09/13/2019

Honda Puts V2I To The Test In Ohio

Source: Automotive News

On the road to a collision-free society, if there's a such thing as an on-ramp, central Ohio may be it.

There, along a 35-mile stretch northwest of Columbus called Ohio's 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, Honda is working on ways to prevent traffic deaths by connecting cars with the infrastructure around them.

Vehicle to infrastructure technology, or V2I, is a cousin to vehicle-to-vehicle technology, or V2V, also known as talking cars.

Honda is working on both, but there's a challenge with V2V, says Sue Bai, chief engineer in the automobile technology research division of Honda R&D Americas.

"There are not many cars with this technology on the road to talk to," Bai said Tuesday at the 2019 CAR Management Briefing Seminars. She said that V2I technology has the best "day one benefit."

But even for cars with sensors, buildings at the corners of an intersection can challenge the technology. Honda is tackling this disadvantage at its experimental smart intersection in Marysville, Ohio, using mounted cameras. The cameras work with Honda's object recognition software to enable vehicles to virtually see through and around buildings to better detect approaching traffic and pedestrians.

The automaker is also using V2I technology to give vehicles a better view of traffic as they exit from and merge onto highways, she said.

Honda's V2I pilots use dedicated short-range communications technology, for which a swath of wireless spectrum in the 5.9-gigahertz range is allocated.

The Federal Communications Commission set aside this part of the spectrum for intelligent transportation in 1999, and now other industries are clamoring for the FCC to open the range for them to use.

But Bai said the spectrum must be preserved to make roads safer.

"The spectrum has been allocated for a good reason for transportation safety," she said. "And it takes a long time for the automotive industry to develop an automotive-grade technology.

"People need to understand these are not one year-two year projects. These literally take decades to mature."