Project 2

IOT Solutions for Near Horizon Challenges in Smart City Pedestrian Travel

Focus: Dynamic traffic control tools and information technology to facilitate CAV deployment at intersections, while promoting safety and accessibility for other roadway users

PI: Dr. Sean Tikkun, NC Central University

Project Description: The use of Internet of Things (IoT) and Vehicle to Everything (V2E) communication in the automobile AI market reveals a continued need for analytics and communication at the pedestrian level as well. Pedestrian to Infrastructure (P2I) and Pedestrian to Vehicle (P2V) are two areas that could significantly improve safety and pedestrian travel in a dynamic and responsive environment. Three areas that can stimulate that development will be explored by this project. The first area will explore the analysis of pedestrian habits to improve safety. The second area will establish methods of communication between pedestrian smart devices with the traffic infrastructure. The third will establish a method of communicating intersection information to pedestrians. The areas of this project will be explored with researcher expertise in pedestrians who are blind and visually impaired in an effort to promote universal design in solutions.

Research Impact: The findings of this project will enable urban and traffic planning to ensure access and pedestrian level analytics. At this time, most consumer level solutions at the automobile level tend to ignore pedestrian analytics beyond collision avoidance. The products of this project will serve as a foundation for future deployment and development that can interface with existing infrastructure allowing for more fluid pedestrian traffic and a connected environment that includes pedestrians as a node of information.