The Design of a Minimal Sensor Configuration for a Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System - Stop Sign Assist: CICAS-SSA Report #2

The deployment of a Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System - Stop Sign Assist (CICAS-SSA) can save lives by addressing the causal factor of crashes at rural thru-stop intersection: drivers who stop on the minor leg of the intersection, improperly assess the gaps in the traffic on the major leg, proceed, and are then hit.

The prototype CICAS-SSA system consisted of a network of sensors covering both the minor and the major legs of the intersection. Sensors on the minor road monitored the approach of vehicles and classified them based on their length and height. Sensors along the major road were arrayed to track vehicles (and the gaps between them) approaching the crossroads from 2000 feet away as a means to ensure that the tracking algorithm had sufficient time to "lock on" and track all approaching vehicles.

Because cost is a primary concern for any highway safety application, the development of a "minimal sensor set" which would provide adequate safety performance for minimum cost was paramount to the success of the CICAS-SSA program. This report documents the development of this minimal sensor configuration.