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Buses as Mobile Sensing Platforms?
Roland Piquepaille writes "According to European researchers, modern buses could be used as mobile sensing platforms, sending out live information to be used to control traffic and detect road hazards. The 3.83 million euro EU-funded MORYNE project was completed in March 2008 with a test in Berlin, Germany. During this test, the researchers 'equipped city buses with environmental sensors and cameras, allowing the vehicles to become transmitters of measurements, warnings and live or recorded videos to anyone allowed to access the data.' "
The difference is that the buses are mobile. Whereas the traffic/CCTV cameras are stationary.
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How about sensing when buses aren't meeting their route schedule requirements and using this data to improve the public transit system? A somewhat "direct" application to be sure, but one that's sorely in needed in places like metro Atlanta that depend on MARTA for mass transit. I can't even begin to estimate how many times buses have either been substantially late, not shown up at all, or passed right by a stop with waiting passengers. It actually prompted me to buy a car years ago.
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Not only that, but as a bonus, you only have to send the repair tech to the bus depot, not the street corner with a bucket lift.
... think "Can you hear me now?" and you're pretty close.
There are many possible and very good uses for mobile sensor platforms
Not only can they be used for traffic data, but also wireless network quality measurement. In addition to this, there are uses for short range wireless networks that could use buses as roving AP's for collection of data from those networks. Think of a WiFi network that mostly only needs connectivity now and then. As the bus drives by, boom, connection and data transfer.
There are stand alone applications that don't normally need connection except to report telemetry data.. buses come in handy. Think of all those cameras, if their network fails, they have no way to report telemetric data... unless a WiFi mobile AP comes in range.. woot! As a back channel for all sorts of things, this works well in the coverage area of the bus lines, and is suitable for many applications without huge infrastructure or maintenance costs.
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No, the US (and Australia for that matter) has the most ridiculous system where pedestrians and vehicles can both have green lights when crossing each other's paths.