As part of UF’s Autonomous Vehicles at Intelligent Intersections and Advanced Networks (AVIAN) ongoing research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the City of Gainesville is helping the UFTI to test new technologies and algorithms that will facilitate the presence of autonomous and connected vehicles. On April 13, 2017, UFTI-affiliated student Patrick Emami, with the help of the City of Gainesville’s Traffic Operations division, Image Sensing Systems (St. Paul, MN), and the AVIAN team, installed RTMS (Remote Traffic Microwave Sensor) radar at the intersection of SW 42^nd Street and SW 40^th Boulevard.

RTMS radar is used in traffic applications for identifying the number of vehicles approaching an intersection as well as the vehicles’ speed. The researchers conducted a test with the NaviGator, UF’s autonomous vehicle, to assess the accuracy and precision of the radar, as well as the effectiveness of DSRC – Dedicated Short Range Communications – between the signal controller and the vehicle. Patrick Emami is currently working on a fusion algorithm that will take data from several different sources (including the radar, video, and DSRC) to accurately determine vehicle arrivals at a signalized intersection. The researchers are planning additional testing over the next few weeks, as well as a full autonomous vehicle/connected vehicle (AV/CV) test at FDOT’s closed course facility at the Traffic Engineering and Research Lab (TERL) in Tallahassee, Florida.