American Center for Mobility presents: Fuel-Efficient Platooning in Mixed Traffic Highway Environments Research

In September 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a grant to the American Center for Mobility and a team of collaborative partners made up of organizations from defense, academia, and the public sector. The two-year grant focused on the research and testing of Fuel-Efficient Platooning in Mixed Traffic Highway Environments with automated convoy platooning featuring both military and commercial-grade trucks.

Participating organizations include Auburn University, in Auburn, Ala.; University of Michigan – Dearborn in Dearborn, MI; the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in Golden, Colo.; and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Commend (DEVCOM) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) in Warren, MI. ACM’s facility was used to test increased reliability of multi-truck convoys traveling at highway speeds on elevated on-ramps, bridges, overpasses, and tunnels in mixed vehicle traffic scenarios.

Before fully automated trucks drive across America, there are numerous technologies and edge-case scenarios that need to be researched and validated. This project helped to research and test specific edge-case scenarios linked to real-world complexities in maximizing fuel economy in mixed weather, and on roads that were not level or straight, and further focused on public safety topics such as platooning alongside traffic, passenger vehicle cut-ins, and changes in velocity and pitch.

As this two-year research program comes to a completion, ACM hosted the research team to discuss together their insights from this important national research.

This live virtual panel discussion provides an overview of the research project, and insights gleaned throughout this grant. Attendees will hear from each of the partners on the research project and have access to a .pdf of the presentation as well as four SAE Whitepaper publications related to the project.

This event is open to the public.

Agenda

Welcome & Introduction

Research Overview & Insights

Roundtable Discussion   

Q&A

Moderator

  • Dr. Robert Sadowski: US Army, Chief Roboticist

Panelists

  • American Center for Mobility: Reuben Sarkar, President & CEO
  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Mike Lammert & Andrew Kotz
  • U.S. Army: Bernie Theisen & Scott Heim
  • Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT): Collin Castle
  • University of Michigan-Dearborn: Sridhar Lakshmanan
  • Auburn University: Mark Hoffman & Dave Bevly

Use this link to register for the US DOE Truck Platooning Live Virtual Event: REGISTRATION LINK

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