ATSSA Signal Sept/Oct 2018

Innovation & New Programs American Traffic Safety Services Association 18 As the international effort to devel- op a fully autonomous vehicle, function- al and safe enough that it reaches a ma- jority of roadways, more andmore work and research is being done to under- stand how to best support Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs)—and if it all comes to providing the ultimate level of support that will allow for optimal performance and lowest risk, that means it comes down to sensors. In the technical sense, CAVs rely on three main groups of sensors: camera, radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). The camera sensors capture moving ob- jects and the outlines of roadway devic- es to get speed and distance data. Short- and long-range radar sensors work to detect traffic from the front and the back of CAVs. LIDAR systems produce three- dimensional images of bothmoving and stationary objects. In the not-so-technical sense, electron- ics engineer and author Bill Schweber said it’s important to note that sensor systems go beyond just the sensors in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in CAVs and to reach full auto- mation, the entirety of them must be considered. “Even today’s cars are basically sensors on wheels. They have acceleration sens- ing, air bag sensors, and the lane depar- ture sensor. Then there are the ones that can detect temperature,” Schweber said. “Some of the sensors are internal for the proper performance of the ve- hicle by itself. Others, like the ADAS sen- sors, are external in terms of helping the driver do a better job.” At some point, CAVs will be not only ful- ly autonomous, but they will be advanc- ing in the areas of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), in which case, according to Schweber, the data picked up by sensors that relate to Levels of Automation (LoA) 1 through 3 would better support automation. “In theory, you’re going to have other ve- hicles reading what you’re doing and maybe what your intentions are, like turning on the turn signal for example; it’ll let the other vehicles know,” Schweber said. On the V2I side of things, Schweber said roadway safety products and road- side infrastructure will be communica- tions areas that will help advance the LoAs of AVs. “Making the roads if not smarter but bet- ter illuminated electronically certainly will be a component of this,” Schweber said. “There’s been talk for many years about smart roads sending signals to drivers of where they are. There are also other things that could be done to inter- rogate vehicles that are passing and ask- ing who are you, where are you going, what are you doing? But then some peo- ple don’t want to hear that, there are a lot of privacy issues here. You can track the vehicles now but not everyone is crazy about that.” Making of it all The ins and outs of systems Connected Autonomous Vehicles rely on Roads and roadways take a beating. If you have electronics, you’re going to havemaintenance issues.. Twenty years ago, youwould never consider hiring a high-tech person for roads. Now, having someone like that won’t be an uncommon thing.