Programs & Labs
SAFEPLOW team takes troopers for a test-drive
Above: Officers Dick Theis, Matthew Hodapp, and Stan Gruis with Craig Shankwitz and Heonmin Lim of the University's Intelligent Vehicles Lab.
Members of the Institute's Intelligent Vehicles Lab hosted a demo of the SAFEPLOW February 14th for Minnesota State Patrol officers at the University's Rosemount test facility.
Thanks to a white opaque curtain covering the plow's windshield, Stan Gruis, district commander, Mankato, Dick Theis, fleet manager, central office, and Matthew Hodapp, Minnesota State Patrol Troopers Association president, New Ulm, were able to experience something akin to the white-out conditions for which the plow's technologies were designed.
Those technologies include a DGPS, magnetic lateral-position sensing, high-accuracy digital road maps, a "virtual" rumble strip, and a head-up display (HUD). The result is a projected virtual view of the roadway—with lane boundaries, fixed roadside features, and obstacles—shown on a screen on the vehicle's windshield where the driver can easily view it without taking his eyes off of the road. While the HUD is designed to keep the driver on the road, if he does stray out of his lane, the cab's seat vibrates and an alarm sounds. What researchers hope these technologies will do is make the job of keeping roads open in winter weather safer and more efficient.
"It's impressive," said Hodapp after taking a test-drive and seeing the technology at work.
Since State Patrol officers as well as snowplow operators must often drive in low-visibility conditions, the University team will be installing and testing the driver-assistive technologies in a car provided by the Minnesota State Patrol this spring. High-speed tests with the equipped patrol car are planned for September at Brainerd International Raceway.
This research is part of the three-year Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Field Operational Test Program, funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), and industry partners.
More information on SAFEPLOW can be found on the SAFEPLOW project page.