ATI’s Emergent Initiative Program
Our lab program is an investment in identifying areas of opportunity to incubate new research opportunities that are expected to mature into a level of “research center.” These labs are a collaborative effort that puts the institute’s research themes into measurable action. We also intend to venture into other areas of research that are not directly outlined in these themes. In the labs, we identify public transportation issues and ways to address them with an interdisciplinary approach.
Control Algorithms and Sensing for Autonomy Lab (CASA)
DIGITAL TRANSPORTATION COLLABORATORY
The Control Algorithms and Sensing for Autonomy Lab is interested in advancing state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle technology. The CASA lab is directly involved in student competitions such as the Indy Autonomous Challenge where the boundaries of what is possible with autonomous vehicles are being pushed to new levels. The CASA lab seeks to continue to innovate in the autonomous vehicle and ADAS area while also examining safety-related aspects of these technologies.
Director: Brandon Dixon
Laboratory for Location Science (LLS)
DIGITAL TRANSPORTATION COLLABORATORY & SAFETY, SECURITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY COLLABORATORY
The Laboratory for Location Science is dedicated to interdisciplinary research that addresses applied and theoretical problems with a fundamental focus on spatial relationships and efficiently solving problems with a location component. The Laboratory supports a broad range of scientific approaches and technologies and serves a wide community of scholars. The Laboratory provides research, education, training, and outreach opportunities to students, faculty, and our community of stakeholders. Learn more about LLS at http://locationscience.ua.edu/index.html.
Director: Kevin Curtin & Nicholas Magliocca
Virtual Immersive Space and Innovative Technology Lab (VISIT)
DIGITAL TRANSPORTATION COLLABORATORY
The Virtual Immersive Space and Innovative Technology Lab is focused on discovering, creating, and integrating cutting-edge visualization and immersion technology as part of advanced transportation research. This technology includes virtual, augmented, and extended reality as well as directly rendered recreations of physical environments with local and remote sensor sources.
Director: Jeremy Pate
Connected and Automated Mobility Lab (CAM)
CONNECTED VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE COLLABORATORY
We are rapidly approaching a frontier where connected and smart technologies are poised to propel transportation into a future of autonomous vehicles, connected infrastructure, and intelligent mobility systems.
The focus research areas of CAM Lab are under the umbrella of connected and automated mobility as follows:
- ground connected and automated vehicles
- cybersecurity of vehicles and infrastructure
- privacy of connected and automated mobility
- unmanned aerial vehicles (drone) for transportation applications
- smart and connected transportation infrastructure
- urban air mobility (UAM)
The CAM Lab’s long-term vision is to conduct research to ensure safe, efficient, and resilient travel within tomorrow’s intelligent transportation systems.
Director: Mizanur Rahman
Lab for Intelligent Sensing and Computing (LISC)
CONNECTED VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE COLLABORATORY
LISC is focusing on solving unique environmental sensing challenges in connected and autonomous vehicles with multi-modal sensors (radar, camera, LiDAR). Research projects include automotive radar signal processing, physical-aware radar machine learning, multi-modal sensor fusion, multi-vehicle-based collaborative sensing, and computationally efficient algorithm innovations in signal processing, sensing, and fusion.
Director: Shunqiao Sun
NextGen Transportation Lab
CONNECTED VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE COLLABORATORY & SAFETY, SECURITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY COLLABORATORY
The NextGen Transportation Lab brings a unique perspective to understand the roles of travelers, vehicles, infrastructures and policies in future transportation systems. The Lab conducts data-driven and simulation-enabled research. The research outcomes lead to actionable solutions to transportation challenges related to planning, operation, safety and environment.
Learn more about NextGen Transportation Lab at: https://spark.adobe.com/page/bPbQxqyPe6APi/
Director: Dr. Jun Liu
Traffic Lab (TL)
CONNECTED VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE COLLABORATORY
The University of Alabama Traffic Lab is dedicated to traffic hardware and operations research. Researchers at UA work with all major manufacturers of traffic signal controllers. The Traffic Lab has been involved with producing the next-generation advanced traffic controller (ATC) data standards for automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPMs). The Traffic Lab has access to more than 200 traffic signals across the state in multiple cities. The Traffic Lab also works on connected vehicle research and the integration with traffic infrastructure. The Traffic Lab has close research ties with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). Funding and support have been through ALDOT, USDOT, FHWA, NSF, DOE, and others.
Director: Alex Hainen
Complex Spatial Systems Lab (CSSL)
SAFETY, SECURITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY COLLABORATORY
The Complex Spatial Systems Lab advances understanding of transportation systems as ‘systems of systems’ with a focus on the interdependent challenges of security, equity, and sustainability. Transportation systems intertwine these challenges in salient issues like social vulnerability, infrastructure resilience, and uneven impacts of climate change. CSSL integrates the perspectives and tools of geographical, location, and socio-ecological system sciences to investigate (in)accessible transportation systems as both the causes of and solutions to economic, social, and spatial inequities and security concerns.
Directors: Kevin Curtin & Nicholas Magliocca
Mobi-X Lab
SAFETY, SECURITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY COLLABORATORY and ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND FUEL ECONOMY COLLABORATORY
The Mobi-X Lab focusses on translating knowledge from high-fidelity modeling and large-scale mobility data to the development of sustainable, efficient, and resilient transportation systems. The Mobi-X Lab is especially interested in the interdependency between transportation systems (Mobility) and other social, cyber, and physical dynamics (X). Particular examples include the shift of public transportation usage, the adoption and charging of electric vehicles, and the coupling with the power grid, and the transmission of infectious diseases.
Learn more about the research at Mobi-X: https://mobi-x.ua.edu/research.html
Director: Xinwu Qian
Decarbonization Lab (DL)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND FUEL ECONOMY COLLABORATORY
The Decarbonization Lab will address the decarbonization of the transportation sector. The lab will implement a systems framework to examine and develop technologies towards the implementation of a clean, economical and sustainable transportation system in the State of Alabama through a) the utilization of renewable energy in transportation, and b) direct air capture of atmospheric CO2 for decarbonization and the development of products such as carbon-negative fuels, batteries, and materials.
Director: Shahriar Amini
Lab of Innovative Materials for Transportation Infrastructure Decarbonization (LIMTID)
SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE COLLABORATORY
The LIMTID aims to decarbonize the transportation infrastructure through material innovation and using transportation infrastructure as a potent lever to combat climate change.
Directors: Jialai Wang, Wei Song, Armen Amirkhanian, & Chao Zhao