New grant aims to improve technology for autonomous vehicles
Research will enhance today’s 5G wireless network for remote vehicle operators
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/23/2026) — A research team at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has been awarded a $5 million grant, over two years, from the National Science Foundation to advance technology for autonomous vehicles (AVs).
The grant, totaling $7 million, is part of the Breaking the Low Latency Barrier for Verticals in Next-G Wireless Networks (NSF Breaking Low) initiative, which funds projects addressing critical technical and technological barriers in current fifth-generation (5G) and next-generation wireless networks. The project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota, University of Utah, University of California Riverside, General Motors and Nokia.
The DRIVE-SAFE project is creating teleoperation systems with a human operating AVs remotely when a complex situation arises. By developing and improving both the vehicle's technology and the network infrastructure, the team aims to create a system that is both reliable and safe.
The team, led by Zhi-Li Zhang, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has been working on AVs since 2018 and has been exploring the potential of 5G networks to support them. The new project will build on this work, aiming to overcome a key limitation—the need for a human operator to physically be in a vehicle to take over in an emergency.
“We don’t just want to make the car smart—we also want to make the infrastructure smart by using advanced network communication technologies such as 5G and edge computing,” said Zhang.
The research will focus on enhancing the existing 5G network to make a seamless remote takeover system possible. By developing and improving both the vehicle's technology and the network infrastructure, the team aims to create a system that is both reliable and safe.
This is a two-year demonstration project, where it has the opportunity for additional funding to to scale up and be adopted by industry.
“NSF is hoping to establish the United States as a leader in 5G next generation technology, and then to 6G and beyond,” added Zhang.
This research received initial funding from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering’s “InterS&Ections” and the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies seed grant programs. The “InterS&Ections” grant offered incentive for scientists and engineers to work together in creative new ways, with the goal of creating new collaborations within the college. This initial funding positioned the University to compete for the NSF grant.
The project's goal is to enable a remote operator to take control of an AV instantly and safely if something goes wrong. This requires extremely high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity—something that today's 5G networks can't fully support.
Learn more about the project:
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