Drones to monitor traffic, roadways in central Ohio

DriveOhio, the state’s new center for coordinating smart mobility initiatives, has announced plans to study the use of drones to monitor traffic and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor. The three-year, $5.9 million study beginning July 1 is a partnership between DriveOhio’s UAS Center and the Ohio State University College of Engineering, according to a news release. The research will include air and ground vehicles and will complement ongoing work to test autonomous and connected vehicles along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 between Dublin and East Liberty in central Ohio, according to the release. Unmanned aircraft will monitor traffic and incident response along the corridor in conjunction with the state’s current fixed-location traffic camera system. The aircraft will interact with sensors and communication equipment along the corridor to feed data into the state’s Traffic Management Center. The project also will use sensors and communication devices to ensure the unmanned aircraft will not collide with each other or with manned aircraft. The project team will be led by DriveOhio and OSU’s College of Engineering in conjunction with Cal Analytics, Gannett Fleming, AiRXOS, Gryphon Sensors, Transportation Research Center Inc., Woolpert, the Ohio State University Airport and Midwest Air Traffic Control, according to the release. DriveOhio was created by Gov. John Kasich in January as a center within the Ohio Department of Transportation that brings together those who are responsible for building infrastructure in Ohio with those who are developing technology for the state’s transportation system, according to the release. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DRIVEOHIO, VISIT DRIVE.OHIO.GOV.