The scope of the first phase of the UDOT partnership with Panasonic centres on enabling data collection on Utah roadways around specific use cases to impact greater safety and mobility. There are three key aspects to the deployment: vehicles; roadways; and a cloud platform.
To collect the data, Panasonic has installed connected vehicle technology roadside units (RSUs) on select Utah roadways, including the I-80 corridor, as well as connected vehicle technology onboard units (OBUs) in a small fleet of UDOT vehicles to begin generating data.
Cirrus by Panasonic, a cloud-based traffic data management platform, collects, analyses, and shares critical and complementary roadway data. The platform provides the ability for UDOT traffic operators to be notified of real-time traffic, incident and weather events happening on Utah’s connected roadways. Panasonic worked closely with UDOT’s traffic operators and other core user groups to determine UDOT's greatest needs and challenges, then collaborated to create the UDOT connected car ecosystem.
The goal of the UDOT V2X deployment is to bring real-time situational awareness of roadway incidents and conditions as well as prepare UDOT to leverage the data from connected vehicles expected to be on the roadways within the next five years.
Because V2X technology is new and constantly evolving, one of the biggest challenges faced by States and localities deploying V2X software is maintaining V2X hardware. As part of the UDOT project, Panasonic has developed software that provides real-time monitoring of the health of all RSUs and OBUs deployed on Utah roadways and fleet vehicles. Panasonic’s dedicated Operations and Maintenance team monitors these V2X hardware units 24/7 and can push software updates remotely or initiate work-orders for on-site maintenance when required.
