Laird announced it is helping develop products and standards for future vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications by joining the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DoT) Affiliated Test Bed program.
The Connected Vehicle Test Bed is a federally funded, operational test site established to determine the feasibility and technical limitations of Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC). Laird was accepted to this program to have the opportunity to test modules, software, and applications in a real-world traffic environment. The test bed includes intersections, roadways, and vehicles that are able to communicate with each other through DSRC under actual operating conditions.
“We are excited about joining this test bed because it provides a crucial step in getting our technology out of the lab and into the real world to help create a safer, more efficient, connected highway,” explained Laird’s senior vice president of telematics Steve Brown. He added, “Getting our DSRC smart antennas tested in this environment ensures they are performing at or above expectations. This also allows us to collaborate with the other entities that are designing and testing these new standards prior to rolling them out to the public.”
Laird will participate with approximately 70 other public, private, and academic entities. The program has agreements in place with local agencies allowing use of public streets. It also provides infrastructure and equipment to test devices at no cost as well as access to skilled staff to arrange various testing scenarios.
Through this program Laird will take part in early phases of the testing and support the transition of connected vehicle technology from research to deployment.
Laird will be demonstrating this DSRC technology at the TU Automotive Detroit show in Novi, MI, on June 3 and 4. Laird product manager Bill Cooke will also speak during a panel titled “The Future of Connected Fleets” at the show on June 3.
