DriveOhio to monitor traffic and road incidents with drones

DriveOhio will use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to understand how to manage traffic, roadway incidents and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor from 1 July. The three-year project, valued $5.9m, is intended to complement autonomous and connected vehicle tests along the 35-mile stretch between Dublin and East Liberty.
June 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
DriveOhio will use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to understand how to manage traffic, roadway incidents and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor from 1 July. The three-year project, valued $5.9m, is intended to complement autonomous and connected vehicle tests along the 35-mile stretch between Dublin and East Liberty.


This study stems from a partnership between DriveOhio’s UAS Center and the Ohio State University College of Engineering.

The research will be carried out by air and ground vehicles while the drones will monitor traffic and incident response along with the state's fixed-location traffic camera system. The UAS will interact with sensors and communication equipment to feed data into the state’s traffic management centre.

Additionally, the initiative will use sensors and communication devices to ensure unmanned aircraft will not collide with each other or with small planes and helicopters.

Fred Judson, director of DriveOhio’s UAS Center, says: “This research project will make the development of that safety system a priority so that other aircraft operations such as package delivery and air taxi services can be explored down the road.”

Other members involved in the project include Cal Analytics, Gannett Fleming, Airxos, Gryphon Sensors, Transportation Research Center, Woolpert, the Ohio State University Airport and Midwest Air Traffic Control.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Land of ITS opportunities
    February 6, 2012
    Geographically, Russia, the largest country in the world, is vast. So too are the opportunities for the global ITS community, which is why ITS Russia has been actively promoting the country and the opportunities that abound there
    Read More
  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • Dubai metro - the world's longest automated rail system
    July 31, 2012
    David Crawford reviews the recent opening of Dubai's Red Line. The US$7.6bn Dubai Metro, the Phase I Red Line of which started partial operation in September 2009, will be the world's longest driverless rail system on its planned completion in 2011. With a total length of some 75km, it will then overtake the 68.7km Vancouver SkyTrain and be able to carry over 1.2 million passengers on a typical day.
    Read More
  • Solar-powered traffic detection improves communication
    January 31, 2012
    Pete Goldin reports on a new wireless, solar-powered traffic detection system being used by Caltrans District 12. As more and more traffic data is necessary to satisfy the needs of traffic management centres and traveller information systems, and as traffic detection technology becomes more ubiquitous, transportation authorities are pressured to find more economical ways of expanding their detection systems. Caltrans District 12 is leading this push by deploying the latest detection system from Case Global
    Read More

Highlighted Content