• November 01, 2018

    Gonzaga senior design team finishes work on CV Pilot Deployment project.

    One of Gonzaga University’s many senior design teams has recently finished up their work on a USDOT Connected Vehicle (CV) Pilot Deploymentproject for the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT)after a year-long commitment to the program.

    ENSC05, working under the school of engineering and applied science, consisted of Jennifer Delgado, Drew Fuller, and Kyle Peltz. Their advisor, Gonzaga faculty member and PacTrans constituent Rhonda Young, is also a member of the Wyoming CV Pilot Deployment Team.

    ENSC05 was tasked with assessing the effectiveness of CV technology for freight trucks and passenger cars that frequent the I-80 corridor in Wyoming. The idea behind the project is that the driver receives an alert regarding oncoming forward collision, upcoming work zones, changing speed limits, or a variance in weather conditions via an onboard unit, and is able to react to avoid either situation.

    The team was able to establish a set of conditions regarding speed and safety based on crash, speed compliance, and weather data prior to CV deployment in order to measure the technology’s performance, the objective being to observe how speed and crash data is altered as a result of the driver’s response to the CV technology.

    The team’s work on the project began last summer, when they headed out to Wyoming, giving them the opportunity to see the project corridor in person and spend time in the University of Wyoming Driver Simulator Lab, designed to test the CV technology, as well as train freight drivers before adding the installment into their trucks.

    PacTrans was able to provide funds for students to attend the Transportation Research Board meeting last January, as well as participate in other summer research opportunities.

    Wyoming, one of three locations chosen to test and deploy advanced dedicated short-range communication (DCRS) technology, is a crucial freight corridor that plays an important role in the movement of goods between the US, Canada, and Mexico. However, harsh weather conditions that coincide with the winter months make safe transportation a difficult feat and often call for road closures.

    The CV Pilot is hoped to decrease the number of weather related incidents, which can also lead to delays in the delivery of goods across the country, along the corridor and improve safety.