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Acquisition and Installation Planning

New York City Pilot Acquisition and Installation Experiences Public Webinar Q&A

  1. Pedestrian Applications still under development. Will the apps be able to account for jay-walkers, those pedestrians that cross the street outside of set, marked crossing points?

No, it will not. The application focuses on intersection crosswalks only.

  1. Did not see SPaT/MAP application. Is this because the focus is only on safety applications?

SPaT/MAP messages are part of our V2I and impaired pedestrian application. It is there.

  1. Can you please clarify the quantities for Flare [ed. FLIR] devices? Seeing 10 intersections with 120 devices on slide 12. Is that 12 devices per intersection?

It is up to 12 devices per intersections. Depending on the intersection width, you may need 3 or 4 devices per crosswalk. We anticipate 10 intersections so that is up to 120 devices.

  1. Can you shed some light on the 2 types of pedestrian applications (LTE based, and Flare [ed. FLIR] based) applications?

The LTE based is to help impaired pedestrians navigate through the intersection/crossing. The Flare [ed. FLIR] detection is able to detect a pedestrian in the crosswalk and send the message to vehicles approaching or turning to the crosswalk by activating bits in the SPaT message.

  1. What is the role of NYCT bus? What equipment will they install on their buses, if any?  What type of data does the transit system seek?

It is the same safety device that we are using on our light vehicles. The physical ASD may differ between vehicles, but the functionality is the same.

  1. Can you clarify what specifically is being done regarding cyber-attacks on the use and implementation of this technology?

We have adopted IEEE 1609.2 for DSRC messages. DTLS for the TMC connections are being used. All the communications are point-to-point and are authenticated from inside the device to inside the device.  The networks are carefully firewalled and only allow traffic to designated IP addresses and port numbers.

  1. Is the ATC "push" also pushing to TransSuite now? (slide 19)

Yes. For the pedestrian application. The impaired pedestrian application is pushing the SPaT information to both the RSU and the TMC.

  1. Am I right that SPaT/MAP messages are only pushed to pedestrians? How is localizing achieved since GPS does not work in urban canyons? There was some mention of UWB.

SPaT/MAP messages will be pushed to the pedestrian through the Amazon Cloud and to the approaching vehicles using DSRC. The location accuracy is a subject for testing that we are going to be doing this week. We are just getting the RSUs and we will be working on it in the next week.
A location augmentation device is being added to the cellphones for impaired pedestrians to improve their location accuracy.

  1. Is it possible to give us some estimates about the number of interaction rates between CVs?

It is all based on the sample. Vehicles in motion in NYC is over a million at a given time. It is hard to predict but the sample will be sufficient. It is based on location, user, etc.  We are addressing fleets that mostly use the middle of Manhattan – thus we hope for significant interaction.

  1. Have you experienced any IPv4/IPv6 issues while transmitting data thru the backhaul network?  How do you resolve those issues and how difficult are they?

The backhaul is all IP/v4. Right now, it is not clear if we will go to any IP/v6 to transmit data.

  1. Can you discuss how these devices interact with other devices such as telematics or car sharing devices? Also, what is the impact on battery electric and plug in electric vehicle distance?

Our communications are specific to the connected vehicle projects.  We are not interacting with any other project or systems.  Our messages are directed only to/from the ASD and RSU in the designated DSRC 5.9 GHz band. Our ASDs only draw any significant current when the ignition switch is on and draw less than 25 microamps when the ignition switch is off after shutting down.  This is within SAE standards for such devices; we don’t know the effect on vehicle distance for an all-electric vehicle.

  1. What are the use cases of PID devices?

The use cases of the PIDs are to provide the visually-impaired pedestrians information to know their orientation (cross walk they are facing), the status of the pedestrian signals (WALK, F-DON’T WALK, Steady DON’T WALK – and how much time is remaining to cross.  We will be working with the visually impaired community to develop a user interface and experience which provides benefit.  We will be collecting data from the use of the PID to assist in the evaluation and tuning.

  1. For these aftermarket devices, what type of output can an operator expect to see or come in contact with? Is information on vehicle size/height communicated?

The driver will receive audio alerts only. The data we are extracting from the in-vehicle device uses the speed, XY location, the braking, left turn signals, etc. and exchange all other information with other in-vehicle devices. This is the type of information connected vehicles will be exchanging, when they meet in a certain zone. Algorithms within the ASD will analyze information and identify potential conflicts and which vehicles pose a threat and will provide an alert if necessary to help the operator avoid a collision (if any).

  1. What type of vehicle provides the most effective information when using this technology? 

Each vehicle is different.

  1. Is Danlaw and Savari data stored centrally in the same format?

Generally, the data is transferred back to the TMC. Remaining information will be kept for performance evaluation purposes. This is our way of protecting our participant drivers’ information.
The data is in the same format within the TMC and we have been working with our vendors to establish the protocol for uploading and format for all log and uploaded data.

  1. Does collecting the VIN harm the privacy of the driver? Is this being done in a limited fashion? (slide 32)

We do not see the VIN. We do not have that personal information. The VIN is only used by the local device to determine if the ASD has been moved to a different vehicle.  The VIN information is not transmitted to the TMC and is not available at the TMC.

  1. Did you conduct the OTA test in a dense urban area? How’s testing different from the Cars vs with the Buses?

We will have better feedback later. That also goes with the saturation issue as well.

  1. How long did the software development for data collection take?

Most of it has been completed by the vendors and we do not have any visibility into that. Everything has to come together to proof it all out.

  1. How is the CAN/ODBII data availability on Ford vehicles?

Each vehicle is different. We have had better success with the F150s and F250s.

  1. For the Oversize Vehicle application, does the vehicle's ASD get programmed with the vehicle height?  Or does it rely on roadside equipment to determine that it is over height application alert in order to notify it of restrictions/alternate routes?

The vehicle dimension information (e.g. height) is stored internal to the ASD. When the vehicle is approaching an RSU indicating a height restriction, it can provide the driver an alert of the impending over height condition. Or, if there is a designated specific route for cars only, restricted vehicles can be alerted. It depends on the stored information on the OBU.

  1. When can we expect to see this "hit the streets" and be implemented in pilot, and then also in general.

The pilot is in the prototype period. It is expected that by the end of August we will start the official prototype period. We are looking for production, procurement, and installation time in early November. By the end of the year, we will have had significant installation completed and operational. We will complete our goal of Phase 2 by mid next year or earlier.

  1. Follow up on the telematics question. You are using a splitter when more than one device is accessing the CAN. Is the OBU pulling or pushing in that setup?

The OBU is pushing to the secondary device. The ASD only listens.