Program Results

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program bridges basic and applied research. The EAR Program does not fund projects through commercialization or deployment, and in fact, stops well short. For the EAR Program to be successful, the results must be taken up by the research community, with the support of other government, industry, or nongovernmental funding. Accordingly, the EAR Program is committed to supporting a transition process.

The results of EAR Program-funded projects may include:

• New fundamental insights and how they can be applied in highway transportation

 

• New research methods, approaches, models or data that can accelerate applied research

 

• New system concepts or prototypes including laboratory testing and possibly some limited field testing

Layered Object Recognition System for Pedestrian Collision- Sensing Project

 

The camera shows a rear-view mirror with the portable processing system
in an aluminum suitcase
for safe mobility.

Sarnoff Corporation, in an EAR Program funded project, developed a real-time, in-vehicle, stereo vision–based system that detects, recognizes, and tracks pedestrians in the field of view. The layered object recognition system for pedestrian collision sensing can detect and track pedestrians in its field of vision at vehicle speeds of up to 30 mi/h (miles per hour) and up to 35 m (meters) away under good visibility conditions and up to 25 m away under reduced visibility with a 90 percent overall positive detection rate. To perform to the required level for real-life pedestrian detection, system performance must be improved such that detection is possible at vehicle speeds up to 45 mi/h, at distances up to 60 m, under day and evening visibility conditions, in urban and rural settings, and at intersection and nonintersection locations. Commercial implementation would require a market price of not more than a few thousand dollars, which is feasible with the components used in the prototype with sales in the tens of thousands.

For further information on the Layered Object Recognition System for Pedestrian Sensing project, contact Wei Zhang, Office of Safety Research and Development, FHWA; 202-493-3317; email: wei.zhang@dot.gov.

High-Performance Stress-Relaxing Cementitious Composites for Crack-Free Pavements and Transportation Structures Project

Cracks were very shallow when CNF is used, and beams did not fracture through the shallow cracks during the bending test.

Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute, in an EAR Program-funded project, performed a comprehensive study of past efforts to incorporate carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into cementitious materials to improve the mechanical properties and behaviors of these materials. The tasks performed in the study were important steps toward achieving the ultimate goal of this project: the development of an advanced hardened cement paste that is strong and resists shrinkage cracking under certain levels of restraint.

For further information on the High-Performance Stress-Relaxing Cementitious Composites for Crack-Free Pavements and Transportation Structures project, contact Rick Meininger, Office of Infrastructure Research and Development, FHWA; 202-493-3191; email: richard.meininger@dot.gov.