ATSSA Signal November December 2020

American Traffic Safety Services Association 20 Innovation One aspect that sets VTTI apart from other universities is its large support staff, primarily made up of hardware and software engineers who essentially build the apparatus infrastructure that allows the research to occur. “That capability lets us do things like build an automated vehicle as a prototype to test. We are able to do it because we can leverage all of those resources and skills with our full-time staff,” Doerzaph said, adding that most projects take one to two years to complete. The team also includes psychologists because driving and transportation are human-machine interactions, so expertise is needed for the human side as well as the machine side. Doerzaph, for example, holds his doctorate from Virginia Tech in industrial and systems engineeringwith a human factors option. SMART ROADS FACILITY An essential component of the safety research is the Virginia Smart Roads facility, adjacent to the VTTI campus in southwest Virginia. The state-of-the -art testing lab is owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and operated by VTTI. The partnership works well, allowing VDOT to learn about technology as it develops, said Catherine C. McGhee, a licensed professional engineer and direc- tor of the agency’s research program at the Virginia Transportation Research Council, based in Charlottesville. “The Smart Road’s capability to test under a variety of weather and lighting condi- tions really makes it incredibly valuable, especially when you’re thinking about technology that couldbe very sensitive to those varying conditions,” McGhee said. In total, this roadway laboratory is on more than 300 acres. The roadways are closed to the public, giving VTTI complete control over the vehicles. There are even robotic pedestrians programmed to test pedestrian detection systems by running out in front of the vehicle. This is the kind of research that can’t be done on the open roadway, Doerzaph noted. The Smart Road is made of three differ - ent roadways: • The original 2-mile roadway has the same specifications as an interstate, with guard rails, striping, and asphalt. • A second section is a highly reconfigurable track to represent any urban or suburban environment. Building facades can be added to create obstructions in The Virginia Smart Roads can produce different weather conditions including snow and fog. terms of sightlines, along with bus stops and pedestrian activity—all of the distractions that are part of a cityscape. • The third area—and the newest —is a rural test track, full of curves, hills, and valleys. The third area was built to resemble older roadway standards, reflecting most roads in the United States. Doer- zaph calls the roadway the next frontier in research because it allows the testing of advanced vehicle systems not just on a highway or a city street, but also in rural America. LIGHTING AND WEATHER This unique outdoor laboratory also has incredible lighting andweather capability. Lightingoptionsincluderemotelycontrolled luminaries that rapidly change the spac- ing, height, and type of illumination. “That allows us to represent about 95% of all the roadway lighting in the United States, depending on how we configure it, so we can really look at interactions between things like headlight design and roadway lighting,” Doerzaph said. VTTIisalsoequippedforall-weathertesting.