Exhibit D - Research Project Requirement: PDF Link

Project Summary: According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 43% of all roadway fatalities occur on rural roads, although only 19% of the US population lives in rural areas. This is largely due to unique challenges associated with rural roads (e.g., varying roadway geometrics, frequent animal crossings, reduced cell phone and communication coverage). This project will address these challenges and improve roadway safety conditions and transportation efficiency on rural roads by leveraging enhanced network connectivity, integrated multi-source data, improved analytics, and secure, optimally built connected infrastructure. The project will use tools such as Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), secure data sharing techniques, artificial intelligence (AI), networked sensors, and computer vision. Project outcomes include using connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) as mobile sensing probes and connected smart infrastructure with low-cost sensors to acquire location specific data that can be used for advance warning of pedestrians and bicyclists, animals, stopped vehicles, and other potentially hazardous roadway conditions. These detection and warning systems will generate warning messages that will be sent to nearby vehicles via Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X). 

• Real-Time Deer Detection and Warning in Connected Vehicles
  
  

• Warning System Using a Connected Vehicle On-Board Unit
  
  

• Digital Twin-Based Simulation Framework for Curve Speed Safety EstimationMulti-Agent Visual-Language Reasoning for Comprehensive Highway Scene Understanding

• Structured Prompting and Knowledge Distillation for Traffic Video Interpretation and Risk Inference

• GEM-CAN: Real-World CAN-Bus Attack Scenarios on an Autonomous Vehicle for Intrusion Detection

Farzinpour, F., Sarasua, W., Davis, W., Murray-Tuite, P., & Cassule, L. (2025). “A Comparison of Methods for Collecting Highway Horizontal Curve Attributes.” Transportation Research Record, 2680(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981251372090

Yang, Y., Xu, N., and Yang, J. (2025). “Structured Prompting and Multi-Agent Knowledge Distillation for Traffic Video Interpretation and Risk Inference.” Computers, 14(11), 490. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14110490

Yang, Y., Xu, N., and Yang, J. (2025). “Multi-Agent Visual-Language Reasoning for Comprehensive Highway Scene Understanding.” Applied Computing and Intelligence, 5(2), 315–336. https://doi.org/10.3934/aci.2025018

Yang, Y., Zhen, H., Huang, Y., and Yang, J. (2025). “Enhancing Nighttime Vehicle Detection with Day-to-Night Style Transfer and Labeling-Free Augmentation.” Applied Computing and Intelligence, 5(1), 14–28. https://doi.org/10.3934/aci.2025002

Xu, N., and Yang, J. (2025). “Leveraging Scene Geometry and Depth Information for Robust Image Deraining.” Computers, 14(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14010011

Seferian, M., and Yang, J. (2024). “Enhancing Autonomous Vehicle Safety in Rain: A Data-Centric Approach for Clear Vision.” Applied Computing and Intelligence, 4(2), 282–299. https://doi.org/10.3934/aci.2024017

Tavasoli, M., Sarrafzadeh, A., Khaleghi, M., Zakaria, M., Pasandi, H. B., & Karimoddini, A. (2025). “Data Communication Challenges of Connected and Automated Vehicles in Rural Areas.” IEEE Access, 13, 29220–29251. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3539598

Tavasoli, M., Sarrafzadeh, A., Karimoddini, A., Khaleghi, M., Phuapaiboon, T., Goines, A., Harris, A., & Griffith, J. (2025). “Trust-Aware Federated Defense Against Data Poisoning in ML-Driven Intrusion Detection Systems for Connected and Automated Vehicles.” Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust (PST).

Tavasoli, M., Sarrafzadeh, A., Karimoddini, A., Khaleghi, M., & Pasandi, H. B. (2025). “Hybrid Clustering-Transformer Intrusion Detection System for Rural Connected and Automated Vehicles.” (under review).

Rahman, A., Salek, M. S., Chowdhury, M., & Sarasua, W. (2026). “A Digital Twin–Based Simulation Framework for Vehicle Speed Advisory on Horizontal Curves.” (under review).

Farzinpour, F., Sarasua, W., & Davis, W. (2026). “A Hybrid Framework for Statewide Speed Limit Segmentation Using Deterministic Sign Inventories and Probabilistic Crash Data Models.” Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting.

Farzinpour, F., Sarasua, W., Murray-Tuite, P., & Ogle, J. (2026). “Statewide Safety Analysis of Highway Curves in South Carolina Using a GIS.” Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting.

Puppala, H., Sarasua, W., Biyaguda, S., Farzinpour, F., & Chowdhury, M. (2026). “Real-Time Deer Detection and Warning in Connected Vehicles via Thermal Sensing and Deep Learning.” Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting.

Rahman, A., Salek, M. S., Chowdhury, M., & Sarasua, W. (2026). “A Digital Twin–Based Simulation Framework for Vehicle Speed Advisory on Horizontal Curves.” Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting.

Araf Rahman, M.R. Chowdhury, “Digital Twin-Based Real-Time Curve Speed Warning System Using Physics Simulation,” SC EPSCoR State Conference, 2025.

Goines, A., Tavasoli, M., Harris, A., Exum, I., Benson, B., Flythe, E., Sarrafzadeh, A., “A Federated Learning Intrusion Detection System for Secure Intra-Vehicle Communications in CAVs in Rural Areas,” VICEROY Symposium, Huntsville, Alabama, March 12–14, 2025.

Farzinpour, F., Sarasua, W., Davis, W., Murray-Tuite, P., Cassule, L., “A Comparison of Methods for Collecting Highway Horizontal Curve Attributes,” TRB Annual Meeting, January 2025.

Sarasua W., Yang J., Chowdhury M., Wang L., Sarrafzadeh H., Kaisar E. I., and Chorzepa M., “A Cost-Effective Data and Communication Infrastructure for Enhancing Rural Transportation Safety,” ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD), Atlanta, Georgia, June 18, 2024.

Seferian M., and Yang J., “Enhancing Autonomous Vehicle Safety in Rain: A Deep Learning Approach for Clear Vision,” ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD), Atlanta, Georgia, June 18, 2024.

Bonam I. and Yang J., “Exploration of Neural Oblivious Decision Ensembles for High-Dimensional Tabular Data Modeling,” ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD), Atlanta, Georgia, June 18, 2024.

Lares O. and Yang J., “Unveiling Crash Severity Determinants: A Multisource and Multiresolution Modeling Approach,” ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD), Atlanta, Georgia, June 18, 2024.

Yang J. and Mark Seferian, “Seeing Clearly in Rain: Deep Vision Model for Autonomous Vehicle Visual Enhancement,” AI in Motion Symposium, Austin, Texas, May 14–17, 2024.

Yunxiang Yang, Jidong J. Yang, Linbing Wang, Mi Geum Chorzepa, Wayne Sarasua, “Advancing Rural Road Safety: The Role of Advanced Computer Vision,” AI in Motion Symposium, Austin, Texas, May 14–17, 2024.

Using AI-Empowered Multisource Data Analytics and Multimodal Sensing to Enhance Rural Transportation Safety, Wayne Sarasua (Clemson), April 15, 2026, Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

A Curve Warning System to Enhance Transportation Safety , Wayne Sarasua (CU), James Yang (UGA), Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium,  April 17, 2024.

A Digital Twin-Based Simulation Framework for Safe Curve Speed Estimation Using Unity,  Araf Rahman (Clemson), M Sabbir Salek (Clemson), Mashrur Chowdhury (Clemson), Wayne A. Sarasua (Clemson), Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, April 14-16, 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Real-time Deer Detection and Warning in Connected Vehicles via Thermal Sensing and Deep Learning, Hemanth Puppala (Clemson), Wayne Sarasua (Clemson), Srinivas Biyaguda (Clemson), Sharath Vemulapally (Clemson), Farhad Farzinpour (Clemson), Mashrur Chowdhury (Clemson), Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, April 14-16, 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Development of a Hybrid Learning-Based Intrusion Detection System for CAN Bus Cybersecurity in Rural Connected and Automated Vehicles
Mahsa Tavasoli (NCAT), Abdolhossein Sarrafzadeh (ODU), Milad Khaleghi (NCAT), Tienake Phuapaiboon (NCAT), Hieu T Nguyen (NCAT), Ali Karimoddini (NCAT), Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, April 14-16, 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

A Curve Warning System to Enhance Driver Safety in Rural Areas, Farhad Farzinpour (Clemson University), Wayne Sarasua (Clemson University), Araf Rahman (Clemson University), Ronnie Chowdhury (Clemson University), Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, April 14-16, 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Advancing Rural Road Safety through Multi-Agent Vision-Language Scene Understanding and Reasoning, Yunxiang Yang (UGA), Ningning Xu (UGA), Jidong J. Yang (UGA), Linbing Wang (UGA), Mi Geum Chorzepa (UGA), Wayne Sarasua (Clemson), Southeast Annual Symposium  on Freight and Mobility, April 14-16, 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Cost-Effective and Reliable Data and Communication Infrastructure for Enhancing Rural Transportation Safety and Efficiency, Wayne Saraasua and Ronnie Chowdhury (Clemson), Jidong J. Yang and Linbing Wang (UGA), Hossein Sarrafzadehs (NC A&T), Evangelos Kaisar (FAU), Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium, April 17-18, 2024.    

A Curve Warning System to Enhance Transportation Safety in Rural Areas, Farhad Farzinpour (CU), Wayne Sarasua (CU), Jidong Yang (UGA), Yunxiang Yang (UGA) , Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium, April 17-18, 2024.                                    

Advancing Rural Road Safety: The Role of Advanced Computer Vision, Yunxiang Yang (UGA), Jidong J. Yang (UGA), Linbing Wang (UGA), Mi Geum Chorzepa (UGA), Wayne Sarasua (CU), Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium, April 17-18, 2024.   

Architecture of the Data and Communication Infrastructure for Safe and Efficient Rural Transportation, Linbing Wang(UGA), Jidong Yang (UGA), Mi Geum Chorzepa (UGA), Stephan Durham (UGA), Jian Liu (UGA), Zhen Wang (UGA), Shuhan Yang(UGA), Wayne Sarasua (CU) and Ronnie Chowdhury (CU), Jean Michel Tine (Clemson); Hossein Sarrafzadeh (NCAT), Mahsa Tavasoli (NCAT); Evangelos Kaisar (FAU), Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium, April 17-18, 2024.   

Data Communication and Cybersecurity Challenges in Connected and Automated Vehicles in Rural Areas, Mahsa Tavasoli (NCAT), Abdolhossein Sarrafzadeh (NCAT), Ali Karimoddini (NCAT), Joint CATM and CR2C2 Symposium, April 17-18, 2024.