The 1997 automated highway free agent demonstration

In August 1997, the US National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC) presented a proof of technical feasibility demonstration of automated driving. It took place on I-15, in San Diego, California. Members of the consortium demonstrated many different functions: vision-based road following, following magnetic nails, following a radar reflective strip, radar-based headway maintenance, ladar-based headway maintenance, evolutionary systems, close vehicle following (platooning), cooperative maneuvering, obstacle detection and avoidance, mixed automated and manual driving, mixed automated cars and buses, and semi-automated maintenance. CMU led the effort to build one of the seven demonstration scenarios, the Free Agent Demonstration (FAD). The FAD involved two fully automated cars, one partially automated car, and two fully automated city buses. The scenario demonstrates lane entry, speed and headway control, lane following, lane changing, obstacle detection, and cooperative maneuvers. This paper describes the free agent demonstration itself, the technology that made the demonstration possible, and the future work to analyze the feasibility of turning the demonstration system into a practical prototype.