While surface transportation systems provide many indispensable functions to our society, several alarming statistics on road accidents and traffic congestion, etc. have raised serious concerns over the sustainability of today’s transportation systems. Next generation transportation systems based on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) have been proposed to bring about transformative improvements.

However, as often is the case with new technologies, CAVs must be evaluated, optimized, validated and tested before they can be deployed. The need for appropriate instruments and platforms for carrying out validation and evaluation experiments is especially prominent for CAVs, because  it’s a safety critical system. Previous works have mostly focused on using low-fidelity simulation or resorting to high-cost and inflexible road-testing, but neither is effective.

In this project, we have developed a 5-in-1 instrument, called Instrument for CAV Evaluation and Experimentation (or iCAVE2). More specifically, we have developed a new Instrument Control Module (ICM) that integrates (1). a traffic simulator (TS) that can provide realistic traffic conditions and driving environment; (2). a driving simulator (DS) supporting human-in-the-loop studies; (3). a network simulator (NS) capable of implementing many Vehicle-to-X (where X includes Infrastructure and Vehicle as well as others) communications protocols and applications. We have also acquired an instrumented vehicle (IV) as the fourth element of iCAVE2, namely a Lincoln MKZ outfitted with sensors, computers and wireless communications, to enable it to become an CAV.  Finally, we have installed several roadside units along the above mentioned Service Center Road, and such an instrumented environment (IE) becomes the fifth element of the iCAVE2. The addition of IV and IE further enhances the fidelity of ICAVE2 and supports both Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR).

The project has generated following additional outcomes:

1)     Scientific findings and impacts:  Our project has shown that the developed iCAVE2 can be used as a safe, low-cost and yet powerful and flexible platform to answer many “what-if” questions, including those related to rare events (such as accidents or inclement weather) without subjecting human to potential risks. Our project has inspired much follow-up work on building and using simulation platforms in the industry and in academia. Some of these works are ongoing.

2)     Physical and Cyber Infrastructure: We have developed iCAVE2, which includes an integrated simulator, an autonomous vehicle, and a CAV proving ground on UB’s North Campus which includes  roadside infrastructure with a lidar, a camera and a WiFi AP as well as a DSRC roadside unit mounted on a lightpole. This infrastructure has already enabled a broad range of novel and multidisciplinary research, and is expected to continue support related research beyond the project’s lifetime.

3)     Student training: the project trained a half-dozen PhD students, more than two dozens of MS students and about a dozen undergraduate students, as well as several high-school students, who either participated in or are exposed to research and development activities. Some of the students graduated are employed by companies that are working on CAVs (e.g., Waymo and Lyft) and transportation agencies. Several high-school students are admitted to college pursing STEM field.

4)     Dissemination and outreach: we have published more than a dozen of papers at various conferences and journals. In addition, we have hosted several regional and national conferences and workshops, a dozen of public events, and a number of open houses, and provided demos and rides for hundreds of stakeholders from government agencies, academia and communities, prospective college students, and high school students, as well as students from URM groups attending summer camps. Among the notable visitors who have experienced iCAVE are former NSF director France A. Córdova and current NYS governor Kathy Hochul.

5)     Collaboration and partnership building: the project has brought together not only faculty from diverse STEM within UB, but also partners from other high-end institutions including CMU, industry including Cisco and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and local and regional transportation agencie and communities. The partnership will have a long-lasting impact on the future research and development projects.

6)     Other broader impact:  we have worked with NYS legislators, along with major CAV companies to introduce new bills on both the NYS Senator and Assembly floors to push for new legislations that will allow CAV testing in NYS. We have subsequently secured funding for several projects funded by USDOT, NYSDOT, NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Empire State Development (ESD). These projects not only build upon this MRI project and further enhance the instrument and infrastructure, but also promote the deployment of CAV technologies to address transportation and mobility challenges faced by local communities and our society as a whole. 

Last Modified: 02/12/2022
Modified by: Chunming Qiao