Corridor-Wide Surveillance Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems Phase II: Freeway Incident Detection using Unmanned Aircraft Systems Part B

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide a platform that can carry cameras and sensors for collecting real-time traffic information, especially for corridors under congested conditions, when the traditional loop detectors do not work properly and where there is a lack of other means of traffic monitoring. As an alternative, Road Rangers continuously patrol the roadways monitoring for traffic crashes and stranded motorists and then respond to those incidents. Continuously patrolling along the roadways is costly and man-power consuming. In this study, the researchers will explore the possibilities of replacing the patrolling tasks of Road Rangers with UAVs. The challenging research problems include: (1) development of on-line incident detection methodology with video data from multiple flying UAVs; (2) UAV path planning for corridor incident detection; (3) design and conduct experiments aimed at establishing protocols, standards, and guidance for safely using multiple UAVs for monitoring corridor-wide traffic conditions to complement Part 107 of FAA regulations, as amended. This research requires three phases. Phase I focused on design and test of the operations of multiple UAVs for collecting traffic information and development of incident detection methodology (see NICR Project 4-3: Corridor-Wide Surveillance Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems). Phase II will involve two separate but related research efforts by University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (Part A) and The University of South Florida (Part B). The University of South Florida research team will conduct experiments along I-75 and I-275 freeway corridors in Tampa, Florida to verify the protocols, standards and guidance, as well as the methodologies developed in Phase I. In Phase III of this project, the research team will focus on the validation of the algorithms developed in the previous phases and implementation matters of Phase II.

• Record URL:
  https://nicr.usf.edu/2022/08/08/4-4-2-corridor-wide-surveillance-using-unmanned-aircraft-systems/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $89677
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551947136

  79075-14

  79075-15

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  National Institute for Congestion Reduction

  University of South Florida
  Tampa, FL  United States  33620
• Project Managers:

  Zhang, Yu

• Performing Organizations:

  National Institute for Congestion Reduction

  University of South Florida
  Tampa, FL  United States  33620
• Principal Investigators:

  Zhang, Yu

  Kourtellis, Achilleas

• Start Date: 20210901
• Expected Completion Date: 20220930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drones; Freeway service patrols; Incident detection; Traffic surveillance; Unmanned aircraft systems; Video
• Geographic Terms: Tampa (Florida)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01873360
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Institute for Congestion Reduction
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551947136, 79075-14, 79075-15
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 21 2023 2:30PM