Exploratory Advanced Research Program

Technology Readiness Level Guidebook

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FOREWORD

The mission of the Department of Transportation is to serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system. Ongoing research activities offer an opportunity to explore methods of making our transportation system more robust in all of these ways. From researching novel modes of transportation to developing advances in agent-based modeling of traveler behavior, research is at the core of making our system one that enhances the quality of life of the American people.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program focuses on high-risk, high-reward research that bridges the gap between basic and applied research. It also supports the development of transformative research tools that can accelerate development of solutions for highway-related challenges. The value of this type of research lies in how researchers in Government, academia, and industry use the results. For EAR Program-sponsored projects that reach or exceed their anticipated results or develop other advances that have immediate or near-term value, the EAR Program is committed to providing the support necessary to apply those results toward advancing roadway-related tools and technologies.

In fulfilling its mission, the EAR Program identified the need for a system to describe the maturity of highway research products. Numerous mechanisms exist for sharing research results, including technical reports, fact sheets, and demonstrations, but capturing the core of the research project while offering tangible next steps is a more difficult undertaking. The EAR Program uses Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Assessments along with other tools to help identify which research products to emphasize for transition and which audiences would be interested in the results.

The lessons presented in this Guidebook will help those working in transportation research to conduct an evaluation that will likely rank the maturity of a technology and describe the followup steps for advancing their efforts.

Technical Report Documentation Page

SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. What is a TRL?

• Why Use the TRL Scale?
• What Not to Do with the TRL Scale?
• Understanding the TRL Scale
• The ETC Examples

2. Preparing for the TRL Assessment

• Selecting Panelists—The Experts and User Community
• Establishing Goals—“Why are we assessing this technology?”
• Formalizing Timing and Location—The Nuts and Bolts
• Creating Materials—Getting to the Starting Line

3. Conducting a Successful TRL Assessment

4. Using the Results of TRL Assessments

Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix A. Technology Framing Documents

Appendix B. Principal Investigator Questionnaire

Appendix C. TRL Assessment Report Example

Appendix D. Frequently Asked Questions

Appendix E. Example Projects and Associated Technology Readiness Levels

Appendix F. TRL Scale

Appendix G. Additional Resources on the TRL Scale and the Use of TRLs for Assessment

Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

References

List of Figures

• Figure 1 TRL Assessment process
• Figure 2. The four categories of the TRL Scale
• Figure 3. Illustration. Automatic toll charging system, U.S. Patent 3602881
• Figure 4. Photo. A fully operational ETC at George Washington Bridge in New Jersey
• Figure 5. Major components of a TRL Assessment
• Figure 6. Chart. TRLs across Federal funders in transportation
• Figure 7. Illustration. Sample TRL worksheet

List of Tables

• Table 1. Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the TRL Scale
• Table 2. Descriptions and requirements of TRLs 1, 2, and 3
• Table 3. Descriptions and requirements of TRLs 4 and 5
• Table 4. Descriptions and requirements of TRLs 6, 7, and 8
• Table 5. Description and requirements of TRL 9
• Table 6. Example agenda for TRL Assessment panel meeting
• Table 7. PI Questionnaire
• Table 8. Example 1. Innovative bridge design and rapid renewal: design tool kit
• Table 9. Example 2. Increased understanding of driver visibility requirements
• Table 10. Example 3. Anonymous traffic probes for travel time and origin-destination using Bluetooth IDs
• Table 11. TRL Scale: Descriptions and requirements

Introduction

Researchers use evaluation as a key component of the research process. Funding agencies use evaluation tools to rank the maturity level of a technology within the context of the research process. Agency researchers examine how a technology was developed and how that technology functions within its defined operating environment at the time of the examination. They include this information in their evaluation before ranking the maturity level. In some cases, the researchers evaluate a technology to determine its readiness for inception into a technology system (deployment). In other cases, they evaluate it to determine if funding should continue to support the research.

A Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Assessment is a tool for determining the maturity of a technology and provides a foundation for identifying next steps in the research process. Researchers use TRL Assessments as a means to understand a research project’s technological maturity, but the assessments have their limitations. TRL Assessments can help improve communication, research outcomes, and contract management, but they do not address risk, cost, or the feasibility of deployment. Therefore, examiners should use TRL Assessments alongside other evaluation techniques to obtain a complete picture of a research project’s maturity.

This Guidebook provides the necessary information for conducting a TRL Assessment. It offers background on the TRL Scale (shown in appendix F),¹ walks through every aspect of preparing for and conducting the TRL Assessment, and provides many helpful tools and tips throughout. The Guidebook begins with an explanation of the TRL Scale, because it provides the foundation for the TRL Assessment. Researchers follow a specific process for conducting the TRL Assessment, as shown in figure 1.

This Guidebook is broken into the four sections below:

Figure 1 TRL Assessment process.

¹ All references within this document to the “TRL Scale” refer to a modified TRL Scale developed by the Volpe Center for Highway Transportation R&T on behalf of FHWA.