This project demonstrates the synergistic use of a cyber-physical infrastructure consisting of smart-phone devices; cloud computing, wireless communication, and intelligent transportation systems to manage vehicles in the complex urban network -- through the use of traffic controls, route advisories and road pricing -- to jointly optimize drivers' mobility and the sustainability goals of reducing energy usage and improving air quality. The system developed, MIDAS-CPS, proactively manages the interacting traffic demand and the available transportation supply. A key element of MIDAS-CPS is the data collection and display device PICT that collects each participating driver's vehicle position, forward images from the vehicle's dashboard, and communication time stamps, and then displays visualizations of predicted queues ahead, relevant road prices, and route advisories.
Given the increasing congestion in most of the urban areas, and the rising costs of constructing traffic control facilities and implementing highway hardware, MIDAS-CPS could revolutionize the way traffic is managed on the urban network since all computing is done via clouds and the drivers instantly get in-vehicle advisories with graphical visualizations of predicted conditions. It is anticipated this would lead to improved road safety and lesser drive stress, besides the designed benefits on the environment, energy consumption, congestion mitigation, and driver mobility. This multidisciplinary project is at the cutting edge in several areas: real-time image processing, real-time traffic prediction and supply/demand management, and cloud computing. Its educational impacts include enhancements of curricula and laboratory experiences at participating universities, workforce development, and student diversity.
