The Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is building a new autonomous vehicle research facility at Auburn’s National Center for Asphalt Technology test track, making it one of the few such facilities in the nation attached to a test track.

The facility is expected to provide a garage with multiple bays and lifts for commercial trucks and passenger vehicles, office space for researchers, a conference room and an observation area overlooking NCAT’s 1.7-mile oval test track.

The fact that we’ll have our own test track where we can run autonomous vehicles and autonomous testing attached to this facility I think will be an unbelievably unique asset.

—David Bevly, the Bill and Lana McNair Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering and co-director of the GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory (GAVLAB)

The GAVLAB has built a strong reputation in autonomous vehicle navigation and developed a broad sponsored research portfolio, with projects ranging from the Department of Defense and the Federal Highway Administration to many private industry partners.

With various sponsors visiting each month, the facility’s planned observation area will give the GAVLAB team a high-quality space to demonstrate its research. Bevly’s group has also conducted demonstrations for legislators and the Alabama Department of Transportation.

With a growing research thrust in transportation engineering, the autonomous research facility also demonstrates Auburn’s commitment to supporting these research initiatives.