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Southwest Research Institute recognized for developing connected commercial vehicle technology

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San Antonio — July 1, 2013 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) played a key role in a project recognized by the Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (ITS-NY) to advance national connected vehicle policy.

The Commercial Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Project (CVII) was the first significant national effort to integrate connected vehicle technology into large trucks and maintenance vehicles and to develop applications and functionalities specifically for commercial vehicle operations. ITS-NY recognized it as the Project of the Year at its 20th Annual Meeting and Technology Exhibition June 13–14 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Led by the New York State Department of Transportation, the project team included the I-95 Corridor Coalition, Volvo Group, SwRI, Kapsch and the Federal Highway Administration.

The project represents a milestone effort to advance national connected vehicle concepts by including the heavy vehicle industry as key stakeholders and users of the new technology. SwRI led the team's efforts in software application development for on-board equipment. These applications utilize 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) to exchange data between the commercial vehicle, infrastructure, and other commercial, passenger, and maintenance vehicles to enable a cooperative system of intelligent vehicles.

"This project is the first of its kind to develop and test connected vehicle technology in commercial vehicles," said Michael Brown, a staff engineer in SwRI's Automation and Data Systems Division. "SwRI played a key role in this project, leading the application development for the on-board equipment for the trucks and maintenance vehicles. A primary objective of this software development effort was to make it universal; the technology needed to work across various vehicle types and manufacturers."

The CVII project has expanded commercial vehicle probe data and traveler information systems to include driver credential verification and wireless roadside inspection.

"SwRI developed the capability for maintenance vehicles to alert commercial vehicles," said Brown. "We also developed vehicle-to-vehicle applications, including blind-spot warnings, hard-braking events, tailgate warnings, and unsafe-to-merge/pass scenarios, as well as a railroad crossing warning system."

SwRI, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States. Founded in 1947, SwRI provides contract research and development services to industrial and government clients, pioneering intelligent transportation and intelligent vehicle systems for the past 20 years.

For more information, contact Deb Schmid, (210) 522-2254, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166.