-Sessions

The conference was organized into a plethora of regular sessions and a few “mega-sessions.” A theme running through many of the discussions was SAFETEA – the proposed major US legislation that will establish priorities for the next several years of ITS research -- and the US Department of Transportation’s input on the legislation. Congress is due to complete a reauthorization bill by October for FY04 and beyond, as the existing authorization legislation expires in September.

The opening megasession, titled “ITS: Real World, Real Results,” was broadly oriented and featured ITS Board of Directors Chairman C. Michael Walton and political dignitaries including US Representative James Oberstar from Minnesota, many of whom spoke to the significance of SAFETEA. The following day, the second megasession was titled “Connecting the Dots: ITS, Public Safety, and Security” and focused on the increasing intersection of ITS technology and transportation aspects of homeland security.

Megasession #3 provided the richest material for the IV world and was titled “ITS Connecting the Country: Creating an Integrated Network of Transportation Information.” This “integrated network” is a key goal of the ITS America Ten Year Plan; speakers at the session came from USDOT, the navigation industry, and the vehicle industry. A key point was that vehicles can play an essential role as “probes” in the road network, collecting information related to digital map accuracy, traffic conditions, and road/weather conditions, then transmitting this information to data aggregators who can share the information with those who need it.

Chris Wilson, Group Manager for Telematics and Safety at the DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology Center (Palo Alto), sounded the call -- echoed by others -- for the vehicle industry and highway operators to consider each other’s assets in defining solutions to traffic and safety problems, with the idea that truly ubiquitous network information can only be realized by piecing together multiple data sources.

Diverse Offerings in Automotive, Telecommunications, and Consumer Electronics (ATCE) Program Track

Intelligent vehicles-related content was subsumed within the ATCE track, which also addressed telematics and human factors/driver focus. A session on legal issues facing IV systems included several attorneys as well as Bob Norton, Senior Staff Counsel for DaimlerChrysler. The speakers painted a picture with real-world examples (lawsuits) which indicate a challenging way forward. A clear requirement will be continuing attention to designing IV functionality in a manner sensitive to liability factors.

A truly stand-out session focused on marketing telematics and IV systems to the consumer, with presentations from Ray Resendes, USDOT IVI Program Manager; Frank Forkin, JD Power and Associates; and Phil Magney, Principal Analyst with the Telematics Research Group. Panelists addressed the level of awareness and value perceived by consumers for a wide range of telematics functions and safety and security systems. The results are both promising and sobering: adaptive cruise control is maintaining popularity, and safety and security features consistently rank high, but the interest for many other functions is somewhat low. Willingness to pay presents a key challenge – the customers surveyed by these market research organizations showed strong sensitivity to getting into even the triple digits for price points.

Another information-filled session was led by a team of USDOT representatives, who provided a comprehensive review of their Intelligent Vehicle Initiative program.

Broadband wireless communications as applied to vehicle safety was addressed by Tom Schaffnit, president of Schaffnit Consulting and coordinator of the Vehicle Safety Communications Consortium, in a session titled "Emerging Wireless Systems and Technologies."

In the transit domain, a session titled "Bus Rapid Transit and IVI" provided a thorough overview of crash avoidance research at California PATH and Metro Transit in Minneapolis. Kris Weeks of Clever Devices provided a superb marketing tutorial entitled “Opening a New Market Means Using Old Keys” which brought basic lessons to bear on the challenge of introducing safety technologies in the bus transit arena.

Within the Commercial Vehicle Operations and Freight track, a special session focused on strategies for deployment of intelligent vehicle systems. Skip Yeakel, Director of Government and Industry Relations for Volvo Trucks North America moderated a panel which included Tim Johnson, IVI Commercial Vehicle Platform Director within the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Richard Bishop of Bishop Consulting, and Mike Akridge, ITS Administrator for Florida DOT. Ongoing government activities were reviewed at the state and local level, and near-term strategies for deployment were discussed.

Download Richard Bishop’s presentation on IV developments in the commercial vehicle arena

Demonstrations of “Satellite Controlled Buses”

To call them “satellite controlled buses” may be a bit sensational, but not too far off the mark. The University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Vehicles Laboratory has been a key pioneer in applying high-precision satellite positioning to driver assistance systems, and this demo was an opportunity to show off. Attendees were treated to an automated steering experience on a busway on the U. Minn. campus – based on a precise digital map and commercially-available differential GPS positioning signals, the bus steered itself quite smoothly and accurately for about a two mile distance.

Similar technology applied to heavy vehicle snow plows was also shown, along with a heads-up display for the snowplow driver intended to assist driving in blinding white-out conditions in the Minnesota winters. In effect, the driver is able to “drive the HUD” and needs no forward view out the windshield to follow the lanes. Haptic warning of lane deviation is provided through directional vibrators embedded in the driver’s seat. The plow trucks are also equipped with forward collision warning systems in case of stopped or abandoned vehicles in the path of the plow.

The plow demo was performed in a large parking lot with construction cones used to create a mock lane – generally the trucks tracked well through the intentionally narrow path. And, with some urging on, the drivers upped their speeds to the range of 25-30 mph, quite high for some curves in the path. The systems performed with modest errors under these conditions, resulting in a few smashed cones, but the lateral deviations stayed well within typical lane widths.

Because a variety of emergency vehicles must operate in these dense snow conditions, the Laboratory has also equipped a state police vehicle with similar equipment, which was on display as well.

Another technology being advanced by the IV Lab is the “virtual mirror” concept, in which sensors along the side and back of the bus detect any obstacles and display them on a high resolution panel in the location where a driver would normally find side mirrors. The idea is that the sensor suite (currently laser scanners) overcomes blind spots, and obstacles which are hazards can be flagged in the image for the driver’s attention.

Another tour offered by the conference was the University ITS Institute’s Human Factors Interdisciplinary Research in Simulation and Transportation (HumanFIRST) laboratory. The lab focuses on increasing the scientific understanding of driver performance and psychological processes associated with traffic crashes. The research also considers how drivers might accept and use proposed systems. Current research topics include driver distraction, traffic calming, bus rapid transit along narrow highway shoulders, driver fatigue, and usage of intelligent driver support systems. A high performance driving simulator is the centerpiece of their research tools. For more information, go to www.humanfirst.umn.edu.

Doing It Right

This year, ITS America is to be applauded for a strong effort to capture all presentations and make them available to ITSA members on their web site, www.itsa.org. This initiative is still in progress and very little material has been found so far.

Next year’s annual meeting and exhibition will be in San Antonio, Texas during April 26-29, 2004.

... on this and next years' annual meetings and exhibitions, visit www.itsa.org.

Download Richard Bishop’s presentation on IV developments in the commercial vehicle arena from the IVsource Reading Room

See pictures and video clips from the demonstration in the IVsource Gallery