I-Corps: Costumer Discovery for Demand-responsive Transverse Rumble Strips

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供一种安全装置，以减少交通事故、伤害和死亡。现有的替代技术本身无法满足现有的需求。在美国，每年有近6000名行人死亡，7万人受伤。从2016年到2017年，行人死亡人数增加了27%。此外，全美13万所学校需要加强技术，以提高司机的警觉性。2017年，铁路道口发生了2000多起撞车事故，造成289人死亡。由于没有具有类似效果的替代品，因此对拟议的交通安全装置的全球需求强劲。由于该装置仅在需要时才会被激活，因此与其他替代技术相比，它具有更广泛的应用范围。例如，拟议的设计为自动驾驶汽车提供了冗余，以最大限度地减少由于检测或导航系统故障和/或故障而发生碰撞的可能性。也就是说，该装置提供了另一种通信渠道，提醒自动驾驶汽车减速或停车。该装置旨在提高安全性，其背后的概念可以扩展到其他环境，如建筑工地。I-Corps的这个项目是关于客户发现需求响应横向隆隆声带（DRTRS）机制，该机制只有在必要时才会激活（降低一系列隆隆声带），通过噪音和振动提醒驾驶员和车辆下游风险。永久性横向隆隆带主要用于十字路口、收费广场、水平弯道和工作区域，以减缓交通。传统的横向隆隆声条已被证明是有效的。然而，随着时间的推移，司机对他们的位置越来越熟悉，他们的效率往往会下降。不必要的噪音、车辆老化和路面磨损是与传统的横向隆隆声带相关的额外问题。我们研究的智力优点是：(i)解决上述问题的有效和可部署的DRTRS机制；（ii）评估其有效性和所需的维护。所提出的智能优点需要同时解决一些重大挑战，包括在极端环境和异构交通条件下的可操作性和可靠性、小深度以最大限度地减少对现有路面完整性的影响、简单快速的维护和更换、最小的维护时间表以及在扫雪机操作下的耐久性。此外，这个项目正在帮助我们提高我们对使用听觉和触觉来防止事故的理解。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 to provide a safety device to reduce traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Existing alternative technologies alone are unable to address the existing demand. In the U.S, nearly 6,000 pedestrian fatalities and 70,000 pedestrian injuries occur each year. From 2016 to 2017 there was a 27% increase in pedestrian fatalities. Additionally, 130,000 schools across the United States need enhanced techniques to increase driver alertness. In 2017, over 2,000 crashes resulting in 289 deaths occurred at rail crossings. A strong global demand exists for the proposed traffic safety device because there are not alternatives with similar effectiveness. Because the proposed device will be active only when required, it has a much broader range of applications compared to alternative technologies. For example, the proposed devise provides redundancy in the case of autonomous vehicles to minimize the likelihood of crashes due to failures and/or malfunction in the detection or navigation systems. That is, the proposed device provides an alternative communication channel to alert the autonomous vehicle to slow down or stop. The concept behind the proposed device to enhance safety can be extended to other environments such as construction sites. This I-Corps project is about customer discovery for a Demand-Responsive Transverse Rumble Strip (DRTRS) mechanism, which becomes active (lowers an array of strips) only when necessary to alert drivers and vehicles through noise and vibration of downstream risks. Permanent transverse rumble strips are mainly used on approaches to intersections, toll plazas, horizontal curves, and work zones to slow down traffic. Traditional transverse rumble strips have been shown to be effective. However, drivers become familiar with their location over time and their effectiveness tends to diminish. Unnecessary noise, vehicle deterioration, and pavement wear out are additional concerns associated with traditional transverse rumble strips. The intellectual merits of our research are: (i) an effective and deployable DRTRS mechanism that addresses the above issues and (ii) evaluation of its effectiveness and required maintenance. The proposed intellectual merits required addressing simultaneously significant challenges including operability and reliability under extreme environmental and heterogeneous traffic conditions, small depth to minimize affecting the integrity of the existing pavement, easy and rapid maintenance and replacement, minimal maintenance schedules, and durability under snow plow operations. In addition, this project is helping us improve our understanding of using acoustic and haptic senses to prevent 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.