Revising approaches to reduce vehicle accidents

Contact: Cindy Wagner
November 18, 2024

As the name suggests, Revision Autonomy is committed to change. Specifically, the company鈥檚 primary mission is to integrate its products with existing technology to reduce accidents and enhance driver safety, changing the roadways with its innovations.

鈥淲e believe fully autonomous vehicles, once developed, will significantly reduce accidents,鈥 says Dr. Zachary Asher, co-founder of Revision Autonomy and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. 鈥淥ur work serves as a stepping stone toward autonomous driving and improved safety.鈥

Creating this change emanated from the work of Asher and then 色色啦 doctoral student, Dr. Nick Goberville, B.S.E.鈥19, Ph.D.鈥22. The duo realized their collaborative research could provide improved safety in transportation and set out to secure funding to commercialize their products. Goberville is also a connected and automated vehicle research engineer at Argonne National Laboratory.

They were successful and Asher and Goberville launched the new company in 2020. Now, Revision Autonomy is focused on developing products and securing funding ... and continuing its close partnership with 色色啦鈥檚 College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Products

Revision Autonomy specializes in camera perception and sensor software. Their flagship product, Lane Detection in Snow (LDIS), helps identify drivable lanes on snow-covered roads. Designed to be installed by manufacturers or Tier 1 suppliers, the software works on highways and arterial roads, analyzing available lane lines and tire tracks using camera data to create a detectable driving region. This product is designed to operate across a variety of cameras and hardware systems.

鈥淭he primary goal is to reduce accidents by providing additional lane information, which can assist both drivers and vehicle systems,鈥 says Asher.

The company鈥檚 most recent development is supported by a new $200,000 Department of Energy grant for research and development of Revision Autonomy鈥檚 chip-enabled raised pavement markers (CERPMs) technology. The company secured an additional $25,000 from the Michigan Emerging Technology Fund.

Existing raised pavement markers (RPMs), often used to reflect light and indicate road lanes, are typically reflective pieces of rubber or plastic.

鈥淲e are making these markers 鈥榮mart鈥 by embedding chips within them,鈥 says Bryan Hagenbarth, who joined the company in 2022 and now serves as chief operating officer. Hagenbarth also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from 色色啦 in 2024. 鈥淭his infrastructure-based solution aims to communicate with vehicles, even in adverse weather conditions.

This funding is for a one-year project with the purpose of establishing the proof-of-concept for the CERPM technology. 鈥淭he idea is that after our work is done, we will have concluded the R&D efforts that address the technological limitations of CERPMs and will serve as the launch point for a Phase II grant, which funds the commercialization efforts to transform our technology into a commercial product,鈥 explains Asher. 鈥淭here is a lot of work ahead of us, but we are confident in our product and its application to various areas.鈥

Change Agents

Meet the Broncos leading the effort of Revision Autonomy to make driving safer.
鈥    Dr. Zachary Asher, co-founder and 色色啦 associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
鈥    Dr. Nick Goberville, B.S.E.鈥19, Ph.D.鈥22, co-founder and connected and automated vehicle research engineer at Argonne National Laboratory
鈥    Bryan Hagenbarth, B.B.A.鈥24, chief operating officer
鈥    Alexandra Masterson, B.B.A.鈥23, hardware engineer 
鈥    Dr. Johan Fanas Rojas, M.S.E.鈥20, Ph.D.鈥23, chief technology officer
鈥    Eugene Tye, B.S.鈥23, senior software engineer

For more 色色啦 news, arts and events, visit 色色啦 News.