Connected Motorcycle System Performance

This project characterized the performance of Connected Vehicle Systems (CVS) on motorcycles based on two key components: global positioning and wireless communication systems. Considering that Global Positioning System (GPS) and 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) may be affected by motorcycle rider occlusion, antenna mounting configurations were investigated. In order to assess the performance of these systems, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s (VTTI) Data Acquisition System (DAS) was utilized to record key GPS and DSRC variables from the vehicle’s CVS Vehicle Awareness Device (VAD). In this project, a total of four vehicles were used where one motorcycle had a forward mounted antenna, another motorcycle had a rear mounted antenna, and two automobiles had centermounted antennas. These instrumented vehicles were then subject to several static and dynamic test scenarios on closed test track and public roadways to characterize performance against each other. Further, these test scenarios took into account motorcycle rider occlusion, relative ranges, and diverse topographical roadway environments.

From the results, both rider occlusion and approach ranges were shown to have an impact on communications performance. In situations where the antenna on the motorcycle had direct lineof-sight with another vehicle’s antenna, a noticeable increase in performance can be seen in comparison to situations where the line of sight is occluded. Further, the forward-mounted antenna configuration provided a wider span of communication ranges in open-sky. In comparison, the rear-mounted antenna configuration experienced a narrower communication range. In terms of position performance, environments where objects occluded the sky, such as deep urban and mountain regions, relatively degraded performance when compared to open sky environments were observed.