Subject: [NEXTEL-1] UNH'S HIGH-TECH POLICE CRUISER HITS THE ROAD

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 17:29:15 -0500

UNH'S HIGH-TECH POLICE CRUISER HITS THE ROAD

On Tuesday, August 21,
just one year after an initial
prototype was unveiled,
the University of New
Hampshire's first high-tech
"Car 54" police cruiser hit
the road for field testing.

This UNH-State Police
collaborative redesign effort is the first of its kind in the
country and will ultimately change the way state police
across the country do business, increasing safety and
efficiency.

At the event, Senator Judd Gregg announced an
additional $5.5 million for the joint UNH-NH State Police
Consolidated Advanced Technologies Project, bringing
the four-year total to $16 million.

The "Car 54" project is so-named because today's
police cruisers operate with basically the same
technology used by the cruisers in the popular 1950s
television series, "Car 54, Where Are You?" Today's
police cruisers are loaded with systems -- radio, siren,
lights, computer, camera--each one independent of the
others and each one operated by hand, using buttons
and knobs on the dashboard. No information in
headquarters computers is available except through a
radio dispatcher.

The Car 54 Project introduces technology that
integrates all these systems--and lets police officers
talk to their cars. A simple command will turn on lights,
start the siren, or call the dispatcher on the radio-- all
without having to remove either hand from the wheel.

Car 54 also uses this integrated system to automate
requests for routine information. This happens in two
ways. Standard vehicle registration and driver license
information is being stored in the in-vehicle computer.
Information not on board is automatically retrieved by
radio directly from the headquarters computer without
having to use a dispatcher. Together, these advances
provide officers with routine information, while freeing
up the dispatchers to assist officers with emergency
and specialized requests.

The car to be presented at this event will be used for
initial field testing. Once it is operating smoothly, six
more units will be supplied to the state police for use by
officers under normal operating conditions. Eventually
the New Hampshire State Police and a number of local
police departments will be supplied with vehicles.

Meanwhile, UNH's Consolidated Advanced Technologies
Laboratory (CATLab) will continue to work on future
improvements, such as equipping individual officers with
a personal device that will integrate them with their
car's network, and developing an Internet-based
technology enabling officers from different jurisdictions
to communicate directly with each other through their
dispatchers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
--UNH's Consolidated Advanced Technologies Lab
(CATLab) Web site: www.catlab.sr.unh.edu" --Bill
Lenharth, associate research professor of electrical and
computer engineering: 862-4492 [email-masked] --Tom
Miller, professor of electrical and computer engineering:
603-862-1326

http://www.ceps.unh.edu/news/releases01/car54801.html

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/