News & Events

TRC Selected by U.S. Department of Transportation to Showcase Intelligent Work Zone Research in Washington

Sept. 18 demonstration will show how connected infrastructure, AI, and automation can work together to make work zones safer.

EAST LIBERTY, OH – An immersive Intelligent Work Zone demonstration organized by the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC) will be showcased at the U.S. Department of Transportation Roadway Safety Innovation Exposition on Friday, Sept. 18, in Washington, D.C.

Visitors can walk through a realistic work zone and see how connected infrastructure, artificial intelligence, advanced perception systems, and automation work together to protect roadway workers, first responders, and motorists in a display created by TRC, a global engineering services firm focused on independent mobility research and testing, and selected by USDOT.

The exhibit, “Building the Intelligent Work Zone: An Immersive Demonstration of Connected Infrastructure, Vehicle Intelligence, and Automation,” will bring together cutting-edge research supported by state and federal partners. In the display, TRC will show how each technology can function as a coordinated safety system by sharing information, identifying hazards, and reducing worker exposure before a crash occurs, rather than presenting each technology separately.

“Being selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to bring this work to Washington is a terrific recognition of the TRC team and the practical research being done at TRC,” said Brett Roubinek, President and CEO of Transportation Research Center Inc.

“More importantly, this demonstration will show that work zones can become safer when infrastructure, vehicles, and workers are part of one connected system,” he said. “That is exactly the kind of real-world challenge TRC was built to help solve. This safety research is just one example of the engineering, research and testing capabilities TRC brings to the mobility industry.”

Research on display includes:

• Patent-pending Smart Barrel technology, developed through research sponsored by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, creates precise digital work zone boundaries, supports connected-vehicle messages, and detects work zone intrusions or damaged channelizing devices.

 

• Patent-pending TRC technology that uses artificial intelligence and image fusion to recognize temporary digital speed-limit signs despite LED flicker and differences among sign manufacturers.

 

• Research conducted by TRC and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that examines how high-visibility clothing designed for human drivers can affect automated pedestrian detection systems.

 

• Federally sponsored research on how automatic emergency braking systems respond to first responder and heavy vehicles.

 

• Automated Truck Mounted Attenuator technology developed through a partnership among the Ohio Department of Transportation, TRC, Kratos and the University of Cincinnati. The automated attenuator is designed to remove workers from a high-risk position in roadway operations while maintaining the protective function of a shadow vehicle.

 

TRC’s Applied Research team designed the exhibit so visitors can see the technologies operating together. Smart barrels will generate a live map of the work zone; artificial intelligence will reconstruct changing digital speed-limit signs; and a central dashboard will display a live digital twin of the entire demonstration.

Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is North America’s most advanced service provider, fulfilling the complex engineering, research, validation, evaluation, and testing needs of the world’s leading smart mobility and transportation stakeholders. For more than 50 years, industry and governmental agencies alike have relied on TRC Inc. to conduct research into automation, connectivity, alternative fuels (including electrification and hydrogen), safety, efficiency, durability, simulation, and performance across all types of vehicles. TRC’s team includes more than 550 experienced engineers, research scientists, technicians, test drivers, and other technical specialists.

The USDOT Roadway Safety Innovation Exposition will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in the plaza outside USDOT headquarters at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE in Washington, D.C. TRC is encouraging members of Ohio’s congressional delegation and others attending the event to visit the demonstration.

For more information about the USDOT Safety Expo, including registration, visit highways.dot.gov/usdotsafetyexpo.