TESTING & PROVING
SUCCESS SNAPSHOTS:
KETTERING UNIVERSITY MOBILITY RESEARCH CENTER: TESTING TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATES STUDENT AND FACULTY LEARNING AND SUCCESS As part of the Global Epicenter of Mobility (GEM) EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBRC) grant, the Testing and Proving (T&P) pillar team at the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME) supported improvements to global navigation satellite system (GNSS), inertial navigation system (INS), pedestrian targets, and ‘CellularVehicle-to-Everything’ (C-V2X) technologies at Kettering University’s Mobility Research Center in Summer 2024. This advanced navigation and communication technology is essential for capturing the data precision required for next-generation autonomous vehicle testing and validation. This technology is necessary for developing accurate object detection, collision avoidance, and emergency braking systems that are vital for the future of autonomous driving. While this GEM-funded technology is accessible to Kettering test site customers, university faculty and students have found it to be invaluable in their research and learning efforts.
Unparalleled opportunities for ‘hands-on’ experience. Dr. Jungme Park, an Associate Professor at Kettering University, leads the university’s Autonomous Driving and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She is particularly enthusiastic about the GEM-funded technology upgrades—especially enhancements to the GNSS systems—because of the expanded access they offer to students, faculty, and startups. Typically, such advanced and costly technology is only available at large corporations, making this level of access rare in an academic setting. At Kettering, the availability of GNSS systems will enable faculty to conduct more precise research, provide students with valuable hands-on experience in next-generation mobility technologies well before they enter the workforce, and offer startups a more affordable way to test and validate their autonomous driving innovations.
…in the industry there are very high expectations [of employees], but often a lot of students only have theoretical experiences… for my students, it is so helpful to have hands-on experience…The GNSS systems are especially important for students to use…when I was a senior engineer working in the industry, our company got [one of these devices] and no one knew how to use it. This is really giving tremendous educational impact for students – because of this experience they can have a better chance to succeed in future jobs.” — DR. JUNGME PARK, KETTERING UNIVERSITY AUTONOMOUS DRIVING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LABORATORY