Audi traffic light detection system gets the green-light
Audi's stoplight detection system, called Travolution, has been given the go-ahead for expansion in the company's hometown of Ingostadt, Germany. Travolution establishes a connection between a red light and a vehicle, so that as a specially equipped car moves toward a red light at an intersection, stop light gantries fitted with communications modules can let the car know when the light will turn green. The car then lets the driver know what speed he should maintain in order to pass through the intersection without having to brake for the light and then accelerate again.
The system's promise is in streamlining traffic flow, increasing gas mileage, and reducing emissions. An additional twenty A5 and A6 Avant models are being added to the fleet of cars with the technology, and fifty more stop lights will be fitted with modules. If you're in Inglostadt and you want to save time and money on your commute, follow the Audis.
[Source: Audi]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
zamafir 2:51PM (9/21/2008)
I'm a huge audifanboi and even i think this is retarded. :/ - any skilled driver will be able to acertain how quickly they'll need to pass through.
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Phred 3:49PM (9/21/2008)
I'm not sure how you figure that.
Unless you know the intersection well and maybe you can see a yellow light for the other street, a red looks like a red.
Elementary physics says you have to know two things in order to hit the intersection just as it turns green:
1. How far away you are (a skilled driver can tell)
2. When it's going to change (often no-one can tell)
Aimless Six 3:03PM (9/21/2008)
@ zamafir
I believe this is meant for the trafic lights still a mile away. Not the one's you can see. So by the time a block of cars gets there, it's green and clear of the previous block.
If you can survive the road rage from the maniacs behind you, it will even out the flow of trafic. And that is the intent of this system.
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Brent 3:03PM (9/21/2008)
I need this so I can blame my slow coasting on the car instead of me not wanting to speed up to a red light, like everyone else does.
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Brandon 3:30PM (9/21/2008)
Agreed, I try to understand the logic behind the people who honk at me when I'm coasting to a stop, instead of going full speed and jamming on the brakes... coasting makes for a more comfortable ride and, as stated, give slightly better gas mileage.
Noah 4:55PM (9/21/2008)
I am annoyed by slow coasters b/c its annoying to ride my brakes for 1/4 of a mile. I'm not asking them to slam on your brakes at the last second, just make a comfortable stop like the rest of us. What really gets under my skin is when some coasters go to the extreme and go 5mph for 150 feet. Necessary?
I think some countries have timers on next to the lights that show in how many seconds the red will turn green. I'd like that, so if it reads "40 seconds", I can turn off my car for 35 seconds. That saves more gas than coasting.
Sandok 7:28PM (9/21/2008)
Noah, if the light is red and there are a 150 feet left, what does it matter if you coast or not? If you keep going fast and brake at the last second, you waste gas and force the car to stop (thus loosing energy). If you coast, the world is happier! :D
And riding the brakes? Don't buy an automatic... Honestly, in a manual car, it means you don't have to drop to first which in my car, is a real bonus. Personally, I'm all for coasting.
homunculus 7:33PM (9/21/2008)
slow coasters UNITE!
it's a highly evolved driving technique.
akboss 11:27AM (9/22/2008)
Wow, I thought I was the only one! Everyone on the road drives a little differently, and we all need to share the road, but there's no need to harass a (reasonably) slow coaster because they're trying to not only save gas but probably add a few thousand miles to their brake pads. In my opinion, coasting 150 feet at 5 is just a nuisance. That said, I don't see the need to cook my brakes at every red light and empty my gas tank at every green one.
willll 3:08PM (9/21/2008)
As if people with expensive, technology-laden cars don't have enough excuses to not look where they're going already.
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eb110americana 3:12PM (9/21/2008)
Sounds promising, but I have little hope of ever seeing it here. The lights in LA are mostly on timers without any kind of synchronization from intersection to intersection. They can't even tell if there isn't any traffic in one direction vs. the other (for many), so you wind up waiting at a red light for 5 minutes at 3am while no traffic crosses in front of you. A good lot of city congestion is caused by each intersection operating independently of the others, instead of allowing traffic to flow through several blocks in a direction before bringing it to a red light. These technologies (vehicle sensing, and computer synchronization of sequential lights) have been out for years, but they are not implemented because none of them generate tax revenue/tickets and would cost money to install. I see no reason then, why they would bother with this new system when things are already so antiquated--at least here.
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Justin 3:29PM (9/21/2008)
I can't wait till:
A) people sue because they based their driving totally on this and run into someone
B) someone somehow hacks it wirelessly to mess with people
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Phred 4:02PM (9/21/2008)
Those are what scare me.
If there is any error in the system, it could hypothetically tell you to maintain 50 MPH straight through a red and into the side of another car.
You have to trust the device for it to work, and if you trust it, you will maintain speed towards a red. An unstupid driver will keep an eye on the light, but if you expect it to turn just as you arrive, you will wait until it's too late to stop anyway. If you leave yourself enough time to stop, you're derive no benefit, because that's what we already do.
It is inherently not a failsafe system, and failsafe is the only kind of system that should be informing our driving.
Phred 4:04PM (9/21/2008)
Oops-
The other problem should be evident in the number of people who drive their cars into a ditch because their GPS nav system told them to.
Robert 4:12PM (9/21/2008)
If you approach an intersection at 40 mph because you can predict a green light, then any slob who runs the red light across the intersection, or a jaywalker, or slowpoke, or someone unexpectedly caught in the middle of the intersection -- is dead meat. This is going to kill people, all in the interest of saving two minutes on the way to work?
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MajorGeek 5:56PM (9/21/2008)
Obviously this is brand new and will need some refining, but you missed its purpose entirely. Please surrender your drivers license and library card for 3 months. Wait, hold onto the library card.
The point here (again) is to guesstimate the next traffic light and what speed you need to maintain to pass through that light with it green your way. You see, this way, you dont have to waste brakes and fuel by starting and stopping. Any "slob" crossing the street BETWEEN you and the next light is most likely jaywalking. Your thinking it can predict a light 100 yards away so you can gun it and plow through. This is not the case.
AngeloD 1:23AM (9/22/2008)
""This is going to kill people, all in the interest of saving two minutes on the way to work?""
Well said.
This is absolutely the most murderously stupid idea ever.
Even Europeans, even...Gasp! Germans... can make mistakes at an intersection, or have a car malfunction in the middle of one.
JoJo 4:29PM (9/21/2008)
Am I missing something?
Can it calculate:
1) The four drivers not traveling your path that go through the red light after your light has turned green?
2) The five drivers traveling in your direction stacked up at the light and on their cellphones who take at least 5 seconds to do anything after the light has turned green?
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Sandok 7:30PM (9/21/2008)
You obviously haven't driven in Europe before. Running a red light is a SERIOUS offense here and almost every traffic light here has a hidden camera so nobody does it.
And again, cellphone usuage is a serious offense (not heavily enforced though, compared to red lights) but this is Germany we're talking about, a country where the average citizen can handle a limitless Autobahn.
RayJ 4:41PM (9/21/2008)
Very good concept and has real world positives for driver but implementation could be an issue in say the US.
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