CEE Seminar: Applications of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles in Transportation Operations: Intersection Management, Traffic Monitoring and Platooning

Abstract: Connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies are currently being developed and road-tested at an unprecedented rate. The technologies are being applied to various transportation safety and mobility applications and are expected to continue driving innovations in transportation. This presentation will discuss three research projects that explore potential CAV applications in transportation operations and the issues therein. For autonomous intersection management enabled by CAV, the timing issue and vehicle dynamics cannot be ignored. For traffic monitoring, a distributed approach is possible with vehicle-to-vehicle communications. And the limit of vehicle headways that can be achieved during the formation of CAV platoons is investigated as a function of the initial states of a pair of leading and following vehicles.

Bio: Yingyan Lou is an associate professor in the civil, environmental and sustainable engineering program. She holds bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees in economics from Beijing University and received her master's degrees in civil and coastal engineering from the University of Florida. Lou’s primary areas of expertise include intelligent transportation systems and transportation systems modeling and optimization. She has served as a principal of co-investigator on 26 projects funded by multiple agencies, including the National Science Foundation, national and regional university transportation centers, United States Environmental Protection Agency and Alabama Department of Transportation, etc. Her research has led to 28 journal publications, one book chapter and 24 peer-reviewed conference articles. Lou currently serves as a member on two Transportation Research Board committees (Transportation Network Modeling and User Information Systems).