June 8, 2010 at 18:54Audi connects traffic lights to car internet
We drive from the traffic light only to brake hard after 500 meters. Even if the road is empty, traffic lights make us wait for green light. These are typical problems of a “dumb” road infrastructure that is not connected to the network.
Now, several automotive consortia are developing technology for a universal road data bus that all vehicles, as well as traffic lights and other road objects, could support. For example, Audi recently announced details about Audi Travolution technology , which displays the distance to the nearest traffic light and the recommended speed (video under the cut) on the driver’s display.
Thus, an approaching car can independently add gas if it does not fall into the "green wave", or, conversely, signal to the driver about an imminent change of signal (visual or acoustic signal or short-term shutdown of the gas pedal).
For the test, 15 cars and 25 traffic lights were selected, each of which was equipped with wireless modems so that they could freely communicate with each other about their condition. The car tells the traffic light and surrounding cars its speed and coordinates, and the traffic light itself broadcasts information about how many seconds it is going to change the light.
If the car stops at a red light, the display will show the time until the signal changes.
As tests have shown, through the use of such a system, the car saves an average of 20 ml of gasoline at each traffic light. In terms of the whole country, these are whole tanks of saved gasoline every minute, not to mention a reduction in atmospheric emissions.
In addition to communicating with traffic lights, the Audi Travolution system is now learning to reserve seats at gas stations and parking lots, so the driver will only have to drive to the indicated point when the car says.
Of course, Audi is not the only company that is working on creating a “car internet”. Program called Safe, Intelligent Mobility-Test Area Germany (SIM-TD)Now they are testing in Germany by a consortium with the participation of the same Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Opel, Bosch and Continental.
Many of these companies are investing in a similar project in North America: the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (V2I) coalition includes BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen.
In addition, Toyota, the largest automaker in the world, is actively sponsoring the Universal Traffic Management Society in Japan.
Now, several automotive consortia are developing technology for a universal road data bus that all vehicles, as well as traffic lights and other road objects, could support. For example, Audi recently announced details about Audi Travolution technology , which displays the distance to the nearest traffic light and the recommended speed (video under the cut) on the driver’s display.
Thus, an approaching car can independently add gas if it does not fall into the "green wave", or, conversely, signal to the driver about an imminent change of signal (visual or acoustic signal or short-term shutdown of the gas pedal).
For the test, 15 cars and 25 traffic lights were selected, each of which was equipped with wireless modems so that they could freely communicate with each other about their condition. The car tells the traffic light and surrounding cars its speed and coordinates, and the traffic light itself broadcasts information about how many seconds it is going to change the light.
If the car stops at a red light, the display will show the time until the signal changes.
As tests have shown, through the use of such a system, the car saves an average of 20 ml of gasoline at each traffic light. In terms of the whole country, these are whole tanks of saved gasoline every minute, not to mention a reduction in atmospheric emissions.
In addition to communicating with traffic lights, the Audi Travolution system is now learning to reserve seats at gas stations and parking lots, so the driver will only have to drive to the indicated point when the car says.
Of course, Audi is not the only company that is working on creating a “car internet”. Program called Safe, Intelligent Mobility-Test Area Germany (SIM-TD)Now they are testing in Germany by a consortium with the participation of the same Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Opel, Bosch and Continental.
Many of these companies are investing in a similar project in North America: the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (V2I) coalition includes BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen.
In addition, Toyota, the largest automaker in the world, is actively sponsoring the Universal Traffic Management Society in Japan.