UA Engineers Collaborate on $3.5M DOE Traffic-Flow Project
Researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Arizona, among other institutions, plan to move automated vehicles out of the lab and onto roadways for fuel savings.
UA engineers are part of a team of researchers investigating the use of connected and automated vehicles to improve traffic flow and energy efficiency.
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University of Arizona electrical and computer engineering researchers are collaborating on a multi-institution project that uses connected and autonomous vehicle technology to smooth traffic and decrease fuel consumption. The project, funded through a U.S. Department of Energy $3.5 million cooperative research agreement, aims to demonstrate for the first time in real traffic that using intelligent control of a small number of connected and automated vehicles can improve the energy efficiency of all vehicles in the flow by reducing the effects of congestion.
ECE’s Jonathan Sprinkle, Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Associate Professor, and professor Roman Lysecky are principal investigators for the University of Arizona’s $875,000 portion of the grant.
“More and more passenger vehicles come with features that automate some driving tasks,” said Sprinkle. “New advancements in machine learning are showing how small changes to those features can work to address societal-scale challenges, such as the amount of fuel spent while sitting in stop-and-go traffic during a daily commute.”
The project is part of $59 million the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technologies Office has allocated for 43 projects involving research for advanced batteries and electric drive systems, co-optimized engine and fuel technologies, materials for more efficient powertrains, alternative fuels and energy-efficient mobility systems. For more detail, visit the news story here.