Project. Vehicle instrumentation to test ITS

Principal Investigator. Dr. Jon Hankey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
540-231-1512, jon@vtti.vt.edu

Project objective: To develop non-obtrusive, easily installed, and cost-effective advance vehicle instrumentation that can be used to assess ITS technology.

Project abstract. The 100 car naturalistic data collection effort showed the benefit that can be achieved by instrumenting a fleet of personal vehicles and collecting data continuously. Such data collection could offer a great deal of insight into the deployment or potential deployment of an ITS technology. However, to be successful the instrument package must be inconspicuous, easy to install in a variety of personal vehicles, and cost effective, and it must collect ITS as well as driving-related data continuously. The objective of this project will be developing such a system.

Tasks.
1) Develop instrumentation requirements.
2) Determine gaps in our existing instrumentation packages.
3) Develop a plan for developing the remaining necessary instrumentation.
4) Design, develop, and test necessary instrumentation
5) Integrate new instrumentation and test to ensure that it meets the requirements.

Milestones: Completion of project by September 30, 2006.

Student involvement. Several undergraduates (testing and data collection).

Budget:
FY 06
      Faculty $200,000
      Materials 45,000
      $245,000

Match: $230,000 Virginia Tech

Relation to other research. This is a follow-on to the Naturalistic Driving Study of the Center.

Technology transfer.  Data collected with the instrumentation package will be used in briefings, conference presentations, and papers to automobile manufacturers, consumer electronics distributors, and safety advocates in government, business, and the non-profit sector.

Potential benefits. The primary benefit of this research is to provide tools that can be used to assess ITS deployment or potential deployment in a naturalistic or an experimental setting.

TRB keywords: Naturalistic, ITS, usage, safety, instrumentation.