Mcity is not just an automotive proving ground and research center – it is a learning environment. We bring together industry, government, and university partners to tackle critical questions about future mobility for the benefit of all. An essential part of our mission is sharing the insights we gain through our work.
After a fatal 2018 Uber crash in Arizona took the life of a pedestrian, followed a few days later by a Tesla crash that killed a driver in California, it was fair to ask: Shouldn’t highly automated vehicles (HAVs) be required to pass minimum standards for safety, reliability, and performance before these cutting-edge vehicles take on public roads? In response, researchers at the University of Michigan developed the Mcity ABC Test, a testing methodology for HAVs within a closed test facility before deployment on public roads. This test could be used to create an independent assessment of the safety performance of HAVs and help improve the public’s trust in automated vehicle technology.
Read more about the Mcity ABC Test: A Concept to Assess the Safety Performance of Highly Automated Vehicles and Conducting the Mcity ABC Test.
As vehicles of the future become more capable and complex, test facilities need to keep up the pace in terms of their capabilities. Mcity staff realized that for the Mcity Test Facility to truly support researchers and deliver all of its potential value, a new set of tools should be developed to control all features of the facility and ensure repeatable testing scenarios.
Mcity OS, a new software and hardware developed by a team of engineers at Mcity, now makes it possible for researchers to create and execute complex, sophisticated, and easily repeatable test scenarios of connected vehicles, automated vehicles, and connected and automated vehicles. Mcity OS is a cloud-based open-source operating system that gives users point-and-click control over interactions between vehicle and facility features and infrastructure. Mcity OS is also available for use at other testing facilities. The American Center for Mobility is the first facility to license Mcity OS.
More about the Mcity OS operating system and demonstration video.
The Mcity Driverless Shuttle research project invited U-M students and members of the U-M community to be passengers on a non-stop one-mile route through the University’s north campus. Onboard cameras and a user survey led by JD Power enabled feedback to be gathered and analyzed.
The research and data collected over the driverless shuttle project’s 18-month timeframe provided insights that will enable U-M researchers and Mcity industry partners to understand how passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers interacted with the shuttle as a way to gauge the feasibility, acceptance, and potential impact of emerging mobility technologies such as automated vehicles.
The project showed, for example, that 86% of shuttle riders, post-ride, stated they trusted the Mcity Driverless Shuttle, and 66% of non-riders trusted it.
Learn more about the Mcity Driverless Shuttle research project findings.
People often think about vehicle connectivity and automation as separate technologies. At Mcity, our experience and research show that while connectivity and automation each provide benefits on their own, vehicles that “talk” to each other and drive themselves promise to transform the movement of people and goods more than either technology could alone, and to do so safely.
Read Mcity Director Huei Peng’s article, “Saving lives by letting cars talk to each other,” in The Conversation.
