UCF researchers have beat nearly 50 other teams in a national traffic-safety-improvement competition and now find themselves the only university team competing among industry giants such as Ford and Uber.
Their entry, Real-Time Crash Visualization Tools for Traffic Safety Management, is a computer program that uses big data to predict, and hopefully prevent, traffic accidents before they happen.
Mohamed Abdel-Aty, a Pegasus Professor and chair of UCF鈥檚 Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, leads the research.
鈥淚f you reduce the risk, then you reduce the possibility of an accident or at least you reduce the severity of the accident,鈥� Mohamed Abdel-Aty, Pegasus professor
Using information including real-time traffic data, weather, history of past accidents and violations, and other data, the program predicts if the risk of an accident is increasing or decreasing and presents the probability in an easy-to-understand visual readout alongside a map overlaid with current traffic-flow conditions.
The idea is that if the risk of an accident rises, then transportation officials could implement measures on the spot to reduce the risk, such as reduced speeds, metered ramps and messages warning drivers of perilous conditions ahead.
鈥淚f you reduce the risk, then you reduce the possibility of an accident or at least you reduce the severity of the accident,鈥� Abdel-Aty says.
The national competition, known as the Solving for Safety Visualization Challenge, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Abdel-Aty鈥檚 team has progressed to stage II of the competition. They will find out in January if they become one of the two finalists to progress to stage III. The winning team will receive $250,000.
鈥淲e have about 30,000 traffic fatalities per year in this country, and millions of injuries. It鈥檚 too much. We have to change our thinking.鈥� 鈥撀燤ohamed Abdel-Aty, Pegasus professor
Abdel-Aty says his team鈥檚 tool represents a proactive approach to helping vehicular travel become less dangerous by recognizing dangerous roadways, intersections and conditions before the statistics about their hazards pile up.
鈥淲e have about 30,000 traffic fatalities per year in this country, and millions of injuries,鈥� Abdel-Aty says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too much. We have to change our thinking. So, for the first time, our system could make real-time improvements based on very rich data and very sophisticated algorithms and allow operators to see on the screen visually the different trends and different dynamics of what鈥檚 happening so they can make better decisions.鈥�
Abdel-Aty says he鈥檚 proud to have been selected as semifinalist in the competition and have the chance to have his research implemented into practice.
鈥淲e are the only university selected for stage II … this might be our opportunity to make a difference. So definitely it鈥檚 very exciting.鈥� 鈥撀燤ohamed Abdel-Aty, Pegasus professor
鈥淲e are the only university selected for stage II and to be in the company of Uber and Ford and these big companies with unlimited resources and we are working with students shows that we are doing very well,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd also, to finally reach a stage where all of the ideas that have been developed over the years, published, cited and well-appreciated could be applied. This might be our opportunity to make a difference. So definitely it鈥檚 very exciting.鈥�
Abdel-Aty received his doctorate in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis, and his master鈥檚 and bachelor鈥檚 of science degrees in civil engineering from Alexandria University. He joined 女仆AV in 1995.
The research team was comprised of students and researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, including students: Yina Wu, Jinghui Yuan, Morgan Morris,Qing Cai, Yaogang Gong, Ou Zheng, Jacob Lites, Jiajia Dong, Whoibin Chung, Moatz Saad, Lishengsa, Jorge Ugan Yue, Shile Zhang, Zubayer Islam, Md Sharikur Rahman, Md Hasibur Rahman and professors Samiul Hasan and Jaeyong Lee.
