Older drivers represent a high-risk population on the road, due to age-related declines in cognition and perception. This presentation will review research that investigated whether an Older Driver Support System (ODSS) smartphone application, which was originally designed for teens, would be useful. The mixed-methods research approach centered on iterative re-design of the ODSS interface based on feedback and behavior of older drivers.

The project's user-centric design approach was successful at making the ODSS interface highly usable and accepted among older drivers.The presentation will also highlight the unique research methodology required to create a tailored product for older drivers, while also identifying the role that universal design has in reaching all drivers.

The fourth edition of the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide presents information on the latest state-of-the-practice in roadside safety. It presents procedures to determine a recommended minimum clear zone on tangent sections of roadway with variable side slopes and adjustments for horizontal curvature. The AASHTO Sixth Edition of A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book) enumerates a clear zone value for various functional classes of highway. This webinar will provide information on how roadside clear zones are to be provided in area with and without curbs. Clarification of the terminology used in various FHWA publications will be provided including the understanding of clear zones and their importance. The first half of the presentation will focus on how to minimize roadway departures. The second half of the presentation will focus on what should be done to mitigate crashes resulting from drivers drifting out of the travel lanes.

This presentation will describe efforts to produce an autonomous navigation framework in which the various components of the architecture work together to minimize the size, computation, and power required to achieve a robust sensing and navigation package. This includes a lightweight lidar odometry framework that extracts and relies on a small number of descriptive features to localize a ground vehicle, a real-time scan-by-scan terrain traversability mapping algorithm, and a hierarchical multiobjective motion-planning framework that is capable of safe and efficient decision making over these maps. These concepts will be demonstrated using the presenter's Clearpath Jackal electric unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

The presentation will also discuss the potential for machine learning techniques to outperform the costly optimization-based approaches that are repeatedly invoked in many UGV perception and decision-making processes. Although expensive to train, approaches such as deep learning with convolutional neural nets offer the promise of fast and scalable query time, and preliminary results will be presented in pursuit of this goal.

Applications to problems such as autonomously clearing snow on a campus driveway (in a GPS-unfriendly environment) and the detection and avoidance of pedestrians will be also be discussed.

Whether it be print, radio, television, online, or social, media has the power to highlight great projects or destroy them. Presentations from public relations professionals, members of the media, and experienced engineers will cover the basics of public relations, provide an understanding of the media, and highlight successful examples using the media for better community engagement. With this media training you will be able to clearly and confidently discuss projects with members of the media and build relationship that help with community engagement efforts. A follow-up webinar will delve more deeply into the role of social media in the profession.