University of Michigan to Build Vehicle Test Complex

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan is helping bring a future of networked and driver-less cars closer to reality with its soon to be completed Mobility Transformation Facility (MTF). This 32-acre vehicle test complex will open on the university’s North Campus in fall 2014. University representatives and industry members of the school’s Mobility Transformation Center (MTC) held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the facility in May.

According to a release issued by university, the MTC is designed to let researchers test how automated and networked vehicles respond to rare but dangerous traffic events and road conditions. University researchers say such testing is a vital step in making sure these advanced vehicles, whether propelled with human assistance or independently, can operate safely in the real world.

The patent-pending MTF will include both a simulated city center and four-lane highway, featuring all the trappings of a working roadway system, and will simulate a broad range of complexities vehicles encounter in both urban and suburban environments. The facility will include three miles of roadways, as well as merge lanes, stoplights, intersections, roundabouts, road signs, fire hydrants, bike lanes, flexible building facades, a railroad crossing, construction barriers and other obstacles. A mechanical pedestrian is even slated to join the MTF at a later date. 



Researchers believe a system in which vehicles are capable of communication with other vehicles, as well as with the world around them, could have a number of benefits. These benefits could include reducing crashes, traffic, pollution and even energy use.

The university’s engineering researchers are currently working with Ford Motor Co. to develop sensors and mapping technology for the test vehicle, which will be an automated version of the company’s Fusion hybrid.

“We will actually be writing code for the test facility,” said Edwin Olson, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, in a release. “We’ll be able to trigger tricky traffic signal timings, or a pedestrian stepping into the intersection at just the wrong time, for example.” 


The facility will be operated by the MTC, a public-private partnership that aims to change how people and goods move around. Funding was provided in part by The College of Engineering, one of several university members of the center, and two Michigan Engineering robotics researchers will be among its first users. 


“The College of Engineering brings expertise in robotics and how to test sophisticated machines,” said Peter Sweatman, director of both the Mobility Transformation Center and the U-M Transportation Research Institute in a release.

“The type of testing we’re talking about doing — it’s not possible to do today in the university infrastructure,” said Ryan Eustice, an associate professor of naval architecture and marine engineering, in a statement. “Every time a vehicle comes around the loop, it can hit something unusual. That will give us a leg up on getting these vehicles mature and robust and safe.”