Facilities and Resources
State-of-the-art instrumentation throughout the facility includes a control network to collect data about traffic activity using wireless, fiber optics, Ethernet, and a highly accurate real-time kinematic positioning system.
Patent augmented reality testing technology allows physical test vehicles to interact with virtual connected vehicles in real time inside the facility.
Open-source API controls testing conditions throughout the facility.
Infrastructure can be controlled with software.
The facility uses vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication throughout the facility and 5G connectivity.
Mcity 2.0: An Integrated Automated Testbed for Autonomous Transportation Research
Mcity 2.0 will enhance its physical testing environment, adding virtual reality software and generating real-world datasets, Mcity can provide tailor-made simulation scenarios for AV software testing.
Access to real-world data
Access to high-quality simulation environments
Access to physical testing facilities
Safe AI Framework for Trustworthy Edge Scenario Test (SAFE-TEST)
It is well-known that scenario generation is essential for testing and evaluation of automated vehicles (AVs), but how to generate realistic and trustworthy scenarios efficiently remains an open question. To address this challenge, in the past few years, University of Michigan’s Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) has developed a scenario generation toolbox that can accelerate the development and validation of automated vehicles. This toolbox, which has been implemented at Mcity and the American Center for Mobility (ACM), includes the augmented reality (AR) testing platform and the naturalistic and adversarial driving environment (NADE). With AR, a real AV can be tested at a test track with interaction from virtual traffic flow. With NADE, the maneuvers of virtual background vehicles will be controlled intelligently, in that most of scenarios are generated from naturalistic driving data, and only at selected moments, adversarial scenarios are generated to challenge the AV under test. The theory behind NADE ensures both the unbiasedness and the efficiency of the testing scenario generation. With this toolbox, every testing mile can be converted into thousands of equivalent miles on public roads, which can significantly reduce the development costs and shorten the development cycle.
Smart intersection Project (SIP) will develop an infrastructure-assisted cooperative driving automation testbed to accelerate connected and automated vehicle (CAV) deployment. Smart intersection technology will be installed at 21 sites with implementing the following concept of operations
Enabling Technologies
Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) and 5G New Radio (NR) C-V2X
Deployment Elements
C-V2X RSU network, C-V2X Fleets, Smart Sensors with Edge Computing, Advanced V2X Technology Living Lab, and Mobility Data Center
Applications for public benefits
Transit Signal Priority, Emergency Vehicle Preemption, Dynamic Signal Optimization with Green Wave Advisory, and Vulnerable Road User Notification
American Center for Mobility is a collaborative effort comprised of government, industry and academic organizations focused on accelerating the mobility industry through research, testing, standards development and educational programming.
Located in Southeast Michigan on over 500-acres at the historic Willow Run site in Ypsilanti, the ACM offers:
A smart city test center providing a safe platform for the integration, testing and validation of connected and autonomous vehicle and mobility technologies
A technology park for the co-location and incubation of mobility companies
An event center for showcasing connected and autonomous vehicle technologies and convening industry activities
The American Center for Mobility is a joint initiative with the State of Michigan founded in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the University of Michigan, Business Leaders For Michigan and Ann Arbor SPARK.
Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE) is the world’s largest operational, real-world deployment of connected vehicles and connected infrastructure, built on the existing Ann Arbor Safety Pilot Model Deployment (SPMD) project. Over 2,500 vehicles (e.g., passenger vehicles, buses, and trucks) are equipped with connected vehicle (CV) devices including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, and buses. The CV devices enable V2V communication for safety applications, including Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Intersection Movement Assist (IMA). Furthermore, the SPMD infrastructure footprint has grown from 25 sites to over 70 infrastructure locations equipped with Road Side Units (RSUs). The figure shows the AACVTE deployment area and infrastructure sites. The sites include
2 Curve Speed Warning Sites (4 RSUs),
4 Pedestrian mid-block crosswalks (4 RSUs),
60 Intersections (5 at freeway entrance/exit ramps),
1 Roundabout,
And 5 staging/testing sites
CV systems generate a massive amount of data on a scale not seen in the traditional transportation systems, from both On-Board Units (OBUs) and Road-Side Units (RSUs). The OBU will broadcast basic safety messages (BSMs) to the surrounding CVs and RSUs that within the communication range. The RSUs located at the 60 intersections are connected to the traffic signal controllers and broadcast signal phase and timing (SPaT) messages and MAP messages to support infrastructure-related applications such as Red Light Violation Warning (RLVW) and Curve Speed Warning (CSW). All vehicle and infrastructure communications follow national and international standards including SAE J2735, SAE J2945, IEEE 1609.2, IEEE 1609.3, etc., and, with the exception of the 5 staging/testing sites, utilize production security certificates to ensure security and privacy. Through the City’s optical fiber network, both BSM and SPaT data are forwarded to the data server located at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) in real-time. A web interface that visualized the Live Traffic of AACVTE developed by MTL and UMTRI can be viewed here!