A panel of experts in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) presented different aspects of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure or V2X connectivity on May 3, 2017, at the University of Florida.

This workshop addressed the interest in, and importance of, connected and automated vehicle (CAV) research and the global focus on technologies to improve safety, mobility, and the transportation network.

The audience in attendance ranged from students and faculty to transportation professionals in the public and private sectors. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), City of Gainesville, IBM, THEA ,and HNTB Corporation were some of the organizations present.

Rob Frey, the planning director of the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment Project (CVPDP), was the first speaker. He discussed the portfolio, current status, and the outreach of the THEA deployment program. He also touched on the challenges they are facing during the deployment stage. The THEA CVPDP is one of the three comprehensive pilot programs that is under development in the U.S.

Eric-Mark Huitema, who is a member of the IBM Watson Internet of Things team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, was the second speaker. The topic of his presentation was how WATSON leverages dedicated short range communications (DSRC) and other modes of communication, such as cellular wireless, for V2X purposes. WATSON is a cloud-based cognitive intelligence platform which is capable of enhancing mobility, increasing safety, and reducing the environmental impact of transportation activities. Huitema showed several implementations and applications of WATSON around the world.

Frank Perry, Sr., Connected and Autonomous Vehicle program manager at HNTB, reviewed different message protocols used in deployments, the features of the messages, and what data each message is capable of carrying.

John Esposito, who recently earned a master’s degree from UF’s Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, presented his research on DSRC message design. John was part of a team that worked on designing a custom DSRC message string for V2I communication.