Modernizing Caltrans' Automated Safety Warning System

For my senior project at Sacramento State, I'm leading a team of 8 developers on a project with Caltrans: modernizing the Automated Safety Warning System that helps keep winter roads safe.

The Problem

When a storm hits, snowplow crews need to know where to spread deicer and how much. Today, the data that drives those decisions lives in two separate state-level traffic systems. Getting real-time, localized instructions to the crews in the field means connecting those systems and delivering the right information to each plow.

What We're Building

We're architecting the integration of the two traffic systems so they can feed a single pipeline that sends real-time, localized deicing instructions to snowplows. The project is projected to save Caltrans millions of dollars every year.

• A secure V2X pipeline. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication carries the instructions from roadside systems to the plows. Our pipeline runs across a 5-machine embedded system.
• Reverse-engineering legacy code. Part of the existing system is a Python 2.7 application. We reverse-engineered how it works so we could modernize it without losing what it already does.
• Following international standards. Data transmission follows IEEE and SAE standards for connected vehicles, so the system can work with existing equipment.

Tools

We're building with C++ and Python on Linux, and we manage the work in Jira and GitHub.

My Role

As team lead, I coordinate 8 developers, help shape the system's architecture, and work directly on the communication pipeline. Leading a team this size on a real client project has taught me a lot about planning, communication, and making sure everyone's work fits together.

More details coming soon.