Advancements in Smart Transportation: The Evolution of MUST Sensor Technology

In recent years, innovations in transportation technology have reshaped the landscape of mobility and safety. A team of researchers from the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) Smart Transportation Application and Research (STAR) Lab at the University of Washington (UW) developed the Mobility Unit for Sensing Traffic (MUST) technology to aid in such efforts.

MUST is a multisource roadside sensor that integrates computer vision, sensor fusion, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, and other Machine Learning (ML) technologies into an edge computing platform. It offers multiple functions with the same device: traffic sensing, road surface conditions, weather, and visibility data collection; data fusion and computation; and communication with traffic management center and road users. It provides a powerful yet cost-effective solution to the traffic data challenges and benefits all stakeholders in the road transportation ecosystem.