Automotive Giants To Help University Of Michigan Study V2V Communication Technology

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Researchers at the University of Michigan and several automotive industry partners are looking to have a wireless vehicle-to-vehicle communication system operational within seven years, the Ann Arbor-based school announced on Friday.
According to Reuters reporter Ben Klayman, the university’s new Mobility Transformation Center (MTC) will be helping to develop and implement technology that will enable cars and trucks to communicate with each other, and to use stoplights and other infrastructure items to help reduce traffic congestion and prevent accidents from occurring.
Joining the MTC’s Leadership Circle will be companies in the manufacturing field as well as suppliers, insurance, telecommunications, data management and mobility services, including Denso Corp, Econolite Group, Ford, General Motors (GM), Honda, Iteris Inc., Nissan, Robert Bosch, State Farm, Toyota, Verizon and Xerox. The MTC is currently testing a pilot program in Ann Arbor, with the hopes that its automated car system will be functional by 2021.
Klayman said that GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have all pledged $1 million over three years to establish the new facility, which a spokesperson told Reuters is expected to raise up to $100 million through 2021. The university, along with officials from the US Department of Transportation, launched a pilot program in 2012 with the goal of equipping nearly 3,000 motor vehicles with technology capable of tracking the speed and location of other cars and trucks, warn drivers when they are approaching congested areas, or change traffic lights to green.
“We are on the threshold of a transformation in mobility that the world hasn’t seen since the introduction of the automobile a century ago,” said MTC Director Peter Sweatman. “Only by bringing together partners from these sectors, as well as from government, will we be able to address the full complexity of the challenges ahead as we all work to realize the opportunities presented by this emerging technology.”
“This is the next big thing for the state that put the world on wheels,” added Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Director Kirk Steudle, who is also working with the MTC on the project. “We are thrilled to join our partners in private industry and the University of Michigan in supporting groundbreaking research to keep our state in the lead in building the safest and most efficient vehicles in the world.”
In August, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it had started drafting rules that would require vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology in most types of new cars and light trucks. That announcement came after the agency issued research claiming that V2V units could ultimately prevent an estimated 592,000 left-turn and intersection crashes and save over one-thousand lives each year.
“Safety is our top priority, and V2V technology represents the next great advance in saving lives,” US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at the time. “This technology could move us from helping people survive crashes to helping them avoid crashes altogether – saving lives, saving money and even saving fuel thanks to the widespread benefits it offers.”
“By warning drivers of imminent danger, V2V technology has the potential to dramatically improve highway safety,” added NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman. “V2V technology is ready to move toward implementation and this report highlights the work NHTSA and [the Department of Transportation] are doing to bring this technology and its great safety benefits into the nation’s light vehicle fleet.”
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