The National Science Foundation is funding the Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3) for five years with $26 million, renewable for an additional five years for a total of up to $52 million.
CS3’s goal is to create livable, safe and inclusive communities through new streetscape applications built upon real-time, hyper-local streetscape intelligence. This will require engineering advancements in wireless/optical communications, edge/cloud computing, situational awareness, privacy and security.
The CS3 team will explore advanced wireless technologies — “beyond 5G” — at NSF’s COSMOS Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research testbed in Harlem, New York City. COSMOS is partnering with the city government, Silicon Harlem, City College of New York, University of Arizona and IBM, on an advanced wireless testbed. The facility will cover one square mile in a densely-populated neighborhood in West Harlem.
Streetscapes – neighborhood streets, sidewalks and public spaces – are prime sites for deploying engineering research to influence society, according to CS3. A “smart streetscape” could instantly sense human behavior and guide disabled pedestrians, collect refuse, control pests, amplify emergency services, and protect people against environmental and health threats.
CS3 will apply these advancements across five application themes: Road Safety & Traffic Efficiency; Public Safety; Assistive Technologies; Future of Outdoor Work; and Hyper-Local Environments. The applications will be deployed in West Palm Beach, FL and New Brunswick, NJ, as well as Harlem.
Several groups will share the funding to spearhead the research, including Florida Atlantic University, Columbia University, Rutgers University, the University of Central Florida, and Lehman College.
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