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Intelligent Transportation Laboratory
Scope
The mission of the ITL is to improve road transportation safety through development and application of state-of-the-art sensors, actuators, and control systems.
In addition to the above mentioned categories of interest, the functional performance areas of ride and handling are of prime interest in passenger as well as race industry. Through the accumulation and use of subjective and objective test data, it is possible to develop ride and handling performance metrics that will allow synthesis of all chassis subsystems for optimum ride and handling performance.
Equipment
The lab will eventually become a state of the art R&D laboratory for road-tire-vehicle dynamics and control studies. In addition to the equipment that will be built as needed and purchased as the budget allows, several software packages will be developed in order to simulate tire-vehicle handling and ride performance, develop control algorithms, and process the measured road data.
One such equipment which is under construction is a Simbuck which will embed brake system hardware in the loop for development of VSC and ABS control algorithms. The Simbuck will be capable of connecting to the Motion Base Simulator for a more realistic control algorithm evaluation environment.
A tire force and moment test trailer is also being designed and build which will allow tire testing in most on and off road conditions.
Brief Biographies
 Dr. Taheri is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. He is the director of the Intelligent Transportation Laboratory (part of Virginia Tech's Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety). Dr. Taheri conducted research in tire-vehicle dynamics and chassis development in the automotive industry for 18 years before becoming a faculty member at Virginia Tech. His research expertise is in tire-vehicle dynamics, controllable chassis subsystems, objective vehicle measurement and data analysis, and steering and suspension synthesis. Taheri has assisted in publishing more than 20 journals, books and conferences over the past years. In February of 2011, he was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
Brad Hopkins is a PhD candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2008 and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2009. He currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety in Blackbsurg, VA. His research includes: on and off road tire modieling, vehicle handling dynamics and stability control, defect detection in railroads, and railcar dynamics.
Mustafa Ali Arat is a PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. He recieved his B.S. from Izmir Institute of Technolgy in 2006 and his M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, both in Mechanical Engineering. He is now working in the ITL as a Research Assistant. His current research includes the development of a smart tire concept and studying its applications in vehicle safety and control systems.
Kanwar Singh is currently pursuing a Master's in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech with a concentration in Dynamics and Controls. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Pune, India in 2007. Thereafter, he worked at Tata Motors where he gained active work experience for a year and a half. He has been working as a Graduate Research Assistant at the ITL since August 2009. His research interests are in the areas of: tire vehicle dynamics and control, optimal estimation techniques, digital signal processing and energy harvesting. |
