Smart Car-to-Car Navigation Network in Japan

nomrniceguy writes "Japan now boasts some of the latest technology in zapping computerized data to millions of cars, delivering what may be the world's smartest way to drive. New navigation systems in Japan can quickly tell drivers which roads have traffic jams. A computerized FM radio broadcast system that collects and sends information from more than 28,000 infrared and radio-wave beacons installed along roads, they can also calculate how many seconds it would take to drive through virtually every block of the nation's cities and then find the fastest routes. In tests by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, a Japanese research group, cars connect to other cars wirelessly to get information about a traffic accident or an approaching ambulance."

Comments

Small Problem...

[MattJakel]

Wouldn't mass adoption of this technology kind of destroy the point? If everyone was told the fastest route, eventually more traffic would come there until everything was at an equilibrium... but maybe that would be considered ideal by some...

Re:Small Problem...

[3-State Bit]

Did you know that if there's a ten-car jam in a tunnel, with clear road ahead, and clear road for a ways behind, then if we get the traffic that's coming up behind the jam to lose some time by making a detour, maintaining its speed and distance-between-cars, etc, while the ten cars start moving again, then the jam disappears -- but if we let the traffic that's coming up behind all reach the traffic jam while the hind car is still at a stand-still, and come to a stop behind it, all in turn, then there's still a jam? Only now instead of 10 cars it consists of however many cars were all cruising fine? (If it's on a highway, where these groups of cars aren't segmented by traffic lights, then this can be a huge number of cars. That's why you can have 45 minutes of stop-and-go traffic even though ahead of the whole jam is clear road and there's absolutely no reason that these hundreds of cars should be at a stand-still, except that an accident HAD occurred, miles and miles ahead of where the current traffic jam is, over an hour ago.)

Well, that wouldn't be hard...

[BJH]

New navigation systems in Japan can quickly tell drivers which roads have traffic jams.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main(void) {
getc(stdin);
printf("Yes.\n");
exit(0);
}

$ gcc -o nav nav.c
$ ./nav
Is there a traffic jam on this road?
Yes.
$


And I'm not joking...

Cars not only beneficiary of computerization.

[Sheetrock]

In downtown Japan, there are a great deal of computerized navigational assistants as well. Pay phones, largely obsolete because of the prevalence of cellphones, have been adapted to 'phone maps' -- lift a receiver up and a cheerful voice (or sometimes a flat tone) will request where you want to go.

Upon speaking the destination (speech to text is not perfect, especially if you don't speak the language, so it may take a couple tries) you'll notice a RFID-tagged card issued from the machine and speakers along the sidewalk will guide you to where you want to go, within reason. More modern places will also light the sidewalks with your issued card color, although this relies on service funding by the merchants.

Here's what would rule.

[Renraku]

Imagine if there were an 'optimum speed' that the computer reccomended that everyone go to ensure smooth flow of traffic. It'd take a lot of processing power, but it could be done.

Now imagine this speed is broadcast out to cars and the speed could vary between lanes. So this pretty much eliminates unnecessary traffic jams and fixes the 'wave' effect of traffic.

The Future in Japan is 3 years old in the UK

[Ian.Waring]

A traffic monitoring network around all the major UK roads, and a talking SatNav that uses the data to route people around traffic jams as they happen. See here. Yours for around $1200 plus a $230/year subscription at current conversion rates - and it can optionally do speed camera warnings and stolen vehicle tracking too.

Takes an average of 10 minutes to spot a jam with the current coverage (28,000 sensors on 9,000 miles of roads if my memory serves me right).

Over 10 car manufacturers fit this as an optional extra this side of the pond. 30,000 units (in a vehicle population of over 23,000,000) sold to date - still way to go.

Ian W.