SAFE-NET: An Integrated Connected Vehicle & Computing Platform

Southern Methodist University

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Our project presents the modeling frameworks and solution methodologies for three problems related to enhancing the dispatching operation of emergency vehicles in urban areas. We have addressed the problem of workload balancing among stations, found results related to spatial risk analysis for emergency vehicle routing and finally, created a framework for data fusion for flash flood detection is discussed. We’ve applied these methodologies for the Dallas area. - July 2019

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Quick Resources

• 2017 Project Poster

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Meet the Team

Principle Investigator: Khaled Abdelghany

 

Project Overview

This research aims at accelerating public safety innovation through the development of SAFE-NET, a novel integrated communication and computational platform to support efficient and safe equipment and personnel mobilization for emergency response. SAFE-NET integrates connected vehicle communication (V2X) and big data computing technologies to develop a real-time dispatching system for emergency vehicles. The proposed system will enhance public safety analytics and location-based services for emergency response operations through system-level research and development.

With respect to analytics, the research will investigate: a) the use of data mining and predictive analytics techniques for efficient fusion of multiple data sources including national weather forecasts, river and flash flooding models, connected vehicle probes, traffic data, and social media data to estimate time-varying roadway network conditions; b) applying spatio-temporal risk analysis for dynamic hazard geofencing of areas of high risk of accident occurrence involving emergency vehicles; and c) developing highly-distributed efficient algorithms for time-dependent routing and navigation.

For communication, the V2X platform allows emergency vehicles to share their real-time routing and speed information with nearby vehicles. This will enable vehicles, through appropriate route guidance functionalities, to determine alternative routes away from emergency vehicle routes, thereby increasing overall safety of the emergency vehicle dispatching operation. The V2X platform integrates cellular LTE and dedicated short term range communication (DSRC) technologies to support a variety of data sharing and utilization requirements defined by data volume, communication range, and latency.

A service-in-the-Cloud software architecture is used to integrate the analytical tools and the V2X communication services.

A qualified consortium is assembled to conduct the proposed research. Led by Southern Methodist University (SMU), the consortium includes Ericsson North America (Ericsson), Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). SMU and UTD provide access to renowned researchers with experience covering the interdisciplinary nature of this research effort. Ericsson North America is a world leader in telecommunication manufacturing, communication solution integration, Cloud infrastructure development, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and operations and management of large complex solutions. SwRI is a renowned applied research institute with significant software and application development capabilities in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), as well as connected and autonomous vehicles for both civil and defense applications.

The research will be conducted as a strategic partnership between the consortium and the City of Dallas’ Fire-Rescue Department (DFRD). DFRD is one of the largest fire departments nation-wide. It serves a population of approximately 1.2 million and covers 386 square miles of land. DFRD employs a fleet of approximately 40 full-time ambulances strategically housed at its 58 fire stations to provide emergency medical service delivery in response to about 245,000 incidents in fiscal year 2015-2016. This partnership and two regional workshops with a broader set of public safety participants will define and accelerate adoption of the proposed technologies in practice.

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