Connected and Automated Vehicle Projects

Dr. Michael Mollenhauer

Director, Division of Technology Implementation

S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 2 3
A D VA N C I N G T R A N S P OR T A T I ON T H R OU GH I N N OVA T I ON

▪ Top three transportation 

institute globally

▪ Largest group of driving safety 

researchers worldwide

▪ 300 active projects and 

collaborations with more than 

100 sponsors across the private 

and public sectors

▪ Approaching $50M in annual 

externally-sponsored awards 

▪ Research has positively 

influenced public policies for 

driver, passenger, and 

pedestrian safety

▪ Advanced safety of 

infrastructure, vehicles and 

reduced environmental impacts

VTTI FACTS

Historically, on average, 

employs close to 500

faculty, staff, and 

students

5 VTTI faculty are among 

the top 10 sponsored 

research awardees at VT

Infrastructure worth 

more than $150M
▪ 38 DSRC and 11 C-V2X / 5G RSUs

▪ RTK Base Station – RTCM Messages

▪ Live operational environment

▪ Integrated into 30 intersection controllers

▪ On-road application testing and evaluation

VTTI’s Virginia Connected Corridor Living Lab

Northern Virginia Testbed

Virginia 

Smart Roads

▪ 8 DSRC and 4 C-V2X / 5G 

RSUs

▪ Integrated with VCC data 

exchange

▪ Integrated with Smart Road 

VDOT reference 

intersection

▪ Supports safe predeployment testing
VCC Data Flow Architecture
C-V2X Use Case Demos

Sponsor: Audi, Qualcomm, American Tower, 

VDOT

▪ VTTI teamed with partners to develop 

connected vehicle application use cases 

that demonstrate the features of C-V2X

▪ Provide drivers with advisories about 

work zones including location, lane 

configuration changes, reduced speeds, 

and worker hazards

▪ Provide drivers with information about 

the traffic control status to support Red 

Light Violation Warning (RLVW) and 

Green Light Optimized Speed Approach 

(GLOSA) applications

▪ One of the first C-V2X deployments on 

operational infrastructure (US50)

▪ CAMP, LLC Connected Intersection 

Guidance 
Smart Intersection Technology 

Evaluation

Sponsor: Virginia DOT

Focus: Technology Evaluation

▪ Deploy 4 smart intersection technologies 

(Derq, Miovision, Iteris/Continental, Blue City) 

on both test track and in live operations

▪ Camera and radar with edge processing for 

object detection, classification, and localization

▪ Evaluate data quality, reliability, accuracy, and 

latency

▪ Assess application requirements and align to 

available solutions

▪ Make recommendations to VDOT for future 

deployments

▪ Accelerate value recognition in early CV 

equipped vehicles

▪ Planned SAE J3224 Implementation
7

Remote Operator & Fleet 

Management Concept

▪ 4G/5G Multi-SIM modem comms 

system

▪ Real-time data Telemetry to VTTI 

Kubernetes Cluster

▪ Sensor Data

▪ Automation Status/Errors

▪ Public Safety Interaction

▪ Vehicle Control Functions

▪ Multiple ADS platform support

▪ Live Video Streaming

R e m o t e O p e ra t or & F l e e t M a n a ge me nt
S a f et y M oni t or i ng of t he 

R el a y L ow - S peed A ut oma t ed 

V ehi c l e Depl oy ment

Sponsor: VTRC / Fairfax County

Impact: Safety monitoring of low-speed 

automated shuttle in Fairfax County, VA

▪ Provided SPaT and MAP to shuttle to 

support safe intersection operations 

▪ Operations in mixed traffic on an urban 

circulator route (most complex route to 

date)

▪ 360-degree video with near real time 

evaluation

▪ First of its kind data reduction protocol to 

assess impact on direct and indirect traffic 

conflicts

▪ Facilitated NHTSA disengagement reporting 

requirements 
Advancing Transportation Through 

Innovation

Mike Mollenhauer

mmollen@vt.edu

(970)227-3373