Dearborn Students Help Shape Talking Car Technology

SOUTHFIELD — In today's fast-paced world of smartphones and tablets, one engineering company is working feverishly to roll out the latest advanced driving technology. 

Its secret weapon? High school students.

In January, DENSO International America, Inc. and Square One Education Network partnered to give students across Michigan a unique opportunity to work with research and development engineers. DENSO donated 17 dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) devices to school districts and charged students with the task of creating “connected” or “talking” vehicles through Square One’s Innovative Vehicle Design competition.

DSRC devices allow vehicles to communicate through precise data exchanges between cars and roadside “hotspots,” such as traffic signals. DRSC uses a two-way, short-range wireless communication — much like WiFi technology is used to access the Internet — to facilitate information exchange between vehicles about the car’s location, velocity, acceleration and path history. Onboard computers then use this data to predict vehicle locations and assist in avoiding collisions.

More than 150 students at Dearborn Public Schools' Michael Berry Career Center participated in the challenge, which required the students to develop a modified one-person electric vehicle or build a car from the ground up. The teams then competed at the Michigan International Speedway in performance, engineering and craftsmanship, design innovation, ambassadorship and presentation categories.

On Thursday, students shared their experiences working with the new technology firsthand during an "Idea Jam Session" at DENSO headquarters.

"Over the past five months, DENSO has learned from the students who have participated in the program and found that they helped to uncovered challenges and have ideas DENSO hasn't even thought of yet," said Douglas Patton, senior vice president of engineering for DENSO.

“Actually being able to touch and experiment with technology makes a huge difference for these students,” Patton continued. “This hands-on approach challenges them to think differently about the future and how they can impact society. It gives them the skills and experience they need to excel as a student and young professional.”

John Bayerl, CTE teacher for Dearborn Public Schools, said students at the Michael Berry Career Center primarily focused on how to incorporate the device into a car, and less on vehicle's actual design. The team rigged a stock car with the device that then transmitted data to a computer program to teach special needs students about traffic safety.

"Other schools work with auto shops while we work on a second floor carpeted computer lab, so we have less manufacturing and fabricating ability to build a car," Bayerl explained. "We'll never win the performance side of the competition, and we'll never really have an innovative vehicle. Our specialty is what the car can do. That's why working with the short-range communication device appeals to us so much.

"We have kids who can do the programming and get on that cutting edge technology to take a plain Jane car and do something really wonderful with it," he said.

Erik Sorensen, a student at Dearborn High School, said he enjoyed the opportunity to work with the DENSO equipment.

"Most of what we did was trial and error. Because this is a field that a lot of our team is unfamiliar with, by the time we understood the potential for the device, we ran out of time," he said. "I personally learned you can't expect things to go as planned. Planning ahead is good, but planning too far ahead has its consequences."

Celeste Holmes of Edsel Ford High School said by designing the car's traffic safety computer program, she learned how to apply different technologies to everyday life.

"The competition was a lot of fun," she said. "It's a great opportunity for students who want to learn about automotive technology or pursue a career in engineering after high school."