Intelligent vehicles and infrastructure

Article By:

Wilson, Christopher K. Research and Technology Center, DaimlerChrysler, Palo Alto, California.

Last reviewed:April 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.348240

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• Intelligent vehicles and infrastructure, published June 2006:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

An intelligent transportation system framework rooted in connected and automated technologies. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. For intelligent vehicles, this is the capability to sense their surroundings, make decisions about what the vehicle should do, and either assist the driver or replace him or her. This capability is an explicit move away from the traditional vehicle manufacturer’s goal of realizing the driver’s intent in an accurate, linear, and reliable manner, to a new goal of actively modifying the driver’s intent, and, in some cases, taking complete control of the vehicle. To eliminate dependencies, intelligent vehicles are designed to be “standalone,” in that they do not rely on active participation from the infrastructure. However, knowledge of the infrastructure enables significant reductions in sensor complexity and processing power in intelligent vehicles, and, to date, all vehicles with high levels of automation use a detailed digital map describing the infrastructure to enable safe and efficient operation. These maps are built, in large part, from vehicle sensor data, and the sensor data has infrastructure uses as well. See also: Connected vehicles; Intelligent transportation systems; Transportation engineering

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