Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel To Supply Wireless BackBone For Minnesota's Intelligent Transportation System

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 08:34:15 -0500

intelligent transportation system

News release 02/26/2004 03:58:54 PM GMT

FORD LAUNCHES INTELLIGENT HIGHWAY REVOLUTION:
"SMART" VEHICLES TRANSMIT WHERE & HOW THEY ARE

(PRESSI.COM 02/26/2004) Vehicles-as-Sensors: 100 high tech cars to be on
the
road in Minnesota and Michigan

Fleets will monitor traffic flow, congestion, even the weather
Information will be transmitted and analyzed by computer - and reported
back to
motorists to keep them out of harm's way

The next step is to have vehicles communicate directly with each other

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 26 - 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.

The Minnesota fleet will join similar fleets under construction in
Dearborn Heights, Mich., and on the Ford campus in Dearborn, Mich.

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."
A Minnesota and Ford partnership

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and Ford are working
together and sharing the costs of the project.
"These vehicles will become sensors on the roadway, gathering
instantaneous roadway conditions and sharing this information with each
other and the infrastructure," said Jim Kranig, assistant state traffic
engineer of operations, Minnesota Department of Transportation. "This
means that the state will have a fleet of vehicles forming an
inexpensive mobile sensing infrastructure that will provide roadway
information in rural and urban areas. This is truly a breakthrough for
the state of Minnesota, allowing the average driver to envision and know
what the roadway ahead is like."

Vehicle and roadway information will then 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.

"This program is the prototype for the next paradigm in roadway
information systems," said Dr. Ron Miller, project leader for
Intelligent Vehicle Technologies at Ford Research and Advanced
Engineering.

"This is only the beginning -- the first step will be to display
information on road signs," Miller said. "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."

Miller added that 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.

Michigan: Intelligent transportation in Ford's backyard

Ford is also transforming a fleet of vehicles on its Dearborn campus,
and in the nearby town of Dearborn Heights, into sensors.
More than 20 shuttle buses that operate around Dearborn, transporting
Ford employees from building to building, will be fitted with sensors by
the end of this year.

Shuttle operators will be able to track -- through a secure website --
vehicle location, maintenance, and mileage in order to optimize route
efficiency.

In Dearborn Heights, Michigan (just west of Dearborn) Ford has begun
outfitting police cars with sensors. One vehicle is outfitted today.
Camera feeds from the vehicle, and location, speed and heading data are
transmitted to a secure website. More than 15 vehicles will be outfitted
by the end of the year.

The Next Step

On the consumer electronics side, Motorola is working with Ford to
demonstrate the cell phone technology in order to bring this service
inside the vehicle. Nextel is working on developing the wireless
backbone for the system.
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. "By combining Vehicle-to-Vehicle and cellular
communications, intelligent vehicle technologies, and intelligent
infrastructure, Ford Motor Company and partners like the Minnesota
Department of Transportation hope to define a new paradigm in traveler
information and transportation systems," said Miller.

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).

In Michigan, Ford Motor Company is paying the cost of outfitting its own
vehicles, and those of Dearborn Heights, with sensors.

 http://www.pressi.com/int/release/86700.html
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