Use current SAE, IEEE, and NTCIP standards with systems engineering content to control architecture and design activities for a connected vehicle network.

Experiences from the Wyoming Department of Transportation's (WYDOT) Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment System Design Phase.

Date Posted

12/07/2017

Wyoming, United States

Wyoming,

United States

Identifier

2017-L00788

Wyoming DOT Connected Vehicle Pilot System Design Webinar (Presentation)

Summary Information

Interstate 80 (I-80) in southern Wyoming is a major corridor for east/west freight movement and moves more than 32 million tons of freight per year. During winter seasons when wind speeds and wind gusts exceed 30 mph and 65 mph respectively, crash rates on I-80 have been found to be 3 to 5 times as high as summer crash rates. This resulted in 200 truck blowovers within 4 years and often led to road closures. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) CV Pilot site focuses on the needs of the commercial vehicle operator in the State of Wyoming and are developing and deploying applications that use vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle to vehicle (V2V) connectivity to support a flexible range of services from advisories including roadside alerts, parking notifications and dynamic travel guidance. This WYDOT CV Pilot is expected to reduce the number of blowover incidents and adverse weather related incidents (including secondary incidents) in the corridor in order to improve safety and reduce incident-related delays.

WYDOT will develop systems that support the use of CV Technology along the 402 miles of I-80 in Wyoming. Approximately 75 roadside units (RSUs) that can receive and broadcast messages using Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) will be deployed along various sections of I-80. WYDOT will equip around 400 vehicles, a combination of fleet vehicles and commercial trucks with on-board units (OBUs). Of the 400 vehicles, at least 150 will be heavy trucks that are expected to be regular users of I-80. In addition, of the 400 equipped-vehicles, 100 WYDOT fleet vehicles, snowplows and highway patrol vehicles, will be equipped with OBUs and mobile weather sensor.

Lessons Learned

As part of the System Design Milestone Webinar Series, the three Connected Vehicle Pilot sites (WYDOT, THEA, NYCDOT) shared the conceptual overviews and status reports of their respective pilots. In addition, the sites’ presentations featured the technical challenges and lessons learned of the system design process, including those regarding security, regulation, certification, app and device development, data management and data sharing, interoperability, etc.

The following lessons were captured by the WYDOT team:

Developing a robust and scalable data design for CVs is a challenge. Different requirements add significant data needs for storage and throughput which may or may not be possible technically in the real-world. It is important to look at data restrictions and estimated data volumes, and how you will communicate back to TMC or cloud environment.
Approaches to manage for security are still in development. Need to ensure the system is trustworthy to make sure bad actors will not get access to the system. Evolving SCMS integration plan and outside credentials management require flexibility in development of associated interfaces.
Utilize current standards as a part of the system architecture and design process. Embrace SAE J2945, IEEE 1609 and NTCIP standards. The use of standards helped create a solid deployment effort in Phase 2, simplified technical documentation, and assisted with interoperability.
Reserve an appropriate amount of time in the schedule to account for testing, both test planning and test execution. Detailed test planning is dependent on many other factors including equipment availability, so the development of detailed test plans can be a lengthy process while uncertainties are nailed down.
Know that detailed testing is required for OBU and RSU software. Much of the software is not yet created or not created completely.
Wireless connection between equipment can be unreliable and finding a solution can take time. Bluetooth connection can present its challenges. For the Wyoming pilot, there are several instruments in the maintenance snow plow and highway patrol vehicles, each with a different Bluetooth connection. There can be a lot going on in the in-vehicle network- know how many Bluetooth connections you can have at once be prepared to spend time deconflicting those different systems.
Recognize that early enthusiasm may not be matched by reality. It is a challenge working with companies that have their own safety paradigms, vehicle maintenance plans, different systems, etc. Tying in and leveraging a new system (e.g. new Android tablets, new Onboard unit, new GPS system, new DSRC system) is difficult to integrate into a complex fleet vehicle. Trucking partners backed out after determining they did not have the assets or dispatch availability required to support the program.
Be aware DOT Firewalls can hinder CV integration. Firewalls can be a problem when connecting existing components to new ones—e.g., a new external modelling tool with an in-house data source.
Form partnerships between different disciplines to enhance system development. Combining fields of expertise can expedite the background research process—e.g., combining weather and vehicle crash expertise improves the blowover algorithm development.