I-Corps: Hard platooning device to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响和商业潜力在于开发自动化运输解决方案，规避了典型的自主问题。在提出的技术中，领车由人类操作，自动跟随车辆与智能硬连接设备物理连接。所提出的设备通过安全的高带宽有线连接同时生成和传输车对车信息。公共汽车和卡车运输行业，以及美国军方，都有可能从中受益。考虑到与行人和骑自行车的人的日常接近，交通机构对安全性和可靠性有独特的要求。这些严格的要求阻碍了传统的、不受约束的、全自动运输车辆的广泛采用。然而，这些要求可以很容易地被提议的技术所满足。在卡车运输和物流行业，可以填补大量的劳动力短缺，提高车队运营商的生产率，而不会损害安全性和可靠性。同样，美国军方使用传统的列队作战的“领导-跟随”作战也可能得到改进。I-Corps的这个项目是基于一种自动车辆跟踪技术的开发，其中车辆是物理连接的。自动驾驶汽车有潜力在运输安全、公平、效率和环境可持续性方面提供重大改进；然而，由于不可预见的边缘情况、恶劣天气和网络安全等问题，安全性和可靠性问题一直困扰着该技术的广泛应用。在提出的技术中，领车由人类操作，自动跟随车辆与智能硬连接设备物理连接。所提出的设备通过安全的高带宽有线连接同时生成和传输车对车信息。因此，无论一辆车走哪条路，整个车队都可以走哪条路。因为随从们各司其职，司机感觉他们好像只在操作一辆车。由此产生的知识进步不仅将支持所提出的技术发展，而且有可能回答控制理论、信息论、材料和安全方面的基本问题。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 automated transportation solutions that circumvent the typical issues of autonomy. In the proposed technology, a lead vehicle is operated by a human, and automated followers are physically tethered with the smart hard connect device. The proposed device simultaneously generates and transmits vehicle to vehicle information over a secure high-bandwidth wired connection. The transit bus and trucking industries, as well as the United States military, have the potential to benefit. Given the routine proximity to pedestrians and bicyclists, transit agencies have a unique requirement for safety and reliability. These stringent requirements prevent the widespread adoption of the traditional, untethered, fully autonomous transit vehicles. However, these requirements may be readily met by the proposed technology. In the trucking and logistics industries, massive labor shortages can be filled and the productivity of fleet operators increased, without any compromise on safety and reliability. Likewise, the United States military Leader-Follower operations, which uses traditional platooning, may be improved. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an automated vehicle following technology where the vehicles are physically connected. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to provide significant improvements in transportation safety, equity, efficiency, and environmental sustainability; however, widespread adoption has been plagued by safety and reliability questions related to unforeseen edge cases, inclement weather, and cybersecurity. In the proposed technology, a lead vehicle is operated by a human, and automated followers are physically tethered with the smart hard connect device. The proposed device simultaneously generates and transmits vehicle to vehicle information over a secure high-bandwidth wired connection. Thus, whichever path one vehicle can traverse, the entire platoon can traverse. Because the followers pull their own weight, the driver feels as if they are only operating one vehicle. The resultant knowledge advancement will not only support the proposed technology development, but also has the potential to answer fundamental questions in control theory, information theory, materials, and safety.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.