8/5/21 - WMU gets special grant

A grant awarded to WMU will aid in research for autonomous cars.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- (Mlive) - A multimillion-dollar grant awarded to Western Michigan University will help accelerate research into energy-efficient autonomous cars.

Researchers in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences received a three-year, $2.5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research aimed at developing infrastructure-based technology to improve the energy efficiency in autonomous vehicles, according to a press release from the university.

“We’re grateful for this investment, which is a wonderful vote of confidence in our track record and research efforts improving autonomous vehicle technology,” said Steven Carr, interim vice president for research and innovation at Western.

Cost and convenience are two major barriers keeping fully autonomous vehicles off roads today. In order for a car to operate fully on its own, it requires large and expensive technology that drains both batteries and bank accounts, the release said.

Autonomous vehicles use sensors being fed into a “super computer” that processes the sensor outputs and runs cutting-edge artificial intelligence, the release said.

“It sounds cool, but it turns out that it uses a lot of energy,” said Zachary Asher, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Energy Efficient and Autonomous Vehicles Lab.

The team of researchers at WMU will investigate ways to embed technology in external sources such as the roadway or offload some of the sensors, ultimately reducing energy output. This would also improve the range of electric vehicles, requiring fewer chargers on longer trips, the release said.

“I’m excited about this project because it’s a fundamentally different approach to achieving autonomous vehicles than what researchers have done to date,” Asher said. “What this means for Western is we have a chance to start majorly contributing to the statewide mobility ecosystem. We have a chance to start expanding the entire state of Michigan’s influence in this area.”

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton said the grant is “well-deserved boost for WMU’s ongoing autonomous vehicle research.”

“Yes, climate change is real, and technology developed here at institutions like WMU will certainly chart a path forward for a cleaner tomorrow,” Upton said. “Clean energy jobs will help rebuild the American economy and protect our planet.”

Other partners in the project include Oak Ridge National Lab, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and DriveU.auto.