Team Members

• Sean Morrell, EE '08
• Jarrod Labarge, EE '08
• Dan Marcq, EE '08
• Anthony Swochak, EE '08
  

Team Faculty Advisors

• Professor Hossein Pishro-Nik
• Professor Daiheng Ni

Background

There is a high probability of traffic accidents at an intersection in which many of the accidents result in fatalities.  Because of obstructions surrounding the intersection many of these accidents are due to a lack of visual warning.  Critical decision making by drivers is dependent on extra information about the situation.  A vehicle-to-vehicle communication system is the path to providing this information.  Using a precise sensory network, coupled with an effective wireless communication system, we will provide a proof of concept of vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

Abstract

When vehicles approach an intersection there is the potential risk of colliding with another vehicle. The cause for these collisions are the result of careless action by the driver and obstructions that prevent the drivers from making any preliminary assessments of a potential accident. A vehicular ad-hoc network provides a means for drivers to assess and react to dangerous situations on the road.

Prototype of Onboard Equipment

Graphical User Interface for Roadside Equipment

Design Challenges

• Establish vehicle-to-vehicle communication
• Establish roadside-to-vehicle communication
• Design of embedded onboard equipment
• Development Ethernet and GPS drivers
• Timing constraints for a safety critical device
• Designing an appropriate user interface
• Modular system design for future adaptations
• Development of a traffic-light / intersection simulator
• Design of a fail-safe system

System Block Diagrams

System Concepts

Roadside Equipment - Laptop

• Capable of running a multitude of traffic light scenarios via GUI
• Broadcasts light conditions, stop-line coordinates, and timing between light conditions

Onboard Equipment - Embedded

• Capable of real-time debugging during field testing
• System operational light provides working status of GPS
• GPS longitude and latitude coordinates updated periodically
• Warning scenarios calculated based on information received from the roadside equipment and embedded GPS
• Warnings transmitted via dedicated short-range transceiver

Related Files

Project in Real Life(WMV)

Preject Presentation(PDF)

Project Final Report(PDF)