1. Embedding Technology in Transportation Courses
Symposium on Active Student Engagement in Civil and Transportation Engineering
Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA
July 24-26, 2016

2. Overview
Introduction
Sensor technology in vehicles today
Sensors helping in navigation and providing safety
Intelligent/smart vehicles and transportation system
Current state of civil engineering curriculum
Initiatives taken at Louisiana Tech University

3. Introduction
Modern day vehicles are a lot safer and far more comfortable than they were couple of decades ago
Computing power and speed of onboard processors is at all time high
Transportation infrastructure is seeing increasing use of technology
Traffic management is getting smart and going to be critical
Self-driving cars will soon be among us

4. Sensor technology in vehicles today
Engine operation sensors
Safety
Navigation
Comfort

5. Sensor technology in vehicles today
Recently a great number of companies have focused on Automatic Vehicle Guidance.
Why?
Optimization of use of transportation infrastructure
Improvement of mobility
Minimization of risks, travel time, and energy consumption

6. Sensor technology in vehicles today

7. Sensor technology in vehicles today

8. Self-driving Vehicles

9. 1 Radar High-end cars already bristle with radar, which can track nearby objects for accident-prevention
2 Lane-keeping Windshield-mounted cameras recognize lane markings by spotting the contrast between the road surface and the boundary lines.
3 LIDAR Rooftop Light Detection and Ranging system, which uses 64 lasers, spinning at upwards of 900 rpm, to generate a point cloud that gives the car a 360-degree view.
4 Infrared Camera Provides two headlamps to beam invisible, nonreflective infrared light onto the road ahead. A windshield-mounted camera detects the IR signature and shows the illuminated image (with hazards highlighted) on the dashboard display.

10. 5 Stereo Vision Two windshield-mounted cameras to build a real-time 3-D image of the road ahead, spotting potential hazards like pedestrians and predicting where they are headed.
6 GPS/Inertial Measurement A self-driver has to know where it’s going - GPS technology
7 Wheel Encoder  Wheel-mounted sensors measure the velocity of the car as it maneuvers through traffic.

11. Sensor technology in vehicles today

13. Current State of Civil Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum
Total number of credit hours required for degree has gone down
Core-courses covering areas of materials, mechanics, structures, environment, water-resources, geo-tech, transportation and traffic need to be taught for fundamental understanding - less flexibility for additional courses - electives

14. Current State of Civil Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum
Students are constantly getting exposed with multimedia in classes and labs but their experience could be made better with technology-rich hands-on projects
Not enough emphasis on programming and integration of technology in courses

15. Civil/Transportation engineers for future need to be educated today
Students should be introduced to fundamentals of programming and sensor technology as early as possible – freshmen year? – Freshmen Engineering Series at Tech?
Should be provided with suitable resources and training
Must be provided with open-ended challenges for them to solve using their newly gained knowledge and skills

16. Civil/Transportation engineers for future need to be educated today
Integration of technology in upper level classes and labs
Ability of using fundamental knowledge of civil engineering and complimenting it with programming and the latest technology

17. Non-Traditional Technology in Undergraduate Civil/Traffic/Transportation Engineering Courses
Robotic total stations
GPS/GIS
Traffic counting camera
Radar speed guns
Various sensors for temperature, humidity, stress and other similar physical parameters

18. Thank You!