The USA’s first 5G-enabled intelligent mobility and smart city living laboratory, Curiosity Lab, has announced a strategic collaboration with Georgia Tech and Delta Air Lines to advance autonomous vehicle and infrastructure research.
Located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, Atlanta, the Curiosity Lab is a testbed of autonomous mobility and smart city technology.
Its collaboration with Delta will provide critical seed funding for Georgia Tech researchers, who in turn will have access to Curiosity Lab’s 1.5-mile autonomous vehicle test track and living laboratory.
Curiosity Lab features dedicated fibre, smart poles and a network operations centre for researchers to track and trend data from connected internet-of-things (IoT) devices.
Betsy Plattenburg, executive director of Curiosity Lab, said: “Our 5G-enabled living laboratory will give Georgia Tech researchers the opportunity to push the frontier of emerging technology in a real-world setting that is almost impossible to replicate in a closed lab.”
Delta has entered into the partnership to research potential applications for autonomous cars, trucks or buses at airports.
The US commercial airliner believes autonomous vehicles could help customers make tight connections across an airport, deliver delayed baggage to customers or transport aircraft parts to airports.
Gil West, Delta COO, said: “Autonomous vehicle technology is one of those innovations we see as having the potential to improve employee safety, the customer experience and operational performance, and this partnership will help us explore all of those possibilities.”
