1. Advanced Automotive Research
Reginald Viray
Research Associate – Electrical Engineer
rviray@vtti.vt.edu

2. Presentation Outline
◦VTTI Overview
◦VTTI Capabilities
◦VTTI Projects
◦Connected Vehicle
Systems
photobyLoganWallace

3. VTTI Overview
#1 in federal grants and
contracts
#1 in private sector contracts
Largest group of driving safety
researchers in the world
Over 400 employees
12 Research Centers Including:
Advanced Automotive Research
Automated Vehicle Systems
Data Reduction and Analysis Support
Sustainable Mobility
Technology Development
Truck and Bus Safety
Motorcycle Research Group

4. VTTI Capabilities
•System Performance
•Human Factors
•Human-System
Integration
Experimental
Design
•Multi-Disciplinary
Engineering
•Vehicle Instrumentation
•Data Acquisition
Technology
Development •Extract, Transform, Load
•Data Warehousing
•High-Performance
Computational Resources
•Real-Time Analysis
Information
Technology
•Data Analysis
•Data Mining
•Data Reduction
•Algorithm Development
Focused
Research

5. photobyLoganWallace
Smart Road
◦ Officially opened in 2000 in co-
sponsorship with VDOT
◦ Closed 2.2-mile Test Bed
◦ Over 20,000 hours of
groundbreaking research
◦ Advanced Communication & Control
Systems
◦ Differential GPS Base Station
◦ Inclement Weather Testing (Snow,
Fog, Rain)
◦ Variable lighting configurations
◦ Signalized Intersection

6. photobyLoganWallace
Research Vehicles
◦ Available for research projects
◦ Instrumented with Data Acquisition
Systems (DAS)
◦ Diverse vehicle fleet:
◦ Sedans
◦ SUVs
◦ Motorcycles
◦ Semi-Truck
◦ Motorcoach
◦ Unique capabilities:
◦ Wireless Communications
◦ Automation

7. photobyLoganWallace
Technology
Development
◦ Multi-disciplinary engineering
center that create solutions to the
ever-changing requirements of
VTTI research centers and
sponsors
◦ Specializes in developing,
manufacturing, implementing,
and maintaining innovative
systems for transportation
research

8. Data Acquisition Systems
VTTI develops state-of-the-art, data acquisition
systems (DAS) that can discretely collect real-
world vehicle kinematics and driver behaviors
through integration of:
◦ Vehicle CAN
◦ RADAR
◦ GPS
◦ IMU
◦ Multiple Camera Views
Customizable for projects on virtually any
vehicle
◦ Heavy Vehicles
◦ Light Vehicles
◦ Motorcycles
◦ Bicycles

9. Information Technology
Multiple Data Transfer Mechanisms
Petabyte Scale Scientific Data Warehouse
High Performance Computational Clusters
Web Enabled Data Reporting Applications
In-house Developers

10. photobyLoganWallace
Human performance contributes
to more than 90% of crashes
◦A subset of factors creates the
majority of the crash risk
◦ Impairment (primarily alcohol)
◦ Inattention and distraction
◦ Drowsiness
◦ Judgment-related error
◦Current methods of studying driver
performance/behavior and their
safety impacts have limitations
◦ Detailed pre-crash information is not available from
crash databases

11. Naturalistic
Driving Studies
• VTTI is the pioneer in
naturalistic driving studies
• Housing more than 40
million miles (>2 PB) of
continuous naturalistic
data (video, audio, and
kinematic data)

12. Naturalistic Driving Studies
100-Car Study technical reports have
been cited more than 1,200 times
Second Strategic Highway Research
Program Naturalistic Driving Study
(SHRP 2 NDS)
◦ The largest NDS ever conducted
◦ Three-year data collection period
◦ More than 3,100 participants, aged 16 to 98, in
NY, FL, WA, NC, IN, and PA
◦ More than 3,300 vehicles
◦ More than 700 crashes identified to date
(analyses are ongoing)
◦ More than 5,000 near-crashes

13. System
Performance
Studies
• Algorithm
Development
• Algorithm
Assessment
• Driver Acceptance

14. Connected Vehicle
Systems
◦ We believe connected vehicles can answer
the following goals:
◦ Improve safety
◦ State of good repair
◦ Economic competitiveness
◦ Livable communities
◦ Environmental sustainability
◦ Key activities that will enable widespread
deployment need robust research
◦ USDOT Regional Deployment RFI
◦ NHTSA ANPRM of vehicle-to-vehicle
communications
◦ GM deployment announcement plans
◦ FCC activities relating to the DSRC spectrum
This image first appeared on the cover of ITS International magazine, March/April 2014.

15. Bi-Directional Wireless
Communications between
Vehicles and Infrastructure
◦ Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V): Bi-directional
information sharing between vehicles
◦ Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I): Bi-
directional information sharing between a
vehicle and the roadway
Wireless communication
channels used
◦ Cellular for most information that is not
time critical
◦ Dedicated short-range communications
(DSRC) for low-latency, robust, secure
information

16. Connected
Vehicle Systems
• DSRC SAE J2735
Standard
• 5.9 GHz Band – 75MHz
Bandwidth
• ~300m Range
• Basic Safety Messages
are transmitted at 10Hz
• Basic Safety Message
Data Elements Include:
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Elevation
• Speed
• Heading
• Steering Wheel Angle

17. Two complimentary locations:
◦ New River Valley:
◦ Smart Road: Comprehensive instrumentation for experimental procedures in testing
and developing research
◦ Northern Virginia:
◦ Fairfax County: I-66 and the parallel routes of 29 and 50 for real-world testing and
development
Strategic Partnership
• Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute
• Virginia Department of
Transportation
• Industry Partners

18. Applications span myriad areas;
for example:
◦ Advanced Traveler Information System
◦ Signal Priority
◦ Emergency Vehicle Preemption
◦ Queue Warning
◦ Incident Scene and Work Zone Alerts
◦ Probe-enabled Traffic Monitoring
◦ Dynamic Transit Operations
◦ Road Weather
◦ V2V Imminent Safety
The Virginia Team continues to
prioritize, develop, and deploy
applications

19. Research Sponsors
Includes research sponsored by both government and vehicle manufacturer entities.

20. Questions?
rviray@vtti.vt.edu