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Ford is working to develop and test a system that helps drivers maintain a proper speed through cities in order to avoid hitting red lights. It’s called the Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory and it uses information on traffic light timings on a roadside display to give drivers the optimal speed at which to travel.
“There’s not much worse after a long day than to hit one red light after another on the drive home, and be forced to stop and start again at every junction,” said Christian Ress, supervisor of Driver Assist Technologies at Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. “Enabling drivers to ‘ride the green wave’ also means a smoother, continuous journey that helps to improve the flow of traffic and provide significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption.”
Ford’s technology will be incorporated in to Europe’s largest self-driving and connected car trail. Called U.K. Autodrive, the publically funded project is designed to help advance vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. The two-year trail is being carried out on both public and private roads in Milton Keynes and Conventry.
As another part of Autodrive, specially equipped Ford Mondeo Hybrids are testing Emergency Electronic Brake Lights, which warns when a vehicle ahead suddenly brakes. The system also alerts the driver even if an incident ahead has occurred around a blind curve, up to 500 meters in advance.
Furthermore, the Autodrive is designed to ward of emergency vehicles. It also gives ambulance, police, and fire vehicles priority when approaching an intersection.
Once perfected, this type of technology could be spread, making its way across the pond to the U.S.
Continue reading for more information.
Why it Matters
The connected car and the Internet of Things is slowly becoming a reality. Pretty soon, vehicles will be communicating between themselves and autonomously driving as passengers relax and enjoy coffee why checking out social media on their smartphones. Automakers have already been working on connected car communications. Jaguar Land Rover, for example, has developed a system that allows __cars to relay information about road conditions like potholes or road debris, allowing the following __cars to automatically avoid the problem. Such an intertwined transportation system might seem far-fetched now, but it will likely become a reality in the next few decades.
Ford’s advancements in “riding the green wave” will undoubtedly save drivers time in congested city centers where red lights pose a serious delay. However, the system will only truly work with the help of civil engineers synchronizing the times of these stop lights. Nothing is more frustrating than hitting red lights block after block. By working to synchronize traffic lights, city centers will automatically become less jammed and congested. If nothing else, Ford’s advancements in this area will bring attention to miss-timed traffic lights.
Photo Credit: Ford
Press Release
Hitting a series of red lights on a miserable commute could become a thing of the past with the help of technology that is now being trialled with Ford cars
Drivers choose recommended speed to maximise chance of meeting green lights based on timing information from roadside units. UK daily drivers spend two days per year waiting at red lights
Ford cars also trial technology that warns when cars unseen up ahead brake hard to show benefits of connected cars for UK’s largest self‑driving and connected car trial
BRENTWOOD, Essex, 21 October, 2016 – Imagine if you could take the kids to school, commute to work or drive across town to do some shopping without ever hitting a single red traffic light.
Technology is currently being trialled with Ford cars to make “riding the green wave” a day-to-day reality. Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory uses information on traffic light timings from a roadside unit to display to the driver the best speed to travel at to get a green light.
Ford is trialling the technology as it helps to demonstrate the benefits of connected cars for UK Autodrive – the nation’s largest self-driving and connected car trial. The 16-member, publicly funded £20 million project is developing and trialling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle‑to‑infrastructure technologies that could make driving less stressful and time-consuming, and improve fuel efficiency.
“There’s not much worse after a long day than to hit one red light after another on the drive home, and be forced to stop and start again at every junction,” said Christian Ress, supervisor, Driver Assist Technologies, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. “Enabling drivers to ‘ride the green wave’ also means a smoother, continuous journey that helps to improve the flow of traffic and provide significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption.”
Daily drivers in the UK alone spend two days each year waiting at red lights, and similar technologies already enable cyclists in Copenhagen and Amsterdam to avoid red lights. * If drivers find hitting a red light unavoidable the system displays how long until the light turns green.
The Mondeo Hybrid cars provided by Ford are also trialling Emergency Electronic Brake Lights, which warn when a vehicle up ahead suddenly brakes hard – even if the incident occurs out-of-sight – up to a distance of 500 metres.
Technologies that will be trialled next year also warn drivers when another vehicle is blocking the junction ahead; when an ambulance, police car or fire truck is approaching; and prioritises vehicles arriving at intersections without traffic signs or traffic lights.
Trials are taking place on both public roads and closed circuits in Milton Keynes and Coventry during the next two years.
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