Fort Carson Smart Transportation Testbed
The Fort Carson Smart Transportation Testbed was a $4 million program that tested the viability of autonomous vehicles and sensor-based technologies to:
- Reduce military transportation costs
- Deliver faster services on site
- Improve overall public safety
This joint effort between US Ignite, Fort Carson, the city of Colorado Springs, and the University of Colorado’s Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV) ran for two years (2019-2021). It was funded and managed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).
Three main projects were completed as part of the Fort Carson Smart Transportation Testbed projects:
Mountain Express Automated Shuttle
The Mountain Express Automated Shuttle was launched at Fort Carson in September 2020 to provide passenger service to four key facilities in the post’s central cantonment area. The shuttle operated in the evening hours each weekday along a fixed 3.1-mile route. The main objective of running the Mountain Express was to gain insightful expertise with operating an AV on the mixed traffic roads of a military facility. Read our AV Playbook for a deep look at the lessons learned through this deployment.
Two shuttles were used as part of the Mountain Express AV Shuttle Project. Watch the video below to see the shuttles in action.
(The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.)
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
GreenSight was contracted to pilot real-time detection of runway foreign object debris (FOD) through their Automated Aerial Runway Inspection and Safety Scan (AARISS) system. AARISS integrates a specially designed mix of computer vision and machine learning algorithms to detect and classify FOD on asphalt surfaces. After detecting objects it streams information and images back to an operator control tablet.
CBRS Wireless Network
A new Citizens Broadband Radio Spectrum (CBRS) wireless network was installed at Fort Carson. Initially, the network supported the upload of vehicle data generated by the Mountain Express Automated Shuttle and from video traffic from route-monitoring cameras. Now the CBRS wireless network will be leveraged to connect traffic and weather sensors part of the Traffic and Weather Predictive Model Platform project at Fort Carson.
