System Description
Research suggests that thousands of people are killed, hundreds of thousands are injured, and billions of dollars are wasted, every year during harsh adverse weather events. Even in the event that a high level of autonomy is achieved for autonomous vehicles in dry and sunny conditions, it will likely not translate to any reduction in these numbers, since people will always need to travel and transport goods, no matter the state of the road conditions.
The ADAPT (Autonomous Driving for Adverse Perceived Terrain) system is designed to combat this issue. The system serves to actively detect changes in road conditions and adjust the vehicle controls to account for these changes, making transitions into wet or otherwise unfavorable road conditions a much safer endeavor. Current systems are almost exclusively reactive, meaning that they only modify the vehicle’s actions after an incident has occurred, whereas the ADAPT system aims to predict future scenarios and maximize the ability to safely transport passengers and goods.