Center: IUCRC Phase I Purdue University: Center for Freight & Logistics Efficiency with Electrified & Automated Trucking (FLEET)

The Center for Electrified and Automated Trucking (CEAT) is an Industry-University Collaborative Research Center led by Purdue University in Indianapolis as the lead site, with Indiana University Indianapolis as an affiliate site and the University of Memphis as a second site. The trucking industry is a linchpin of the U.S. economy, supporting the supply chains of many other sectors, moving nearly every product consumed in the U.S., and employing nearly 8 million people, including over 3 million truck drivers. Trucking is a leading source of pollution and is much less automated than other transportation modes. Public transport buses share many technologies and challenges of trucks. CEAT’s vision is to converge and apply knowledge in emerging technologies in commercial vehicles and logistics networks for efficient, safe, agile, and sustainable freight and public transport for the benefit of all citizens, beyond those who can afford private passenger autonomous and electrified cars. CEAT will perform research to advance technologies in commercial transport vehicles to address freight and public transport challenges, such as driver shortages, supply-chain disruptions, service delays, emissions, and road safety. While conducting research to help CEAT industry partners develop their products, services, and operations, CEAT will train the next generation of engineers and scientists, promoting the inclusion of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering. CEAT will perform transformative research in vehicle electrification, automation, and supply-chain systems to harness emerging technologies for connected, electrified, and automated trucks and buses. CEAT will leverage nearly two decades of industry-supported research at the Transportation and Autonomous Systems Institute (TASI) in Indianapolis, as well as the access to relevant expertise throughout the Indiana University and Purdue University systems that TASI has historically engaged. CEAT will integrate knowledge from many disciplines, including engineering analysis, behavioral sciences, and business analytics, to tackle the technological and operational challenges associated with deploying electric and automated freight and public transportation systems. Potential topics that CEAT will investigate for industry include adoption models and business cases, electrification strategy, highly durable fuel-cells, optimal deployment of charging stations, operational strategies such as platooning and caravanning, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems, driver fatigue assessment, and strategies for addressing the workforce needs in the trucking industry. CEAT will generate significant new knowledge in interdisciplinary fields such as cooperative multi-agent control, 3D cognitive vision, automotive powertrain design, systems engineering, agile logistics, energy management, human-machine interaction, and vehicle data communication. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.