NSF/USDOT Partnership for Exploratory Research - ICSST: Multi-disciplinary Exploratory Research to Exploit Motor Vehicle Information and Communications Technology

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Given the technological advancements in sensors and wireless communications, future motor vehicles will be capable of reporting a wide variety of information about their own conditions and the local environment, including the condition of the infrastructure that they are on. Even though many uses exist for the vehicle and infrastructure related information transmitted from the motor vehicles, currently there is no necessity for this information to be available for anything other than the private use of the motor vehicle owner. The research project focuses on identifying possible social uses of motor vehicle information and of possible ways to address technical and organizational barriers for greater use of this information. The research objectives are: (1) to identify ways in which motor vehicle sensor information could best be collected, communicated and managed to provide access yet ensure privacy, (2) to identify potential uses and benefits of the information collected from motor vehicles, and (3) to develop an appropriate business plan for financing and managing of the information collected. The research approach includes a wide-ranging and inter-disciplinary investigation of system wide effects with the expectation of identifying economies of scale and synergies among different data uses. The expected contributions of this exploratory research include a list of discipline specific and interdisciplinary research issues, and a clear research agenda and a business plan for exploiting motor-vehicle information and communications technology.