Multi-Incident Response Vehicle

Vaughan, Elijah W; Wiens, John; English, Michael; Frye, Jacob · 2023 · ROSA P / Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) University Transportation Center (UTC)

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This report details the development and testing of a Multi-Incident Response Vehicle (MIRV), an autonomous rover designed to enhance the safety of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) in challenging scenarios. Funded by the Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) National University Transportation Center and conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) in collaboration with Neaera Consulting Group, the project addresses the need for ADS vehicles to interact safely with public safety personnel and secure incident scenes. The primary motivation was to extend the perception and operational capabilities of an ADS vehicle beyond its physical boundaries, allowing it to perform dangerous tasks such as deploying warning devices while keeping passengers safe inside the vehicle. The MIRV is a rugged, weather-resistant rover docked underneath a Ford F-150 equipped with a Level 4+ ADS package. The hardware design features a chassis with pneumatic front wheels for traction and omnidirectional rear wheels for precise maneuvering, optimized with a 12:1 gear ratio for acceleration and low-speed control. The rover is capable of autonomously deploying and recovering non-incendiary LED road flares (Pi-Lits) in specific formations (spear or taper) to secure the scene. It also serves as an "eyes-on-the-ground" platform, streaming video and sensor data via cloud infrastructure to a mobile application, enabling remote teleoperation by human operators. The system utilizes a Robotic Operating System (ROS) architecture, LTE connectivity, and ArUco tags for precise docking alignment. Operational modes include full autonomy for predefined tasks and remote control for complex situations, with comprehensive fault states designed to prevent damage and ensure safety. Testing at VTTI demonstrated that the MIRV successfully met all primary and secondary goals. The rover repeatedly deployed from and docked into the garage mechanism autonomously. It successfully deployed and retrieved Pi-Lits in required lane-taper and spear formations within the time constraints, adhering to emergency signal placement regulations. The remote operation interface provided real-time video and sensor data with latency under the required 500 ms threshold, allowing users to effectively pilot the rover and monitor its status. The system also facilitated two-way audio communication and functioned as a mobile warning beacon. The significance of this work lies in demonstrating a viable technical solution for ADS vehicles to manage incident scenes without endangering occupants or requiring immediate human intervention on the roadway. By extending the vehicle’s capabilities through an autonomous rover, the MIRV improves situational awareness for remote fleet management and enhances safety during interactions with emergency responders. The project establishes a framework for integrating autonomous ground robots with ADS vehicles, offering a pathway for future applications where vehicles can perform necessary external functions autonomously or via remote supervision.

Key finding

The MIRV successfully demonstrated autonomous deployment, precise flare placement, and low-latency remote operation, validating its potential to enhance safety for automated vehicles in roadside incidents.

Methodology

field_study

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• teleoperation remote driving