Vanderbilt Engineers Pioneer AI-Powered Traffic Safety with Smart Highway Research

Vanderbilt professors Jonathan Sprinkle and Dan Work have teamed up to enhance highway safety and efficiency using AI-powered autonomous vehicle technology. Their groundbreaking research, supported by the National Science Foundation and key industry partnerships, led to the CIRCLES 100-Car Challenge, a large-scale experiment testing AI-driven cruise control in real traffic conditions.

Their work demonstrated how a single semi-autonomous vehicle can smooth traffic flow, reducing congestion and fuel consumption. Conducted on Tennessee’s I-24 MOTION smart highway—outfitted with 300 4K sensors tracking millions of vehicle miles—the project marks a milestone in real-world traffic management research.

With backing from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Nissan, and academic institutions like UC Berkeley, Rutgers, and Temple University, Work and Sprinkle continue to drive innovation in AI-assisted driving safety. Their collaboration, rooted in decades of research and friendship, is shaping the future of intelligent transportation systems.

Source: Mirage News