New WAVE: Ontario Tech University plugged in to autonomous vehicle (AV) innovation

On August 24, local transportation took a giant step into the future when a team of future-focused organizations collaborated in the Town of Whitby to launch on-road testing for a self-driving small bus, North America’s first autonomous shuttle with integrated smart safety infrastructure.

The inaugural phase of the Whitby Autonomous Vehicle Electric (WAVE) shuttle project involves nearly a dozen partners from across the transportation, high-tech innovation, government and academic communities.

Ontario Tech University is proud to play a supportive role in the WAVE Project for autonomous vehicle (AV) maintenance through the university’s Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE). ACE is a regional technology development site, part of the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN).

In addition to ACE’s Climatic Wind Tunnel, a real-world AV testing environment that mimics actual conditions anywhere in the world, Ontario Tech offers a number of academic programs that lead to careers in smart mobility, autonomous and electric vehicles including Canada’s only accredited automotive engineering program.

Autonomous vehicle technology: Facts and myths

While the first-ever experiments on self-driving vehicles took place nearly a century ago and ‘real’ AVs came around in the 1980s, research and innovation is quickly driving development forward. Understandably, with these advancements come all kinds of questions.

Ontario Tech University’s Dr. Justin Gammage, Industry Liaison Specialist in the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation answers some of today’s top questions when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

• How does autonomous technology basically work for vehicles?

  Autonomous vehicles work by merging information from a suite of sensors to software trained for situational awareness based on what is happening around the vehicle in real-time. Sensor data collected can include GPS location data, radar information (object detection), visual (object recognition/distance) and lidar* data (object distance at high resolution).

  It is important to note that Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) currently available on many cars use portions of this data today for lane keeping, adaptive cruise control and other driver alert systems. ADAS functionality is classed as Levels 1 through 5 on an Autonomous Capability Scale, with 5 being full, unsupervised autonomy. Features like adaptive cruise control and lane keeping would put a vehicle around 1 on that same scale.

  *Lidar stands for ‘light detection and ranging’

• How does AV operation compare to human operation of a motor vehicle?

  A direct comparison is not easy to make. The main difference is the human operator has much more comprehensive decision-making capability whereas the AV has much more information-collecting capability. An interesting note is that the human operator’s decision-making capability will change based on a number of factors including fatigue, age, medical history, etc. An AV’s decision-making capability, while not yet as good as a human operator, can make decisions based on more available information and will not change based on the these types of human factors.

• What infrastructure or sensors need to be in place on the vehicle, and/or the general surroundings to help the vehicle safely navigate?

  Cameras and radar are perhaps the most critical technologies to have on-vehicle. If these technologies can be coupled with added road/infrastructure sensors of the same type in areas where vulnerable road users may be present, it is like adding a second set of eyes and ears to the vehicle.

• How do 360-degree cameras and/or lidar (light detection and ranging) detect or sense objects such as other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.?

  These systems rely on some basic physics principles coupled with software that helps interpret what they see. Lidar and radar both rely on interpreting how a reflected wave bounces back. Lidar technology uses infrared lasers and radar uses radio waves. Neither technology has as strong a capability to recognize objects as camera systems do, which are usually used to gauge physical distance/proximity. That is why most AVs use a combination of the two, or three, to create full situational awareness. Some AVs use camera technology only, to determine range and recognize objects, often with radar.

• Is the technology different or similar to ‘automatic pilot’ technology used in aircraft?

  AV systems are a bit different when compared to commercial aircraft. Vehicles and aircraft both use GPS data to determine their specific space or location, but the way the technologies are integrated into decision-making is much different. Aircraft automatic pilot systems are roughly equivalent to a Level 1, maybe 2 (out of 5) autonomous capability that would be seen on a car. The environment a car operates in is much more complicated and less predictable, so you need much more information to know where you are at and what is around you.

  If you start talking about automated drones, automated spaceflights, some of the core principles of full automotive AV technology would be comparable to some extent. You likely are working with the same amount of computational horsepower to support the decision-making, but you are relying on different information from sensors and physics that govern how a vehicle dynamically moves through an environment.

• How is research addressing AV’s impacts on society (e.g. road safety and market expectations for such considerations as ergonomics)?

  This research is still in its early stages, but there is consensus that AVs will increase the freedom of mobility for people that are unable to drive a car today. Ergonomics and crash safety is an emerging area of interest as people may be not positioned the same way in an AV as they are in today’s car. For example, they might be sitting sideways in the vehicle, rather than forward. This has a whole range of implications from a passenger comfort and safety standpoint. Motion sickness is another issue people are thinking about addressing.

• How far has autonomous vehicle technology advanced in the past few years, or past 10 years (or further back)?

  Some of the earliest autonomous technologies include automatic transmissions, cruise control, seatbelt pretensioners, airbags and anti-lock braking systems. In the last 15 years or so, further advances have been tremendous, largely due to the availability of stronger computational capability and lower-cost sensors.

  I would suggest there are a number of challenges many of us have been working on in the last five years that are moving slower than originally hoped. Those are mostly all tied to environmental factors like poor weather conditions, extremely bright conditions and some regulatory issues. Tremendous progress is being made, but there is more work to do. This is why so much of what we’ve invested in at ACE is linked to accurate re-creation of the automotive environment for tomorrow’s vehicle. Weather is one of the key drivers behind energy efficiency and autonomous capability, and every conceivable made-to-order weather condition is exactly what ACE’s Climatic Wind Tunnel can always deliver.

  The Whitby WAVE Project is a tremendous example of how research and projects continue to advance AV technology.

• What does current AV and EV research focus on (such as at ACE/Ontario Tech)?

  Almost all of the AV and EV research taking place is tied to enhancing capabilities for vehicle operations in all weather conditions.

  EV operations are impacted by severe weather, just as AVs are. Even the way you charge a vehicle can be impacted by extremes in temperature.

  We are also working with partners to ensure we can fully capitalize on all the new sensor technology being developed for autonomous vehicles. In our partnership with SmartCone, for example, we are looking at a number of technologies for vulnerable road users that incorporate many of the same types of sensors being developed for vehicles. We want to make sure they work year round in any type of weather.

• Are there other potential applications in the future for AVs, beyond public transportation, such as mining vehicles, trains, agriculture transports/trucking (fleets) for goods and services?

  Yes, ACE and Ontario Tech are involved in projects linked to all the above. One example is autonomous wheelchairs for airport terminals that return to their own staging location after the person using it no longer needs it.

• What makes ACE an ideal venue for this kind of testing?

  ACE is the best place for product-to-market and proof-of-concept because of its real-world testing environment that mimics actual weather conditions anywhere in the world. ACE provides a wireless environment for testing connectivity and reliability, and overall new product validation.

  The world is coming to ACE because we can create things in real-time that can’t be duplicated elsewhere. Our Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel can serve up any weather condition, any time, made-to-order. We can cook up a blizzard, ice storm, searing heat, fog, torrential rain and hurricane-force winds, all at specific temperature (-40C to +60C) and humidity (five to 95 per cent).

  The world is coming to ACE because we can create things in real-time that can’t be duplicated elsewhere. Our Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel can serve up any weather condition, any time, made-to-order. We can cook up a blizzard, ice storm, searing heat, fog, torrential rain and hurricane-force winds, all at specific temperature (-40C to +60C) and humidity (five to 95 per cent).

  As a key international industry connector and leader in research and programming, partnerships are a key pillar for Ontario Tech. For example, ACE has worked previously with SmartCone Technologies to validate how high-tech sensors in driverless cars detect pedestrians and cyclists on a mock crosswalk, and to test high-tech health screening technology that detects COVID-19 symptoms (SYMP2PASS).

  Another key component of ACE’s knowledge strength is its connectivity to the network of international academic expertise that has coalesced at Ontario Tech University, covering such vehicle considerations as energy systems, computer science, computer component usability, user interfaces, chemistry, batteries, engineering (automotive, mechanical, electric, software, etc.), passenger mobility, and seat comfort.

  In addition, senior Ontario Tech students enjoy hands-on experiential learning opportunities at ACE, contributing fresh ideas and perspectives.

Media contact
Bryan Oliver
Communications and Marketing
Ontario Tech University
289.928.3653
bryan.oliver@ontariotechu.ca