The safety of work zone operations that require continuous movement for long periods of time such as pothole patching, weed spraying, and trash pick-up may be enhanced through the use of lead-follower autonomous truck mounted attenuator (ATMA) systems. TRB hosted a webinar on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 from 1:30 - 3:00 PM Eastern that examined development, deployment, and research of the lead-follower ATMA technology, and discussed how departments of transportation might use this technology to maintain transportation infrastructure and to reduce worker injuries and fatalities.

This webinar was sponsored by the TRB Standing Technical Committees on Maintenance and Operations Management, and on Vehicle-Highway Automation.

The slides are linked in the meeting materials. View the recorded webinar below.

Webinar agenda and presenters

• Summary of ATMA pool funded vehicle deployment - Ashley Nylen, Colorado Department of Transportation
• Technical specifications of ATMA vehicle systems - Maynard Factor, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
• Development of operation guidelines for ATMAs - Qing Tang, Pennsylvania State University
• Question and answer session - Xianbiao (XB) Hu

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Leverage autonomous vehicle technology to reduce DOT worker fatalities while performing infrastructure maintenance
• Deploy an ATMA program
• Operate new lead-follower autonomous vehicle systems

Professional Development Hours

This webinar was delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.

Professional Development Hours (PDHs) earned on completion of this program were reported to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Certificates of Completion are issued to all participants via the RCEP.net online system. Complaints about registered providers may be addressed to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Fl., Washington, DC, 20005.