One of life’s small but satisfying pleasures is hitting the sweet spot while driving across town and catching all the green lights.
At the moment, having that happen is a matter of luck, but Audi is developing a system that will make never getting caught by a red light an everyday thing as a way of speeding up traffic while improving fuel efficiency and cutting emissions.
Driving through a string of green lights isn’t a question of gremlins or clean living, but of timing. Modern traffic signals operate on a system of preset timers. Sometimes these change depending on the time of day or, as is increasingly common, because the traffic system reacts to changes in the pattern of car movements. In other words, the trick to an uninterrupted journey is to figure out how the lights are timed at that moment and drive at the right speed, so you always hit the intersections when it’s green.
The Audi system works by taking the guesswork out of the equation. Using Audi connect and the Multi Media Interface (MMI) system, the car uses the internet to contact the area’s central traffic computer and asks it for the automated traffic light sequences. From these, the system calculates the best speed needed to hit as many green lights as possible. This speed, as well as red, green and amber icons, are displayed to the driver via the Driver Information System (DIS) located in the central instrument cluster. If the car is already at a red light, it provides a countdown until green and overrides the start/stop mechanism to bring the engine online five seconds before it’s time to go.
One bonus of this is that not only will the system speed up traffic, but improve fuel economy and reduce emissions, since the biggest enemy of fuel efficiency is the constant braking and acceleration of city driving. If the cars keep running, that saves fuel and cuts pollution.
The Latest on: Online traffic light system
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Online traffic light system” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Online traffic light system
- Red, yellow, green … and white? Smarter vehicles could mean big changes for the traffic lighton May 11, 2024 at 3:33 am
Henry Liu, a civil engineering professor who is leading a study through the University of Michigan, said the rollout of a new traffic signal system could be a lot closer ... is credited with adding ...
- The Big Read in short: Investigating the root cause of Singapore's traffic accident woeson May 10, 2024 at 5:15 pm
Just two weeks ago, a driver who decided to ignore the directional signs in a multi-storey car park in Choa Chu Kang almost collided into the vehicle that digital marketing manager Marcus Khoo was ...
- The Big Read: To tackle rising fatal traffic accidents and worsening road culture, we need to first understand the problemon May 10, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Just two weeks ago, a driver who decided to ignore the directional signs in a multi-storey car park in Choa Chu Kang almost collided into the vehicle that digital marketing manager Marcus Khoo was ...
- Live: Wales breaking news plus weather and traffic updates (Friday, May 10)on May 10, 2024 at 12:02 pm
Hello, and welcome to Wales Online's live blog for Friday, May 10 We will be bringing you all of the latest news from across Wales - whether you're on the move, at home or at work - as well as the ...
- Friusa traffic light in Verón-Punta Cana operational again after repairson May 10, 2024 at 9:42 am
Verón.- Under the leadership of Colonel Miguel Ángel Álvarez, a technical team is currently undertaking the repair and refurbishment of the Friusa traffic light, which has been at risk of collapsing ...
- Emergency Vehicle Pre-emption traffic light system to go live after June, says Kuching South mayoron May 6, 2024 at 3:20 am
The Emergency Vehicle Pre-emption (EVP) traffic light system will be implemented after the first half of this year, said Kuching South mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng. The proof-of-concept (POC) test run wa ...
- School principals on the truth behind truancy - can the traffic light system work?on April 15, 2024 at 8:34 pm
Further proposals still have to be approved by Cabinet - they include a traffic light system to monitor attendance and daily reporting of attendance data by Term 1 next year. The president of the ...
- Red light, green light, white light: New traffic signal could ease congestionon April 11, 2024 at 4:00 am
as well as the system controlling the light signals, to optimise traffic flow. If the system becomes aware that a large number of autonomous vehicles are approaching an intersection, the white ...
- City traffic light systems upgrade will 'make roads safer'on March 21, 2024 at 1:33 am
A project to upgrade the city's traffic light systems will 'make roads safer', Coventry City Council said. A cash pot of £500,000 from Government funds is being made available to upgrade 10 of ...
- Evening traffic light system for roadworks on A6 London Roadon November 9, 2023 at 4:19 am
London Road, Carlisle, is set for major improvement works this month. Cumberland Council is informing residents that the A6 carriageway from Highwood Crescent and Eastern Way is scheduled for an ...
via Bing News