ASME Sponsors May 7 Electric, Autonomous Vehicle Event At ACM

YPSILANTI—The American Society of Mechanical Engineers will sponsor “Electric/Self-Drive Vehicle Technology In Action” Tuesday, May 7 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the American Center for Mobility, 2701 Airport Drive in Ypsilanti.

The event will be held inside Hangar 1 at ACM, 801 Kirk Profit Drive. Signs will guide visitors from the site entrance to the event.

Michigan Technological University’s Mobile Lab trailer will be making a stop at ACM for the event, showcasing a fleet of electrified vehicles that have had connected and autonomous vehicle technologies integrated into them. More at https://www.mtu.edu/hybrid/.

ACM is a joint effort of the state of Michigan, the Michigan DOT, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the University of Michigan, Business Leaders for Mcihigan, Ann Arbor Spark, and Ypsilanti Township. It opened for testing of autonomous and connected vehicles in December and had a formal grand opening in April.

ACM is situated on about 400 acres of the former Ypsilanti manufacturing site that was home to both the Willow Run bomber plant during World War II and various functions of General Motors (and earlier, the automaker Kaiser-Frazer). It features a 2.5-mile high-speed replica freeway, interchanges, boulevards, rural highways and urban streets for autonomous vehicle testing. Corporate partners in the site include automakers Ford, Toyota, Subaru, and Hyundai, suppliers such as Visteon, and tech companies such as AT&T, Siemens, Microsoft, and Adient.

More at www.acmwillowrun.org.

The event agenda includes:

Brief discussion of current electric/self-drive technology including the engines.
What the Mobile Lab is & does, presented by Chris Morgan, Director of the MTU Mobile Lab
What the research team works on at MTU, presented by Chris Morgan
Demonstrate first hand some connectivity technology with a fleet of 4-6 vehicles next to the Mobile Lab.
Take people for rides in the vehicles mentioned above around the area or on the track.
Discuss the NEXTCAR project, which is all about energy savings in automotive applications.
Show examples of heavy duty mobility applications.
Cover some information on modelling, model predictive control traffic design.

Food and beverages will be provided, and a certificate will be issued to registrants for 2 professional development hour credits.

The event is free to students, $5 to members and $10 for nonmembers.

Please RSVP to [email protected] by May 1 with the full name and email address of all attendees.

About the Author: Matt Roush

Matt Roush is Managing Editor of the University News Bureau and Director of Media Relations at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, and co-host of MITech TV with MITechNews founder and publisher Mike Brennan. Before joining LTU, Roush spent more than 30 years as a reporter and editor covering high tech, business, and local government for media outlets including WWJ Newsradio 950, Crain’s Detroit Business, the Kalamazoo Gazette, and the Traverse City Record-Eagle.