NXP partners with Columbus Smart City Challenge

NXP Semiconductors N.V. has announced the next phase in its Smart City collaboration with Columbus, Ohio, the winner of the 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation’s $40 million Smart City Challenge.

NXP will contribute key technologies for smart and safe mobility to the Smart Columbus Experience Center.

Smart Center. On June 30, the City of Columbus celebrated the opening of its Smart Columbus Experience Center. The center allows visitors to see how new mobility options, such as connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles, will help make Columbus a more connected community.

Hands-on educational experiences and technology demonstrations aim to show visitors how technology and innovation in transportation can grow the local economy and create ladders of opportunity for central Ohio residents.

Visitors to the Smart Columbus Experience Center will learn how Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Technology allows cars to communicate with each other as well as with intelligent traffic infrastructure to keep mobility safe and efficient. (Image: NXP USA)

Cohda Wireless. As part of the Smart Columbus Experience Center initiative, NXP and Cohda Wireless will deploy a connected vehicle environment through the center’s electric vehicle test drive area so drivers can experience this future technology in person.

NXP has also donated an electric motorcycle with an accompanying drone that alerts the driver to dangers or delays ahead.

Key smart city technologies

As part of its commitment to Columbus, NXP will continue to contribute key mobility technologies to the Smart Columbus Experience Center, including:

• NXP’s RoadLINK V2X technology allows cars to communicate with each other as well as with intelligent traffic infrastructures. The IEEE802.11p Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) standard allows cars to securely connect to each other as well as to infrastructure. DSRC technology is the only ADAS sensor that can look around the corner and offers lowest latency in the communication.
• Smart Card IC technology that enhances transportation for all citizens by supporting secure and convenient public transportation ticketing and payment systems, including contactless transit fare solutions.
• Highly secure NXP Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions designed to promote public safety and convenience. Smart City applications for this NXP technology include vehicle window stickers that enhance driver convenience and reduce municipal costs by eliminating the need for stop-and-pay stations in public parking spaces.

NXP eBike and Drone demo at the new Smart Columbus Experience Center shows how drones could send real-time video of a traffic incident to a city emergency vehicle. (Image: NXP USA)

Concept of Operations released

Smart Columbus, the smart city initiative from the City of Columbus, in July released the Concept of Operations for its Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE) pilot.

The Concept of Operations outlines in detail how the CVE pilot will be implemented over the next two years. The pilot will involve:

• 113 road side units (RSUs) that will be installed at intersections with stoplights
• up to 1,800 on-board units (OBUs) that will be installed on participating private, emergency transit and freight vehicles, and
• 12 vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure applications that will be deployed, according to the document.

Goals of the CVE pilot include improvements of:

• vehicle operator safety
• intersection safety
• school zone safety
• reliability of transit vehicle schedule adherence
• emergency vehicle response times
• traffic management capabilities.

Smart city demonstrations. Visitors to the Smart Columbus Experience Center can try out electric automobiles. A fleet of six electric vehicles will be on display and is available for test drives through a connected vehicle environment provided by NXP and Cohda Wireless.

Vehicles on display or available for test drives include:

• a BMW i3 provided by BMW
• a Chevrolet Bolt provided by Dave Gill Chevrolet
• a Honda Clarity provided by Honda
• a Mercedes-Benz GLE 55e provided by Daimler
• a Nissan LEAF provided by Nissan North America
• a Toyota Prius Prime provided by Toyota.

An electric motorcycle provided by NXP and a Ford Ojo electric scooter are also on display.