USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation
TFHRC Logo
Office of Research, Development and Technology at the Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center

CARMA Collaboration Opportunities

CARMA Collaborative

CARMA Collaborative

CARMA Collaborative

CARMA Collaborative

 

CARMA Collaboration Concept         

Automated Vehicles Working Together

CARMASM is the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) multimodal open-source software (OSS) platform for the collaborative research and development (R&D) of cooperative driving automation (CDA) to enhance the safety, efficiency, and capacity of the entire transportation system.

The CARMA PlatformSM is developed in the open using an agile software development process to collaborate with diverse stakeholders. It is technology agnostic to enable flexibility and interoperability across original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and infrastructure owner operators (IOOs) and to enable continuous improvement, efficiency, and greater quality. Developed on a robot operating system (ROS), a flexible framework for writing software, CARMA has an innovative approach to cooperation for automated vehicle (AV) development. CARMA3 is now available on GitHub, a web-based repository and version-control system for computers that includes features for code review, documentation, and collaboration.

CARMA is a multimodal initiative advancing applications for CDA, including platooning with freight and commercial motor vehicles and AV interaction with pedestrians and bicyclists.

CARMA Collaborative

Image of the CARMA Collaborative logo. The logo is black, green, and gold.

Vision: CARMA will transform transportation, improving efficiency and safety through AVs working together.

The CARMA Collaborative is a growing community of CARMA users, prospective users, and other stakeholders. It aims to facilitate the use of CARMA OSS to accelerate R&D and encourage industry adoption.

The CARMA Collaborative:

  • Cultivates investments toward public benefit with CDA.
  • Fosters strategic planning and investments to leverage connected and automated vehicles (CAVs).
  • Educates stakeholders on CDA and CARMA to support future product development and adoption.
  • Facilitates the advancement of research, training, and industry expertise regarding CAVs and CDA.
  • Promotes participation with its community of researchers to improve understanding of CDA using OSS.

Email us at CARMA@dot.gov to connect with our team of researchers and discuss how you can be a part of the CARMA Collaborative.

Figure 1. GitHub Repository for CARMA. The illustration represents the GitHub repository for the CARMA platform. The top half of the illustration shows the three repositories available on GitHub through this project, (from left to right) the CARMA PlatformSM repository, the CARMA CloudSM (TSMO) repository, and the ODE (operational data environment) repository. Each repository is illustrated with cylindrical towers. The bottom half of the illustration is divided into three sections. The section in the middle shows a connected-vehicle icon, which represents the GitHub repository, and is surrounded by three continuous arrows. A blue arrow represents building the CARMA platform, a red arrow represents deploying the CARMA platform, and a yellow arrow represents collaboration on the CARMA platform. The arrows are not in any specific order as these functions are interchangeable. The center cylindrical tower on the top half of the illustration, the CARMA Cloud (TSMO) repository, shows arrows representing the push of information in the deploy and build stages to the CARMA Cloud (TSMO) repository. On the bottom left of the image is a computer-monitor icon with the word “development” inside. Below the computer are two branding images for the organizations developing the CARMA platform: Federal Highway Administration and the Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory. On the bottom right is a computer monitor displaying the word “partners.” Four green boxes below the monitor represent the partners involved in the CARMA platforms. The partners include infrastructure owner-operators (IOOs), private industry, public agencies, and academia.
Source: FHWA
Abbreviations: Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO); operational data environment (ODE).
Figure 1. Collaborative Process for CARMA.