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

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发技术，寻求通过限制因司机分心或受损而导致的车道偏离来提高司机的道路安全，并防止未来的事故发生。这项技术还减少了车道偏离和在恶劣天气条件下的事故，当时司机或车道保持技术由于看不到车道的边缘而失败。拟议的活动可能导致未来更快地采用先进的驾驶员辅助系统和自动驾驶车辆。这个i-Corps项目基于在铺路材料(沥青或混凝土)内或之上开发连续电磁(EM)信号，以补充现有的车辆车道保持能力。该技术将使车辆对路面的被动通信在正常和不利的天气条件下得以更好地进行。电磁信号是通过在现有路面材料中的特定横向位置嵌入少量金属材料，从而改变目标位置的磁导率来创建的。通过改变车道中的横向磁性，廉价的车辆传感器可以显著准确地检测其横向位置。这项技术可以在新的道路建设或现有道路的修复过程中应用，并可以在任何类型的天气条件下工作。由于车辆安全的改善需要了解和维护车辆在车道内的位置，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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.