COLUMBUS – Drones will start criss-crossing the skies above U.S. Route 33 in Union County this summer as the state tries to find out if unmanned aircraft can play a role in developing driverless cars and trucks.
DriveOhio, the state’s new center for coordinating smart mobility initiatives, announced plans Thursday to study the use of drones to monitor traffic and road conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor as a three-year, $5.9 million partnership between DriveOhio’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center and The Ohio State University College of Engineering.
“This project will help us explore the intersection between autonomous and connected vehicles on land and in the air. The goal is to understand how we can better manage traffic, roadway incidents, and roadway conditions using advanced technology and data analysis,” said DriveOhio executive director Jim Barna.
The project is scheduled to begin on July 1.
Governor John Kasich created DriveOhio within the state Transportation Department in January to bring together the agency responsible for building infrastructure with those who are developing advanced mobility technologies, including autonomous vehicles and road-to-vehicle communications systems. The UAS center supports flight operations for government agencies.
During the test, drones will monitor traffic and incident response along the 35-mile stretch of U.S. 33 between Dublin and East Liberty in conjunction with the state’s existing traffic cameras. The aircraft will interact with sensors and communication equipment along the corridor to feed data into the state’s Traffic Management Center.
The project will also use sensors and communication to ensure the drones will not collide with each other or with the estimated 5,000 manned small planes or helicopters that are believed to be using lower altitude airspace somewhere in the United States at any given time.