The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has been awarded a $25 million contract by the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop technologies to help drivers avoid crashes.
UMTRI, along with partners Visteon Corp., Eaton Corp., AssistWare Technology Inc., Honda R&D Americas Inc., Battelle and the Michigan Department of Transportation, will develop and test a new, integrated crash warning system in a fleet of 16 passenger cars and 10 heavy-duty trucks.
UMTRI will serve as the primary contractor, coordinating the work of the partnership and conducting the field experiments. The partners will contribute an additional $6.6 million.
The program, Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems Program Field Operational Test, is a cooperative agreement with three offices of the U.S. Department of Transportation: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
“We are very pleased to collaborate with the USDOT and industry leaders in transportation safety,” said UMTRI researcher Jim Sayer, the project’s director. “This research builds upon UMTRI’s growing strength in naturalistic measurement of the driving process and the development of driver assistance systems, and will help address the crash types that account for 67 percent of all vehicle crashes in the United States.”
The program will develop integrated, advanced technologies that will warn drivers when they are about to leave the roadway, are in danger of colliding with another vehicle while attempting a lane change, or are at risk of colliding with the vehicle in front of them. It will use information gathered by inertial, video and radar sensors, plus a global positioning system module to prevent or lessen the impact of some crashes.
“This award is a huge step forward for smart but subtle ways to help drivers avoid crashes,” said Peter Sweatman, UMTRI director. “Receiving a contract of this size and involving the breadth of industrial partners reaffirms UMTRI’s position as the premier place to do research on driving safety.”
“The Michigan Department of Transportation and the State of Michigan—through their successful collaboration with UMTRI—are committed to leading-edge technology partnerships that improve mobility and help grow Michigan’s economy,” said Gloria Jeff, MDOT director.
