AI traffic safety project wins $750K prize from U.S. Department of Transportation

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa earned a $750,000 award from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), securing its position as a leader in transportation safety innovation.

A team, led by Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Professor Guohui Zhang, has developed an advanced artificial intelligence system that uses multiple types of sensors to detect and prevent potential crashes at intersections.

The funding was awarded through the DOT’s Intersection Safety Challenge. Zhang’s team was among four winners receiving the maximum prize amount. The competition aims to leverage emerging technologies to protect vulnerable road users at intersections, supporting the department’s goal of eliminating roadway deaths and serious injuries.

The system utilizes sensor fusion to combine data from multiple sources—LiDAR (which measures distances using laser pulses), RGB cameras (standard color cameras), thermal cameras (which detect heat signatures) and traffic signal data—creating highly accurate 3D tracking while using open vocabulary detection (the ability to identify new objects) to predict potential collision paths. This efficient design optimizes how the sensors work together to run on less expensive hardware while maintaining accuracy across different conditions, making it feasible to scale the technology to intersections across the country.

“This award highlights the University of Hawaiʻi’s commitment to advancing transportation safety through cutting-edge innovation,” Zhang said. “By leading this groundbreaking work, UH and the state of Hawaiʻi are not only shaping the future of safer intersections but also positioning themselves at the forefront of national efforts to save lives and protect communities.”

Building on success

This latest award builds on the team’s previous success in an earlier stage of the challenge, where UH received $100,000 for an initial concept paper. The earlier phase attracted 120 submissions, with only 15 teams advancing.

The DOT may advance the project to another potential stage, which would focus on developing and testing prototype systems in real-world conditions.

The project represents a collaboration between UH, Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT), Pacific International Center for High Technology Research and NEC Corporation of America.

“This recognition is really a demonstration of Hawaiʻi’s aggressive efforts to reduce traffic incidents on our roads,” College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka said. “The relationship between HDOT and the College of Engineering has really lifted Hawaiʻi on the national scale and shows how partnerships like these can help save lives.”

Zhang added, “We greatly appreciate all the strong partnerships with NEC Corporation of America to jointly work together to receive this highly competitive award. We are especially grateful for the support and leadership of Edwin Sniffen and Robin Shishido from HDOT, as well as Brennon Morioka from the UH College of Engineering, whose guidance and contributions were invaluable.”