The University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has selected Iteris Inc., a technology ecosystem for smart mobility infrastructure management based in Austin, Texas, for a three-year, $20 million smart mobility and safety initiative.
Through the program, Iteris will join public and private partners including Continental, Ford, Toyota, Qualcomm, the city of Ann Arbor, and Purdue University to develop its smart mobility infrastructure management technologies.
Half of the program funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program, with the remainder provided by the participants as a shared funding program.
Under the terms of the agreement, Iteris will equip more than 20 signalized intersections in Ann Arbor with its industry-leading vehicle-to-everything (V2X)-enabled detection technology as part of UMTRI’s connected vehicle and smart intersections program.
“One of the most promising aspects of this project is that we will be able to pave the way for a national connected and automated vehicle deployment,” says Henry Liu, research professor at UMTRI, and director at the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) and Mcity.
“With innovative smart mobility infrastructure management technology partners like Iteris, we will definitively demonstrate not only the technology but a clear path to funding the infrastructure – both aspects needed for a national deployment. Furthermore, the Smart Intersections Project will provide significant day one benefits to early adopters, including saving pedestrian lives.”
As part of the connected vehicle safety program, Iteris and Continental will be deploying their Vantage Fusion hybrid video and radar traffic detection technology at key signalized intersections. Vantage Fusion enables real-world V2X applications and advanced intersection visualization for safer, smarter, and more sustainable roadways. A pilot has already been deployed at the University of Michigan’s Mcity as the first step in this process.
Vantage Fusion uses information generated by infrastructure sensors to enable cooperative perception capabilities. In addition to sharing a connected vehicle’s location with other V2X-enabled devices, cooperative perception messaging could enable that vehicle to also share what it senses — a pedestrian or car, for example — with the rest of its connected environment.
“We are thrilled to play a continued role in the University of Michigan’s connected vehicle testing program, which will be critical in demonstrating the significant safety benefits of V2X-enabled detection systems,” says Todd Kreter, senior vice president and general manager of advanced sensor technologies at Iteris.
“With the deployment of our Vantage Fusion detection technology, the first solution from our partnership with Continental, we are proud to pave the way for national adoption of connected and automated vehicle technologies, and make mobility safe, efficient and sustainable for all road users.”
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