Embedding Technology in Transportation Courses Symposium on Active Student Engagement in Civil and Transportation Engineering Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA July 24-26, 2016

Overview Introduction Sensor technology in vehicles today Sensors helping in navigation and providing safety Intelligent/smart vehicles and transportation system Current state of civil engineering curriculum Initiatives taken at Louisiana Tech University

Introduction Modern day vehicles are a lot safer and far more comfortable than they were couple of decades ago Computing power and speed of onboard processors is at all time high Transportation infrastructure is seeing increasing use of technology Traffic management is getting smart and going to be critical Self-driving cars will soon be among us

Sensor technology in vehicles today Engine operation sensors Safety Navigation Comfort

Sensor technology in vehicles today Recently a great number of companies have focused on Automatic Vehicle Guidance. Why? Optimization of use of transportation infrastructure Improvement of mobility Minimization of risks, travel time, and energy consumption

Sensor technology in vehicles today

Sensor technology in vehicles today

Self-driving Vehicles

1 Radar High-end cars already bristle with radar, which can track nearby objects for accident-prevention 2 Lane-keeping Windshield-mounted cameras recognize lane markings by spotting the contrast between the road surface and the boundary lines. 3 LIDAR Rooftop Light Detection and Ranging system, which uses 64 lasers, spinning at upwards of 900 rpm, to generate a point cloud that gives the car a 360-degree view. 4 Infrared Camera Provides two headlamps to beam invisible, nonreflective infrared light onto the road ahead. A windshield-mounted camera detects the IR signature and shows the illuminated image (with hazards highlighted) on the dashboard display.

5 Stereo Vision Two windshield-mounted cameras to build a real-time 3-D image of the road ahead, spotting potential hazards like pedestrians and predicting where they are headed. 6 GPS/Inertial Measurement A self-driver has to know where it’s going - GPS technology 7 Wheel Encoder  Wheel-mounted sensors measure the velocity of the car as it maneuvers through traffic.

Sensor technology in vehicles today

Current State of Civil Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Total number of credit hours required for degree has gone down Core-courses covering areas of materials, mechanics, structures, environment, water-resources, geo-tech, transportation and traffic need to be taught for fundamental understanding - less flexibility for additional courses - electives

Current State of Civil Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Students are constantly getting exposed with multimedia in classes and labs but their experience could be made better with technology-rich hands-on projects Not enough emphasis on programming and integration of technology in courses

Civil/Transportation engineers for future need to be educated today Students should be introduced to fundamentals of programming and sensor technology as early as possible – freshmen year? – Freshmen Engineering Series at Tech? Should be provided with suitable resources and training Must be provided with open-ended challenges for them to solve using their newly gained knowledge and skills

Civil/Transportation engineers for future need to be educated today Integration of technology in upper level classes and labs Ability of using fundamental knowledge of civil engineering and complimenting it with programming and the latest technology

Non-Traditional Technology in Undergraduate Civil/Traffic/Transportation Engineering Courses Robotic total stations GPS/GIS Traffic counting camera Radar speed guns Various sensors for temperature, humidity, stress and other similar physical parameters

Thank You!