DRIVERLESS CARS

U-M's autonomous vehicle technology testing facility has received $5.1 million from NSF to enable remote access to the public-private mobility partnership.

A new type of shuttle service will be hitting the streets of Ann Arbor in the name of research.

ANN ARBOR – How come no one is talking about Mcity’s new music video? “We Built Mcity” was released on Dec. 31 and is a spinoff of Starship’s hit song “We Built This City.”The private-public autonomous vehicle technology testing facility on University of Michigan’s North Campus is closed to the public. Behind its walls lies a driverless vehicle testing track which features a mock city, intersections and highways. In the video, Mcity’s staff -- including director Huei Peng -- are seen dancing and lip-syncing along to the custom song whose lyrics center around the facility’s research and mission. For more information, visit www.mcity.umich.edu.

ANN ARBOR – A University of Michigan effort focused on the safety of automated and connected vehicles will be bringing more than 20 “smart intersections” to the city of Ann Arbor. These intersections will be capable of collecting and sending information to connected cars in real time. This information will be transmitted to nearby connected vehicles, prompting onboard alarms when cars are in hazardous situations. At its peak, it became the largest connected vehicle deployment in the world, with nearly 3,000 vehicles on the road. Through these projects, researchers were able to provide evidence that connected vehicles can reduce unimpaired collisions by 90%.