This measure allows self-driving cars to support traffic flow.
We all know that traffic light colors – red, yellow (also known as amber) and green – are arranged vertically or horizontally in that order. They are the same around the world and have been the same for over a century. Scientists have now proposed a fourth color for these lights for driverless vehicles, according to a report in. Metro UK.
There are no fully driverless cars on the roads yet, as autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a relatively new concept. Waymo, a self-driving taxi company, has almost achieved level five, or SAE4, in California and Arizona. Teslas and other AVs are also growing in popularity. With a few exceptions, self-driving cars are currently not allowed on UK roads. However, the Automated Vehicles Act could allow them as early as 2026, suggesting that autonomous and human-driven vehicles will soon coexist on the roads.
In this context, engineers at North Carolina State University are developing a “white light” at traffic lights that would allow self-driving cars to assist with traffic flow and communicate with human drivers to inform them of what is happening. The goal, said study leader Dr. Ali Hajbabaie, was to use the AVs’ computing capabilities to determine which vehicles were where.
“The white phase concept involves a new traffic light so human drivers know what to do. Red lights still mean ‘stop.’ Green lights still mean ‘go.’ And white lights tell human drivers to just follow the car in front of them,” he said.
Dr. Hajbabaie and his team ran several computer simulations to visualize how the new system, which could improve travel time, fuel efficiency and safety, would work. The results were published in the Journal of Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. According to the proposal, AVs could communicate wirelessly with computers managing traffic lights, as well as with each other. When a sufficient number of autonomous vehicles approach the intersection, the new traffic light system would be activated. All non-automated vehicles would have to do is follow the vehicle in front of them, and the white light would tell onlookers that the AVs are coordinating their movements to direct traffic through the intersection.
Until virtually all cars are autonomous, however, the traditional red, yellow and green traffic lights will be used most of the time and the system will work much as it has for over a century. The team also found that the white light concept “improves traffic efficiency for vehicles and pedestrians.”
“If we see near-universal adoption of AVs at some point in the future, our models suggest that intersection delays would be reduced by more than 25%. More realistically, we will eventually see a smaller proportion of wirelessly connected AVs on the roads, but there would still be significant improvements in travel times,” the scientist added.
