I-Corps: Vehicle Lane-Keeping Through Pavement-Assisted Passive Sensing

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发技术，旨在提高司机的道路安全，并通过限制因司机分心或受损而导致的车道偏离，防止未来发生事故。当驾驶员或车道保持技术因无法看到车道边缘而失效时，该技术还可以减少车道偏离和在恶劣天气条件下发生的事故。拟议中的活动可能会导致未来更迅速地采用先进的驾驶员辅助系统和自动驾驶汽车。I-Corps项目的基础是开发路面材料（沥青或混凝土）内部或顶部的连续电磁（EM）信号，以补充现有的车辆车道保持能力。该技术将在正常和恶劣天气条件下实现更好的车辆与路面的无源通信。电磁信号是通过将少量金属材料嵌入现有路面材料的特定横向位置，从而改变目标位置的导磁率而产生的。通过改变车道内的横向磁特性，价格低廉的车载传感器可以非常准确地检测到车辆的横向位置。这项技术可以应用于新道路的建设或现有道路的维修，可以在任何类型的天气条件下发挥作用。由于提高车辆安全性需要了解并保持车辆在车道内的位置，因此这项创新可以显著减少导致致命事故的车道偏离。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology that seeks to enhance road safety for drivers and prevent future accidents by limiting vehicle lane departures because of distracted or impaired drivers. This technology also reduces lane departures and accidents in adverse weather conditions when drivers or lane-keeping technologies fail because they cannot see the edges of the lanes. The proposed activity may lead to more rapid adoption of advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous vehicles in the future.This I-Corps project is based on the development of continuous electromagnetic (EM) signatures within or on top of paving materials (asphalt or concrete) to complement existing vehicle lane-keeping capabilities. The technology will enable better vehicle-to-pavement passive communication in normal and adverse weather conditions. The EM signature is created by embedding small amounts of metallic materials into the existing pavement materials at specific lateral locations thereby changing the magnetic permeability of the target location. By changing the lateral magnetic properties in the lane, inexpensive vehicle sensors can detect their lateral position with significant accuracy. This technology may be applied during new roadway construction or during the repair of existing roadways and can function in any type of weather conditions. Since improvements in vehicle safety require knowing and maintaining the vehicle position within the lane, the innovation can significantly reduce lane departures that lead to fatal accidents.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.