Automated Highways and the Free Agent Demonstration

Abstract

In August of 1997, The US National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC) presented a proof of technical feasibility demonstration of automated driving. The 97 Demo took place on car-pool lanes on I- 15 in San Diego, California. Members of the Consortium demonstrated many different functions, including: Vision-based road following Lane departure warning Magnetic nail following Radar reflective strip following Radar-based headway maintenance Ladar-based headway maintenance Partial automation and evolutionary systems Close vehicle following (platooning) Cooperative maneuvering Obstacle detection and avoidance Mixed automated and manual driving Mixed automated cars and buses Semi-automated maintenance operations Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) led the effort to build the Free Agent Demonstration (FAD). The FAD involved two fully-automated cars, one partially-automated car, and two fully- automated city buses. The scenario demonstrated speed and headway control, lane following, lane changing, obstacle detection, and cooperative obstacle avoidance maneuvers. This paper describes the demonstration itself, the technology that made the demonstration possible, and the current efforts to turn the demonstration demonstration system into a practical prototype.