{"id":21966,"date":"2020-02-20T15:12:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T15:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/?p=21966"},"modified":"2020-02-21T17:10:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T17:10:22","slug":"ronnie-chowdhury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/ronnie-chowdhury\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronnie Chowdhury: Asking the Right Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='fullscreen_slider_1'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first   container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='no scaling'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='21967'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_1'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment='scroll'  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-1 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-no scaling av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.6666666667%;' ><li style='background-position:top center;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Ronnie-Chowdhury.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-21966'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  style='height:25px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_hr  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:25px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"color: #f66733; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: -50px;\">RONNIE CHOWDHURY<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 72px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center; line-height: 1.1em;\">Asking the Right Questions<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  style='height:1px; margin-top:-50px'  class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_hr  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  style=' margin-top:30px; margin-bottom:30px;'  class='hr hr-custom hr-center hr-icon-no   avia-builder-el-6  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner   inner-border-av-border-thin' style=' width:1100px;' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<div  style='height:1px; margin-top:-50px'  class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_hr  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:25px; color:#999999; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Chowdhury brings together a diverse team to explore the development of safe, efficient, cost-effective and connected transportation systems<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  style='height:1px; margin-top:-50px'  class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-11  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_one_full  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  style=' margin-top:30px; margin-bottom:30px;'  class='hr hr-custom hr-center hr-icon-no   avia-builder-el-12  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner   inner-border-av-border-thin' style=' width:1100px;' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-13  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_hr  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:19px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">system of sensors, <\/span>cameras, computer systems and communication devices installed along Perimeter Road on the southside of Clemson\u2019s campus are tracking pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The system communicates with connected vehicles through a network protected with an innovative cybersecurity blanket.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cRight now, traffic signals can talk to vehicles,\u201d says Mashrur \u201cRonnie\u201d Chowdhury, director of the U.S. Department of Transportation Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility (C2M2) at Clemson. \u201cA camera sees pedestrians, and we have developed an algorithm so the system can instantly calculate the pedestrian\u2019s safety risk at intersections and, if needed, communicate a warning to prevent an accident.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Chowdhury sees great opportunity for connected cyberphysical systems to reduce accidents, move freight more efficiently, reduce traffic congestion and even reduce fuel consumption. The Connected and Automated Vehicles Testbed along Perimeter Road provides a platform for testing connected vehicles and related technologies, but Chowdhury is looking beyond the functionality of the car, the sensors, the software or the communication devices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cWe want to develop technologies to protect the system,\u201d Chowdhury says. \u201cIf we see that these systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks, then autonomous vehicles will never be mainstreamed. To build public trust, we must make sure systems are secure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">That requires developing resilient cyberphysical systems that detect and disarm attacks instantly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Chowdhury, the Eugene Douglas Mays Professor of Transportation in the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, with joint appointments in computer science and automotive engineering, is bringing together experts from diverse disciplines to answer questions that could support the development of safe, efficient, cost-effective, connected, cyberphysical multimodal transportation systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Social and behavioral science experts are helping to understand if people will accept autonomous, connected vehicles. \u201cIn the U.S., more than 36,000 people die in roadway crashes each year,\u201d Chowdhury says. More than 90 percent of these, he says, are due to human factors. But incidents involving automated vehicles get a lot of publicity, which influences public opinion even as automated vehicles are reducing accidents overall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThere are major ethical questions as well,\u201d Chowdhury says. \u201cLet\u2019s say a vehicle needs to swerve to avoid a pedestrian but doing so could seriously injure the occupant of the vehicle. How will such decisions be made when programming vehicles? I believe we need a national standard, a public policy to guide these decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">There is also the question of how connected and automated vehicles will be incorporated into society. \u201cWill this technology be accessible to all people or just people with resources?\u201d Chowdury asks. \u201cThese are expensive vehicles. So are we just opening it up to the private market? Will we first deploy these for public transit? What are the economic consequences or impacts of vehicle automation? We need to look at social and economic interests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Chowdhury has also assembled a team of social and behavioral scientists, engineers and computer scientists, including collaborators at Virginia Tech, Florida International University and the University of Texas at Dallas, to continue development of secure technologies through a planned establishment of an engineering research center. The team includes experts in information assurance, battlespace coordination, game theory, behavior pattern detection, software and system security, malware program analysis, secure cloud computing, data mining, human-centered computing, social-network analysis, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">\u201cClemson\u2019s autonomous vehicle is an open system, so we can program the robot and see how it operates,\u201d Chowdury says. \u201cWe will test how easily we can hack the system, so we can improve the cybersecurity. We can also evaluate sensors to see if we can reduce the cost. We are looking at the software and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>communications infrastructure. There is so much opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div  style='height:100px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-15  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_comments_list '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n<div  class='av-buildercomment   '><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chowdhury brings together a diverse team to explore the development of safe, efficient, cost-effective and connected transportation systems<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[229,230,231],"coauthors":[12],"class_list":["post-21966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-profiles","tag-2020-faculty-profiles","tag-ronnie-chowdhury","tag-transportation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Ronnie-Chowdhury.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9IEky-5Ii","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21966"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}