A collaborative effort for safer and more efficient transportation with intelligent vehicles

• Grant number: 13/50332-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2013
• End date: September 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computer Systems
• Agreement: Ohio State University
• Principal Investigator: Denis Fernando Wolf
• Grantee: Denis Fernando Wolf
• Principal researcher abroad: Umit Ozguner
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/10660-2 - CARINA Project - Intelligent Robotic Car for Autonomous Navigation, AP.R

Abstract

According to World Health Organization, each year approximately 1.2 million lives are lost due to traffic accidents worldwide. Besides that, other 50 million suffer non-fatal injuries in collisions. Notably, the majority of these fatalities are due to human factors. Mobile Robotics addresses this scenario and proposes a number of solutions to create safer and more efficient vehicles. Research in this area has been receiving increasing attention in the last decade. Competitions like DARPA Urban Challenge and the European Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge have been pushing the state of the art in perception, control, and intelligent autonomous vehicles development. Besides reducing' the risk of accidents, intelligent vehicles bring also other benefits like improved fuel usage, as well as a more efficient freight transportation and traffic flow in big cities. Elderly, physically handicapped, and visually impaired people can also greatly benefit from this technology as it considerably improves their mobility. The proposal aims to contribute to State of the art in perception, decision making, and interaction capabilities of autonomous vehicles with people and other cars. Both the Mobile Robotics Laboratory (ICMC/USP) and Control and Intelligent Transportation Research Laboratory (OSU) have a significant proportion of their activities focusing on developing intelligent vehicles for urban environments. This project will allow the exchange of the expertise in different topics related to this problem, leading to practical and theoretical advances in the field. (AU)