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posted by janrinok on Thursday May 23 2019, @01:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the need-smaller-antennae dept.

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:

[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.]


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday May 23 2019, @09:05PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Thursday May 23 2019, @09:05PM (#846794) Journal

    Hey Siri: old ladies are 10 points each!

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    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
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