Abstract In this design project, HYVE Inc. worked to develop an effective solution for an emergency vehicle-to-vehicle communications system. Upon extensive research of various communications technologies, twelve initial concepts were generated. Based on compiled customer needs, these initial concepts were screened and scored in order to synthesize a final concept. This final concept, which utilizes Radio Frequency Identification technology, was chosen for its reliability, affordability, and security. Through implementation of an extensive vehicle communications infrastructure on major roadways, HYVE Inc. hopes to pave the way for autonomous vehicles and a seamless and safe connected driving experience. Introduction HYVE Incorporated was tasked with generating an improvement in the autonomous car industry to help further create possibilities of progression toward autonomy. There are three main areas of focus in regards to these improvements: sustainability, safety, and connectivity. HYVE worked on the latter, and created a design to help allow the road to “talk” to the cars around it. The need for communication of autonomous cars to the environment around it is essential for cars to achieve autonomy. One problem with the idea of autonomous cars is the possibility of emergency vehicles needing to communicate with other cars. This can be solved with HYVE’s state of the art prototype, Smart Reflectors. Smart Reflectors are going to replace existing pavement reflectors on the road, adding an upgrade in technology that allows radio waves to be sent to and from them. They will be the same in shape and size of the traditional pavement reflectors, but inside it will contain a chip that will allow law enforcement to send signals that will bounce signals to all cars around it telling them to do what law enforcement desires. This opens up a world of opportunities for not only a more efficient autonomous system, but a safer one as well. Research An inter-vehicle wireless communications infrastructure must be created for the implementation of this project. When considering cost-effectiveness in the contexts of price, availability, energy-consumption, and additional infrastructure changes (wiring, etc.), and security, current Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies can be eliminated. A secure, ephemeral signal cannot be promised by these technologies. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology utilizes radio waves to transmit signals in close range. Passive RFID does not require a battery for power, instead utilizing radio waves transmitted by a device which reads the information contained in the RFID tag. RFID tags contain an identification number which points to information in a secure database. Currently, RFID tags are utilized in the supply-chain, car keys, employee identification, highway toll tags, and security access cards.

RFID tags can be classified as either vicinity or proximity. Vicinity RFID tags can be read accurately and securely at distances up to 20 to 30 feet away, which proximity RFID tags can only be scanned in close proximity. If a vicinity RFID tag and subsequent reader are implemented in all motor vehicles, a communication network can be established. Because the RFID communicators will be installed in vehicles or wired “smart reflectors,” active RFID technology can be utilized. A summary of various RFID technologies has been compiled by IMPINJ, an RFID manufacturer, in Table 1.

Table 1: Information compiled on current RFID technologies. RFID technology is a simple and cost-effective solution, however it exists in different forms. Information from various sources in compiled in Table 2 to produce a solution for this project. Technology Frequency

Range Range Passive or

Active Price Primary Use

Low Frequency RFID

30 KHz to 300 KHz

Up to 10 cm

Passive 50¢ to $2 Access Control / Domestic Animal Tracking (“chips”)

High Frequency RFID

3 to 30 MHz 10 cm – 1 m

Passive 50¢ to $2 Ticketing, installment, and information exchange, NFC

Ultra-high Frequency RFID

300 MHz to 3 GHz

Up to 12 m Passive However, with active can achieve distances of ≤ 100 m

5¢ to 15¢ (in 2012)

Wide range of uses – supply-chain, retail stock management, pharmaceutical management

Table 2: Effectiveness and uses of current RFID technologies. Customer Needs In the beginning stages of this project, HYVE Inc. was tasked with identifying a problem with electric and autonomous vehicles for which a current solution does not exist. Members of HYVE Inc. individually conducted interviews with a diverse pool of customers in order to synthesize target customer needs. Questions utilized in these interviews were as follows:

1. Do you have any experience with an electric car? 2. Do you see electric cars becoming mainstream in the near future? What do you think is

holding people back from adopting an electric car? 3. What feature would you like to see the most in an electric car (more range, more

horsepower, less expensive, more charging stations)? 4. Would you feel comfortable in an autonomous car? What would make you more

comfortable? 5. What’s the biggest safety concern in a car?

Answers generated using these questions were compiled and analyzed in a group brainstorming meeting. Although these initial questions were ostensibly unrelated to the final project concept, they were integral in its development. From the answers compiled, it was clear that a problem which can and should be addressed in the near future is vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Thus, HYVE Inc. continued researching customer needs. Finally, a customer needs table was developed, as shown in Table 3.

Statements Needs

I want my car to actually feel “smart.” A vehicle with both sophisticated intra-vehicle and inter-vehicle communications systems.

I don’t trust information about my car being communicated.

A secure communications channel that is safe from interception.

I don’t want to spend a lot of money on being “connected.”

A cost-effective communications technology.

I want to feel more aware of my driving conditions.

An interface that draws on more than visual information, but information about conditions in the surrounding area.

I never know where to actually go when an ambulance needs to get through.

Dynamic solutions communicated by ambulance operators to surrounding civilian vehicles.

What if my car is broken down? A way to communicate to the emergency vehicle that a vehicle on the road is disabled.

Will this feature actually be reliable? A system that utilizes a proven reliable communications technology.

Table 3: Customer needs diagram.

Concept Generation In order to develop the best-possible concept for the project goals, many concept ideas were generated based on individual creativity and existing technologies. These concepts were generated in brainstorming sessions during the EDSGN class time. Twelve total concepts were generated, each with unique perspectives on how to provide a solution for the problem at hand.

1. Solar Reflectors: Transponders, powered by solar, which will be implemented on

roadways. These transponders will be activated by emergency vehicles to send out a

signal to vehicles that an emergency vehicle needs to pass. Thus, an emergency lane will

open for the emergency vehicle to safely and quickly travel. These transponders could

be the current reflectors used in lane medians. An already existing concept is shown in

Figure 1.

Figure 1

2. Solar Roadways: Roadways comprised of solar panels which can communicate with all

vehicles on the road and dynamically change traffic conditions. For example, LED lights

in the panels which comprise these roads can allow for a new lane to open for

emergency vehicles to travel on. An already existing concept is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

3. Wi-Fi Communication: Communications system between all cars on the road.

Emergency vehicle can send a signal to cars alerting them to move out of the lane. Could

be used in backroads where there is only one lane and cars can move out of the lane

temporarily. Communications system would use a dedicated portion of wireless

spectrum and 802.11p wireless standard. An illustration of this concept is shown in

Figure 3.

Figure 3

4. Mobile App: An app installed on the driver’s phones which is communicated to by the

emergency vehicle and alerts a driver when it is in proximity. Simply uses GPS and

wireless data. A diagram of this concept is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

5. License Plate Code: Emergency vehicles using a scanner to scan a vehicle’s license plate,

like a barcode, and then using this information to establish a connection to the vehicle

and alerting it. This would only work when the emergency vehicle is in immediate

proximity to the car. An illustration of this concept is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5

6. Bluetooth Communication: Bluetooth communication between cars. A quick connection

is established, similar to AirDrop on iPhones. An illustration of this concept is shown in

Figure 6.

Figure 6

7. Encrypted Chip: Emergency vehicles have an on-board chip which can be recognized by

other vehicles in close proximity to it. Only emergency vehicles have this encrypted chip

which could not be replicated by other vehicles. A concept of such a chip is illustrated in

Figure 7.

Figure 7

8. Smart Signs: Signals from the emergency vehicle would be sent to dynamic traffic signs

which could change to alert all drivers to an emergency vehicle coming and how they

need to adjust their driving. An illustration of this concept is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8

9. Mobile Blimps: Instead of car-to-car direct communication, the cars would use a cellular

signal which could be bounced by blimps which float in remote areas. An existing

version of a signal-carrying blimp is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9

10. Light Beams: Emergency vehicles would transmit a light signal, either through laser or

infrared, which would be detected by vehicles to alert them to adjust their driving

conditions. An illustration of the infrared communication principle is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10

11. Smart Reflectors: Communication via RFID technology between vehicles through use of

a highway reflector intermediate. Unique identifier is sent from vehicle to reflector,

interpreted, and bounced to all vehicles in proximity. This concept is similar to Solar

Reflectors, but goes about the communications system via a different route. Through

RFID technology, information is sent from car to reflector, and the reflector must access

a database. A rendering of this concept is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11

12. Sound Beams: Emergency vehicles would transmit a unique siren whose frequency can

be interpreted by vehicles out of range of human hearing distance and can relay

information about how to adjust driving conditions. These sirens can appear as existing

alarms, as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12

Concept Selection Finally, a concept selection matrix was developed which graded each concept based on several criteria. The criteria were chosen based on the most important variables when considering economic feasibility, practicality, and functionality. The results are shown in Table 4.

Metrics Concepts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Cost 0 - - + 0 - 0 - - - 0 -

Implementation Time + - - + 0 - - - - - + -

Durability + 0 + 0 + + 0 0 - - + 0

Weather Resistance + 0 + + - + + 0 - - + 0

Sensor Range 0 + + 0 - 0 - - 0 - + 0

Security + + - - - - + 0 0 0 + 0

Job Creation + + 0 - - 0 0 + 0 0 + 0

Total +5 +1 0 +1 -3 -1 0 -2 -4 -5 +6 -2

Table 4: Concept Screening Matrix. Numbers in the top column correspond to concept list. After the screening matrix was compiled, scores were totaled and a clear winner was presented: Concept 11, known as Smart Reflectors. Final Description Through use a conception selection scoring matrix, an RFID communications system was chosen as the winning project concept. The inter-vehicle communications infrastructure consists of four components:

On-board vehicle active RFID tag/transmitter

On-board vehicle active RFID reader

On-road “smart reflector” – a highway reflector that has been modified to include both an RFID transmitter and reader, and is powered by solar

Satellite communicator installed in long-distance (1+ mile) increments to communicate via Internet with the secure database

Due to its low cost and long-distance capabilities, an active ultra-high frequency RFID system was chosen for use in this project. Through use of a communications intermediate in the form of a highway reflector, a signal can be sent by an emergency vehicle, received by the reader connected to a database, and then transformed into a vehicle identifier sent to other vehicles on the roadway. The “smart reflectors” will be connected to each other via the same RFID connection, so that a signal received within a short range can be projected to cover longer distances via use of other transmitters. Thus, an emergency vehicle will transmit its RFID indicator of an emergency to the on-road “smart reflector,” which will in turn access a secure database of unique identifiers to interpret this signal. It will then transmit, via RFID, the signal to vehicles in its immediate vicinity. It will also transmit the signal to other “smart reflectors” in front of it within a 1 mile distance. Existing highway reflectors will be modified or replaced entirely with new “smart reflectors.” The concept will initially only be implemented on major highways, with eventual future implementation on smaller roadways. Codified vehicle identifiers and a secure database will require cooperation among civilians, vehicle manufacturers, and local governments. A systems diagram of this final concept is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13

Scenarios Scenario 1 An ambulance transporting a person who requires immediate medical attention must navigate to a hospital without traffic interruption. While driving, the vehicle transmits an identifier which indicates that an ambulance requires a route through traffic. The signal is received by a “smart reflector,” which in turn interprets and communicates the signal to nearby vehicles and other “smart reflectors.” Drivers in the distance ahead of the ambulance are notified by their vehicles that an ambulance requires them to pull over alongside the road or shift to another lane. The ambulance is able to navigate freely to the hospital. Scenario 2 A police vehicle engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a rogue vehicle requires a safe and open route through traffic. Traffic must be alerted of the situation in order to prevent accidents. While driving, the vehicle transmits an identifier which indicates that law enforcement requires a route through traffic. The signal is received by a “smart reflector,” which in turn interprets and communicates the signal to nearby vehicles and other “smart reflectors.” Drivers in the distance ahead of the police vehicle are notified by their vehicles that a situation requires them to pull over alongside the road or shift to another lane. The police vehicle is able to navigate freely to the rogue vehicle. Life Cycle Analysis A life cycle analysis of this project is shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14

Economic Viability and Feasibility of Adoption Taking into account the current political and financial status of the US government, HYVE Inc. imagines that the concept of an RFID road communications system will cross only a few obstacles. According to the Congressional budget office, in 2014, the amount of money spent by the U.S government (state and federal combined) on infrastructure was around $165 billion. Although this is a huge amount of money, because the US is such a large country that is heavily dependent on roads and people owning cars, this is not enough. When compared to that of other developed nations, American infrastructure is mediocre at best. The current administration desires to increase Infrastructure spending to improve safety and create jobs. HYVE Inc. imagines that its proposed solution would be received well by most individuals because it provides a cheap reliable infrastructure for the future.

The cost for a single RDFI chip with a range of 36 feet is $0.15 USD. This would mean that the price to add our product to Route 20, the longest road in the US, would be around $493,528. This is price does not include the reflectors and solar panels needed to protect and power the chips. A typical reflector with a solar panel cost around $9 USD, this by far is the most expensive part of our product because of the need of the chips to be self-powered. The cost of the reflectors needed for Route 20 would be $4,441,750. This number would most likely be lower because the product would be bought in bulk. This would put the total cost to implement our product on Route 20 at around $4,935,278, without labor cost. This might seem expensive at

the moment but implementation of a communications system on the road is crucial to make sure that once the technology for autonomous cars is ready it can be fully implemented as fast as possible.

Conclusion The future of driving is connected—it is clear that autonomous vehicles will rule the highways of tomorrow. However, while the United States is on the pathway to this future, it is necessary to address certain existing safety concerns through the context of connectedness. For example, emergency vehicles must rely on a siren, the same technology that has been used for the past century, in order to alert drivers of their presence. No instruction about how to adjust driving conditions is communicated to current vehicles, which already feature technologies like Wi-Fi and Heads-Up Displays. HYVE Inc. envisions a future that is not far away. The vehicles of today can, and must, be connected in order to ensure driver safety. Thus, HYVE Inc. sought to develop a solution to this problem. After compiling various customer needs and generating numerous concepts to address the problem, a final concept was synthesized. This concept, which would be named “Smart Reflectors,” was conceived upon extensive research of existing communications technologies. Though their implementation comes with rather substantial cost, Smart Reflectors will be the first step in paving the highways of the future. RFID technology is already proven to be an effective technology for use in government and the supply chain. Thus, it can be used to communicate signals from emergency vehicles to a smart reflector intermediate, and then to all vehicles in the surrounding area. After implementation of this technology, the United States will, for the first time in decades, boast innovative and safe infrastructure. References https://www.impinj.com/about-rfid/types-of-rfid-systems/ https://www.dhs.gov/radio-frequency-identification-rfid-what-it http://www.batlgroup.net/the-different-types-of-rfid-systems/ http://www.aliexpress.com/item/30T-IP68-4PCS-or-6PCS-LED-Solar-Road-Stud-Traffic-Marker-Solar-Powered-Road-Reflector/1329131566.html https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/department-of-transportation-official-discusses-solar-roadways http://bgr.com/2012/09/11/connected-cars-michigan-safety/

https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/innovation/car-to-x-communication/ http://www.ypbsystems.com/technology/nfc.php https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop14019/ch6.htm https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewstibbe/2013/06/05/googles-next-cloud-product-google-blimps-to-bring-wireless-internet-to-africa/#53ab69e7449b https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/48991/alarm_red_robbery_siren_warning_icon