Resources

Connected Vehicle

Sponsored by the US Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology 

Initiative Overview

Connected Vehicle —formerly known as Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII)—has the potential to transform travel as we know it. Connected Vehicle combines leading edge technologies—advanced wireless communications, on-board computer processing, advanced vehicle-sensors, GPS navigation, smart infrastructure, and others—to provide the capability for vehicles to identify threats and hazards on the roadway and communicate this information over wireless networks to give drivers alerts and warnings.

At Connected Vehicle’s core is a networked environment supporting very high speed transactions among vehicles (V2V), and between vehicles and infrastructure components (V2I) or hand held devices (V2D) to enable numerous safety and mobility applications.

This capability to identify, collect, process, exchange, and transmit real-time data provides drivers with a greater situational awareness of the events, potential threats, and imminent hazards within the vehicle’s environment. When combined with technologies that intuitively and clearly present alerts, advice, and warnings—drivers can make better and safer decisions while driving. Additionally, when further combined with automated vehicle-safety applications, Connected Vehicle provides the vehicle with the ability to respond and react when the driver can’t or doesn't in time, significantly increasing the effectiveness of crash prevention and mitigation applications. Some potential applications of Connected Vehicle are described below:

  • Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V). When a vehicle breaks suddenly, it can transmit a notice to vehicles behind that enable those vehicles to warn drivers to stop, or automatically apply brakes if a crash is imminent.
  • Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I). A vehicle in an accident could transmit incident data—time of incident, type of crash, severity— through a roadside infrastructure device to system operators who then broadcast regional warnings. Simultaneously, incident data could be transmitted directly to emergency dispatchers for emergency response.
  • Vehicle-to-others (V2D). A car turning right may be able to send an alert to a bicyclist’s cell phone or device on the bike and avoid a potential collision.

To join the free ITE Connected Vehicle electronic discussion group click here.