IUCRC Phase I Wayne State University: Center for Electric, Connected and Autonomous Technologies for Mobility (eCAT)

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles in transportation systems have the potential to revolutionize the mobility methods that people commute in urban and suburban environments, achieving better safety, reliability, infotainment, and security with less emission. A vital obstacle that impedes the development of the electric, connected, and autonomous vehicle system is the shortage of synergy research from interdisciplinary domains, such as electric vehicle design, intelligent autonomous systems, and V2X communication technologies. In coping with this challenge, this project will build the Center of Electric, Connected, and Autonomous Technologies for Mobility (eCAT). eCAT will not only serve as an apparatus of academic researchers collaborating with industry on problems of high national and international importance but also provides industry partners the opportunities to access the most advanced synergistic research produced by a diverse group of researchers. The establishment of eCAT is expected to initiate and accelerate the transformation of mobility methods from conventional vehicles to eCAVs by creating innovative electric, connected, and autonomous technologies. This requires the evolution of a new collaboration paradigm for the transportation industry by developing long-term partnerships among industry, academia, and government. The eCAT Wayne State University (eCAT-WSU) Site will serve as the lead Site for eCAT and will lead the coordination and management of the Center. Research at the eCAT-WSU Site will focus on electrification, real-time edge/vehicle computing systems, safety, and smart infrastructure. Building this eCAT Center will constitute a major technological breakthrough toward realizing fully autonomous electric vehicles in our daily life. In particular, the center will advance the science and technologies of eCAVs and accelerate knowledge and intellectual property transfer between academia and industry through our collaborative partnerships. The talent and expertise of center members (including both the PIs and the industry partners) are fused together to enhance the center’s core competence. The innovations and techniques developed via eCAT will effectively fulfill the urgent demands of autonomous vehicles for hardware and software support. Data obtained from this project will include experimental, computational, text-based, and/or curricular data. All data products will be retained for a minimum of three years after the conclusion of the award or three years after public release (publication), whichever is later. eCAT-WSU will have password-protected shared network drives to facilitate data sharing within the teams, with collaborators, and with anyone in the community interested in the NSF-funded data. A landing page for navigation to archived data will be created at http://ecat.center. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.