Cooperative Automated Transportation (CAT)

Cooperative Automated Transportation

Roadway safety in a cooperative automated world

Highway automation is not years away, or even days away. It’s here now, causing a number of state transportation agencies to react with initiatives related to preparing and supporting Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) on U.S. roadways.


Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)

Cooperative Automated Transportation (CAT) deals with CAVs, which are vehicles capable of driving on their own with limited or no human involvement in navigation and control. Per the definition adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are six levels of automation (Levels 0-2: driver assistance and Levels 3-5: HAV), each of which requires its own specification and marketplace considerations.


Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) and Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)

For traffic safety, vehicle-to-everything communications is the wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between vehicles and anything else. The "X" could be roadway infrastructure, other vehicles, roadway workers or other safety and communication devices. ATSSA members are at the forefront of these technologies, and are working with stakeholders across new industries to see these innovations come to life.


Sensor Technology

CAVs rely on three main groups of sensors: camera, radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). The camera sensors capture moving objects and the outlines of roadway devices 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 both moving and stationary objects.


For more information about ATSSA’s efforts on CAT and CAV’s and their interaction with our member products check out the resources below.




Resources

Pam
/ Categories: ATSSA, Government, Infrastructure, Innovation, Transportation, Work Zones

Explore the action and insights from ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting

Check out photos plus video highlights of general session

ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting provided bountiful opportunities to reconnect, explore solutions to roadway safety infrastructure challenges, socialize over pickleball and hear from automotive industry experts.

If you missed it or want to revisit the experience, we’ve posted dozens of photos and you can watch highlights of the general session featuring Tony Reinhart, Ford Motor Company’s director of Government Relations, and Brad Stertz, director of Audi Government Affairs and co-founder and chairman of Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE).

Reinhart, pictured above, shared that Ford is testing autonomous vehicles in Michigan, California, Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C. He said the company is currently mapping communities with computers that he said “learn” to recognize changing dynamics in pavement markings, signs and other variables.

Stertz shared that Audi has been working with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) on technology projects to make active work zones safer and is also now working with officials in Alpharetta, Ga., and the Fulton County schools to use CV2X technology with school buses and to create school zone alerts.

Both men said the success of the connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) field will depend on stakeholders working together.

The Midyear Meeting was held in Kansas City, Mo., from Aug. 17-20 and broke attendance records with 381 registered. It also had the largest turnout for an ATSS Foundation Fundraiser, pictured above. The fundraiser was hosted by the Heart of America ATSSA Chapter and held at Chicken N Pickle, where members took part in pickleball and other outdoor games.

ATSSA’s next big event is the 52nd Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 11-15. Registration is now open and a limited number of booth spaces are still available. For full details, Expo.ATSSA.com.

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