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Self-Aware Traffic Light System Could Cut Delays

by Warren Riddle on September 16, 2010 at 09:10 AM

Traffic Light
Traffic lights habitually serve as the bane of commuters. Getting stopped at a red with no sign of approaching traffic, missing a synchronized green because of unforeseen obstacles and falling short of a fleeting turn arrow all contribute to those ever-expanding back and neck stress knots.

Two European researchers, Stefan Lämmer and Dirk Helbing, believe they may have a solution to those daily incandescent delays, though, with a "system of self-organizing traffic lights." The human-less system, which would purportedly cut delay times by as much as 10-to-30-percent, relies on sensors that recognize and analyze traffic conditions. The sensors subsequently dispatch that information to a computer chip, which predicts future congestion, altering the sequence of greens and reds depending on current, real-time conditions. To avoid difficulties that may arise from the lights acting independently, the researchers hope to create an interdependent network, wherein one light's actions affect other signals.

If there's one socially ingrained system of technology that could thrust the world into chaotic disarray through self-awareness, it's traffic lights (particularly if they can simultaneously seize control of your car). But, with traffic delays costing the U.S. billions of dollars in lost work hours and wasted gasoline every year (not to mention the personal strain), this hazardous -- and possibly cataclysmic -- scientific plan seems worth the risk.

Tags: cartech, driving, self-aware, top, traffic, traffic lights, TrafficLights, transportation

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