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The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, programmed a small fleet of miniature robotic cars to drive on a multi-lane track and observed how the traffic flow changed when one of the cars stopped.
When the cars were not driving cooperatively, any cars behind the stopped car had to stop or slow down and wait for a gap in the traffic, as would typically happen on a real road. A queue quickly formed behind the stopped car and overall traffic flow was slowed.
However, when the cars were communicating with each other and driving cooperatively, as soon as one car stopped in the inner lane, it sent a signal to all the other cars. Cars in the outer lane that were in immediate proximity of the stopped car slowed down slightly so that cars in the inner lane were able to quickly pass the stopped car without having to stop or slow down significantly.
Additionally, when a human-controlled driver was put on the 'road' with the autonomous cars and moved around the track in an aggressive manner, the other cars were able to give way to avoid the aggressive driver, improving safety.
The results, to be presented today at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montréal, will be useful for studying how autonomous cars can communicate with each other, and with cars controlled by human drivers, on real roads in the future.
Sources:
- https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/driverless-cars-working-together-can-speed-up-traffic-by-35-percent
- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-48326428
- https://www.autofutures.tv/2019/05/20/miniature-cars/
- https://techerati.com/news-hub/driverless-car-fleet-can-reduce-traffic-by-at-least-35-percent-research-suggests/
[Editors Comment: The submitter is linked professionally to the last of the listed sources. Additional source material, including the original paper from Cambridge University as primary source, is also listed.]
(Score: 3, Touché) by ikanreed on Thursday May 23 2019, @02:52PM (2 children)
What if we got a whole bunch of cars and linked them together with some kind of mechanical mechanism. And... instead of a road we put them on some kind of metal rails that force them to all follow exactly the same path reducing drag. And we only put an engine in the front one. The gas savings would be huge.
Sure you'd have some challenges with planning, but you could have regular stops that everyone knows they can get picked up at fixed intervals.
I think I'm on to something here.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday May 23 2019, @08:55PM
But then you'd have to have some kind of standard for time, like dividing the country into different zones of time so everyone would know exactly what time the train was arriving.
I say we call them 'standard time' and 'time zones'.
I'd implement them in Canada first, though. (Takes off stove-pipe hat).
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday May 23 2019, @08:58PM
You'd also need to discover some way of communicating with the trains so they don't crash into each other!
I guess you could start building parallel rail lines, though.....hmmmm...I like your idea. Just need to work out the kinks.!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---