MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ford and the Minnesota Department of Transportation today announced a partnership to construct an intelligent transportation system where cars will talk to the highway, and to each other, to keep passengers out of traffic jams and bad weather.

During the first phase of the program in Minnesota, state police cars, ambulances and state-owned cars and trucks will be outfitted with sensing devices that will collect traffic-related data from each vehicle, including vehicle speed, location and heading.

Weather-related data will also be obtained, including windshield wiper operation, lights on or off, outside temperature and traction control system status.

"What has been lacking in the past is a holistic integration of vehicles with roadway infrastructure," said Dr. Charles Wu, director, Manufacturing and Vehicle Design, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. "Through the combination of intelligent vehicle technology and ITS in the United States, we hope this program, called Vehicles-as-Sensors, will contribute to the development of the next generation in transportation and driver information systems."

Vehicle and roadway information will be transmitted wirelessly to the state Condition Acquisition Reporting System (CARS). The data will be analyzed and then important information derived from it will eventually be available on highway message signs, 511 telephone services, and related websites. This information may also be used to deploy emergency assistance as well as road and maintenance crews.

"We can't have message signs everywhere, and we have to get the information to drivers as soon as possible so we will have to bring technology into the vehicle itself," said Dr. Ron Miller, project leader for Intelligent Vehicle Technologies at Ford Research and Advanced Engineering."

Miller says this information could be broadcast on a real-time basis on the car stereo as a programming interruption, or from the car cell phone and that both possibilities are being explored.

Installation of the Minnesota system will begin in April. More than 50 vehicles are expected to be outfitted with the technology by this time next year (In police cars and ambulances, the sensors are fitted to pre-existing hardened "black box" data storage units).

Late this year, the system will be in operation throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. Eventually, almost all municipal vehicles could be outfitted with the new wireless sensor technology. The result will be even more accurate and more detailed weather and traffic information that is truly statewide. The system will be expanded to the rest of the state, and other states, in the years ahead.

Miller added that Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication is the next step. Instead of data being broadcast to a DOT server for dissemination, it would be broadcast directly from one vehicle to another, for even faster communication. V2V communication represents the next generation in telematics and safety.

The new Minnesota system is funded with 500,000 dollars in state and federal funds from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Source: Ford Motor Company

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