• January 06, 2016

    UW Recipient of Four Electric Vehicles for Internet of Things’ Sustainable Research Projects

    UEV

    With the leadership of Dr. Yinhai Wang, the PacTrans University Transportation Center will be aiding Transportation Services and the University of Washington in a series of research projects using University Electric Vehicles (UEVs).

    “…a group of UW researchers is planning to use these vehicles for a variety of research projects, with subjects that could range from automatic collision avoidance to birds on campus,” says Matt, from the University of Washington Transportation Services. Internet2 and Innova UEV LLC, manufacturer of an all-electric micro vehicle–the Innova Dash have created these UEVs, which are essentially “big data on wheels.” UW was one of four universities selected to take part in research involving these vehicles. As well as receiving four loaned UEVs the project also included $10,000 in research funding.

    UEV2

    With a funds match from PacTrans, UW Postdoctoral Scholar Zhibin Li and WSU Assistant Professor Ali Hajbabaie will be utilizing this vehicle in a project whose objective is to use connected vehicles (CVs; the UEVs are CVs) data and technologies to improve traffic safety on roadway networks (e.g., freeways and intersections). Connected vehicle technology provides invaluable information such as vehicles location, speed, and acceleration rate to other vehicles and the infrastructure. Such information can be used to inform other road users (drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians) of potential hazards on a transportation network and increase driver awareness about their surroundings.

    This research is set to end in June of next year. Stay tuned to see what they find.