SmartWorkZone - Situational awareness messages in the vehicle when driving through a work zone area.

Congestion due to a work zone can cause accidents, as the drivers may not be prepared to take sudden actions ahead of a work zone or in some cases may not have enough visibility/time. Transmitting alert messages in advance can enable the driver to take safety precautionary measures so that it is beneficial to both the driver and the work zone personnel. The proposal aims to develop a scalable solution both in terms of technology/device and the operations for managing and retrofitting existing work zone devices with DSRC transmitters in order to deliver work zone related messages to the drivers. We plan to explore a solution that consists of a stand-alone portable road-side unit (RSU) fitted into an existing work zone device and On-board Units (OBUs) residing in vehicles. The work zone devices can be remotely accessed via secure communications as well as network with other work zone devices in the vicinity such that an effective and smart coverage of relay of work zone messages can be provided of a defined coverage area.