[AutonomousVehicles] Georgia Tech’s Autonomous Vehicle Research Gets a Real-World Boost through Partnership with Delta, Curiosity Lab

[Cornelius Butler]

Below is an article on a major new partnership in Georgia Tech Autonomous
Vehicle Research. The original article is located at:
https://www.news.gatech.edu/2019/09/06/georgia-techs-autonomous-vehicle-research-gets-real-world-boost-through-partnership-delta

A new partnership with Delta Air Lines and Curiosity Lab at Peachtree
Corners <https://curiositylabptc.com/> will give Georgia Tech researchers
access to a real-life environment to test autonomous vehicles and smart
city technologies.

The collaboration, announced Sept. 5, will allow Georgia Tech’s Smart
Cities and Inclusive Innovation initiative
<http://www.smartcities.gatech.edu/> to offer seed funding from Delta for
projects across campus. Researchers will test their ideas and technologies
in Curiosity Lab’s living laboratory in Peachtree Corners.

“This is a wonderful example of industry-university-local government coming
together to advance innovative solutions to the built environment and
mobility,” said Debra Lam, managing director for Smart Cities and Inclusive
Innovation at Georgia Tech. “Providing access to such infrastructure will
help our researchers test new technologies and further our mission of
serving our community through innovation.”

The backbone of the partnership is Curiosity Lab’s 1.5-mile autonomous
vehicle test track. Owned by the city, it has 5G mobile data connectivity,
smart infrastructure like connected traffic lights, a dedicated fiber-optic
data network, and an operations center where researchers can track data
from all the connected devices and sensors on the track. The track is set
in a commercial office park in Peachtree Corners, just northeast of
Atlanta, and allows interaction with people and vehicles going about their
daily lives.

“Our 5G-enabled living laboratory will give Georgia Tech researchers the
opportunity to push the frontier of emerging technology in a real-world
setting that is almost impossible to replicate in a closed lab,” said Betsy
Plattenburg, executive director of Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners.
“Curiosity Lab also will provide those researchers an opportunity to
collaborate with other industry leaders and focus their research on
immediate challenges and results.”

While it might seem counterintuitive for Delta to be interested in cars,
especially the driverless variety, the advances that emerge from this
partnership could benefit customers and employees, according to Delta Chief
Operating Officer Gil West.

“Driving the leading edge of emerging technology means Delta can help shape
how industry adopts it,” West said. “Autonomous vehicle technology is one
of those innovations we see as having the potential to improve employee
safety, the customer experience and operational performance, and this
partnership will help us explore all of those possibilities.”

As autonomous vehicle research advances across the world, Delta sees
potential applications for autonomous cars, trucks or buses at airports and
beyond. For example, autonomous vehicles could help customers make tight
connections across an airport, deliver delayed baggage to customers, or
transport aircraft parts to airports.

West said this collaboration is an important part of the global airline’s
strategy to invest in solutions that empower customers and employees,
reduce the stresses of travel, and redefine the future of flying.

The collaboration builds on Georgia Tech’s autonomous mobility and
infrastructure work, which spans the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Institute for Robotics
and Intelligent Machines, the Office of Parking and Transportation
Services, and Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation.
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