Auburn Hills-based automotive supplier Continental is partnering with 3M to assess the infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) interface between infrastructure-related objects and vehicle-related technologies with the goal of developing safer roads.
The companies say today’s road infrastructure — including pavement markings, signs, and other landmarks – lack consistency, uniformity, performance specifications, and maintenance standards that are important for the industry as it works to automate vehicles.
Continental’s history in automotive safety systems and 3M’s expertise in roadway technologies, they say, should enable them to collaborate on improving the current transportation infrastructure and work toward the goal of a more balanced and intelligent future infrastructure solution.
“A major focus at Continental is to ensure our vehicle technology is able to accurately, efficiently, and effectively communicate with cities and road infrastructure,” says Jeremy McClain, head of chassis and safety systems and technology at Continental North America. “We are excited to partner with 3M to collaborate on improving overall road infrastructure technology to help increase safety and awareness of the environments and obstacles we drive through daily.”
Continental and 3M will collaboratively evaluate the infrastructure and vehicle interface in the following ways:
- Localization and correction services using clear environmental landmarks for locating a vehicle on a high-definition map
- Identification and classification of objects in urban roadway environments including urban crosswalks, signalized intersections, and other stationary and moving objects to improve safety
- Improved awareness of objects in and around work zones and the status of the work zones
- Enhanced object detection using sensor fusion detectable infrastructure-related objects.
“Infrastructure plays a critical role in the safety of all road users including vehicles with or without automated technologies, and vulnerable road users,” says Daniel Chen, vice president and general manager of the 3M Transportation Safety Division.
“At 3M, we are dedicated to improving transportation infrastructure and mobility so all road users can arrive at their destinations safely. Our mission of road safety is proving to be more important as modes of mobility are changing and advancing. We are excited to collaborate with Continental on exploring infrastructure solutions that will help governments achieve their vision zero goals.”
