US To Drive 3,000 Wi-Fi Linked Vehicles In Massive Crash Avoidance Trial

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US To Drive 3,000 Wi-Fi Linked Vehicles In Massive Crash Avoidance Trial

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday August 21, 2012 @07:47AM from the trying-to-break-fewer-things dept.

coondoggie writes "The U.S. Department of Transportation said it will run a massive road test of cars, trucks and buses linked together via WiFi equipment in what the agency says will be the largest test of automated crash avoidance technology to date. The test will be conducted by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), and feature mostly volunteer participants whose vehicles have been outfitted with vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication devices."

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Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by ewg · 2012-08-21 07:52 · Score: 3, Funny

Ann Arbor is a good place to start, its drivers are too preoccupied with their dissertations to watch the road...

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1. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by Naatach · 2012-08-21 08:00 · Score: 2
  
  And with the forward facing radar, the bastard computers can tailgate you even worse than Ann Arbor drivers!
  
  --
  There may be no "I" in team, but there's also no "F" in way.
2. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by Naatach · 2012-08-21 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  And with the forward facing radar, the bastard computers can tailgate you even worse than Ann Arbor drivers!
  Of course, this would render my favorite method of retaliation on a tailgater null - riding my windshield washer for about 1/2 mile.
  
  --
  There may be no "I" in team, but there's also no "F" in way.
3. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by lightknight · 2012-08-21 08:11 · Score: 1
  
  Nonsense. They came up with jazz (as well as a number of other genres of music), technology, and so on.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
4. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by mlts · 2012-08-21 08:35 · Score: 1
  
  I'd recommend Austin for a number of reasons:
  1: Most major roads have not been upgraded since the 1970s, with the last real traffic improvement being done in '95 (183).
  2: A ton of various driving styles, due to people coming from all backgrounds.
  3: Drunk/drugged drivers due to multiple universities in the area (UT, TSU, even A&M sometimes.)
  4: Very unforgiving roads in the city core. Run a light, and you might get hit by a train.
  5: Lots of semis that act as radio wave blockers.
  6: Lots of techies, a lot of which tend to run jammers just for grins.
  Austin is a good real world test. If this trial can survive the people drinking Bud Light out of a tap off their dashboard, it can survive almost anything but a Middle Eastern country.
5. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by camperdave · 2012-08-21 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry. Nothing in the US can compare with Cairo, Egypt for driving mayhem... except maybe a figure eight demolition derby.
  
  --
  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
6. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by fustakrakich · 2012-08-21 09:32 · Score: 1
  
  4: Very unforgiving roads in the city core. Run a light, and you might get hit by a train.
  I like that. I say let's put railroad crossings at every intersection.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
7. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by cduffy · 2012-08-21 09:52 · Score: 1
  Disagree. Austin is considerably easier to drive in than several other places:
  
  Unlike much of the rest of Texas, freeways have one-way frontage roads.
  Unlike the California bay area, onramps and offramps are generally highly forgiving.
  Unlike New Jersey, California, and several other locations, there are cultural prohibitions against tailgating. (Yes, some implants don't follow them, but a fairly substantial number of drivers do).
  I think you also underestimate the amount of new road work being done -- 183 has undergone pretty substantial changes just in the last decade. Also, by the time this trial takes place, the Mopac Improvement Project may well be underway (as a cyclist, I'll very much welcome this one -- having a north/south throughfare on the other side of a sound wall will be very much a welcome thing).
8. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by cduffy · 2012-08-21 10:25 · Score: 1
  
  I just wish COA would get the bus system up to par with everyone else. As of now, it is a living room/bedroom/bathroom for the local hobos (who get a free unlimited pass).
  I agree that the bus system is awful -- but to correct a factual point, it isn't free-of-charge for the hobos, merely cheap (as they tend to buy day passes and use them to the max)... and not cheap for anyone on the express routes; I use those only if I have a month pass for the train, which has MetroExpress folded in. Moreover, being pricey keeps the express lines hobo-free.
  For that matter -- my significant other has a Cap Metro disability pass, but bus access isn't free for her either, merely reduced-fare. (This wasn't always the case, and is a fairly recent change -- perhaps this is where the impression that hobos get free access came from?).
9. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by gmhowell · 2012-08-21 11:19 · Score: 1
  
  Alright, you've convinced me. The question now is, do you have some sort of ultimate answer to the black problem? How's that new flavor of Mt. Dew tasting by the way?
  I don't know about an 'ultimate answer', but judging by what he wrote, I bet he has a 'final solution'.
  
  --
  Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
10. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by History's+Coming+To · 2012-08-21 11:26 · Score: 2
  
  Sadly, I'm off on a bit of an essay here. If you're the tl;dr type then you do not have my permission to read further and if you do you are expected to burn all your Bieber albums, it's a rite of passage you'll thank me for later.
  
  Slashdot "nigger" trolls aren't necessarily racist. OK, yes, they use that word a lot, but that's simply evolution, they've learned (collectively, not individually) that using the N word is likely to get a reaction, and this promotes further troll activity of this nature. Responding to the N-trolls is akin to not completing your course of antibiotics, you just ensure more, worse and faster.
  
  With this in mind, can I suggest that the Slashdot community, those of us with the balls to put names to our comments and ACs with intelligent arguments alike, all act as one.
  
  From now on we must all solemnly pledge to only respond to the trolls when they come up with something tyruly imaginative, creative and interesting. For example, if they can whip up a (truly extraterrestrial) xenephobia argument then I for one will be happy to argue with them, I've read Ender's Game and everything.
  
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11. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by jafiwam · 2012-08-21 13:56 · Score: 1
  
  I bet releasing a trunk load of mylar and foil balloons in front of one of the tailgating computer-cars would make it back off. ;)
12. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by davester666 · 2012-08-21 16:21 · Score: 1
  
  This trick works best if the balloons are filled with hydrogen!
  
  --
  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
13. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by mcgrew · 2012-08-22 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  Nonsense. They came up with jazz
  Far more notable than his skin color is the fact that the inventor of jazz music was a schitzophrenic. But my question is, why are you feeding that troll? He's at -1 and invisible, don't encourage these jerks. Just ignore them.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
14. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by mcgrew · 2012-08-22 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  That's one thing that's really frustrating about racism -- the people who practice it seem to actually be mentally deficient in addition to being hateful fucks
  You have to realize that half the people on the planet have two digit IQs. Racism has one purpose -- to keep poor dumb whites and blacks at each others' throats and blame each other for their poverty and hopelessness (yes, there are more whites on food stamps than blacks) so they won't attack their real enemies, the 1% and their lapdog, the Tea Party.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
15. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by metamatic · 2012-08-22 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  I live in Austin, and it's a hell of a lot easier driving than Boston, which has all the features you mention plus angry Massholes who will cut you off as they lean on the horn and give you the finger.
  
  --
  GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
16. Re:Ann Arbor drivers thinking about dissertations by lightknight · 2012-08-23 00:24 · Score: 1
  
  A little education goes a long way. But sadly, I think you are correct.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
3000 WiFi radios at once ? by psergiu · 2012-08-21 07:57 · Score: 3, Interesting

3000 WiFi radios emiting together on how many channels and using what bandwidth ? Even if they drop to 1Mbps and use all 11 US 802.11 2.4Ghz channels, the collisions caused by ~270 devices on the same channell will make that network unuseable.
What about the trolls with a WiFi jammer (like a microwave over with a screwdriver jammed in the door safety switch) ? Turn-it on and watch the pile-ups.
Or will they use all channels in the 802.11n 5Ghz spectrum ?

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1. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Naatach · 2012-08-21 08:04 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ..the collisions caused by ~270 devices on the same channell will make that network unuseable.
  With that many collisions, that would make the road pretty much unusable too.
  
  --
  There may be no "I" in team, but there's also no "F" in way.
2. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-21 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  Sponsored by: Orville Redenbacher!
  We need at least a couple drunk humans driving this circuit, preferably in 1970s-era pickups.
3. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Sarten-X · 2012-08-21 08:11 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Because of course the engineers building an automated network aren't aware enough to think about what the car should do if it loses connections to other cars...
  If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that the 3000 radios aren't all transmitting to each other. Rather, each one would lower its power to broadcast only to its immediate area, so other cars can avoid it. A jammer would force cars nearby to switch to backup systems, and other vehicles could increase their own transmission power to compensate for the noise.
  Also note that though the article uses the term "WiFi", these are likely not standard 802.11 devices. Rather, they are in the 5.9 GHz band, with 75MHz bandwidth.
  
  --
  You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
4. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Baloroth · 2012-08-21 08:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  These aren't driverless cars. The crash-avoidance system is a supplement to help drivers avoid collision (giving them warnings of incoming cars at intersections, alerts of possible rear end collisions, stuff like that), rather than a replacement for the drivers. In other words, if the system goes down you simply don't get the benefits, which is exactly what we have now anyways.
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
5. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by bob8766 · 2012-08-21 08:28 · Score: 2
  
  In other news, Rush hour traffic is at a complete standstill on I-94 in both directions due to a "Software Glitch" with a traffic monitoring hub. The internet hactivist group "Anonymous" has claimed responsibility for the glitch.
6. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by KingMotley · 2012-08-21 09:26 · Score: 1
  
  Based on the experience of 802.11a/g/n in my house, you'd have to fit 270 cars in 10'.
7. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by garyebickford · 2012-08-21 09:44 · Score: 1
  
  Without RTFA, I'm thinking that the typical message would only need to be about 100 bytes or less, every 100 msec. so the throughput per car would only be on the order of 1KiB to 2KiB per second, even taking encryption into account. So that's 10-20 Kbps per car - quite a bit better than 100Mbps. Just guessing, of course.
  And I wouldn't be surprised if any production system would have its own set of channels that are illegal to use for anything but navigation. This wouldn't stop the jammers, but it would isolate the auto traffic from any other standard signals. I think that a good timebase * ident * encryption method would work against most attempts to penetrate, leaving only vulnerability to brute force 100 KW jamming by someone who wants to stop everything that moves. And then (assuming the drivers aren't even more idiotic than they are now), drivers could just revert to actually driving.
  If this is only a collision avoidance system, not navigation or actual driving, drivers are still driving, but they would now just have an enhanced collision alert + auto brake function.
  
  --
  It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
8. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by garyebickford · 2012-08-21 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  Let's put them all in a big circle, pointed inward, and have them accelerate as fast as possible toward the center. Then see what happens! :D
  That would be video worth watching!
  
  --
  It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
9. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by FunkDup · 2012-08-21 10:56 · Score: 1
  
  3000 WiFi radios emiting together on how many channels and using what bandwidth ?
  Yeah, all 3000 devices will have high gain antennas and be on the same stretch of road.
  
  --
  Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds -- Albert Einstein
10. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Idbar · 2012-08-21 11:07 · Score: 2
  
  Also, nobody said they will all transmit at once... that would cause not just a massive packet crash, but likely the car crash as well if the system is not properly designed.
  
  But as you said, engineers probably have thought of what happens if data reliability turns to zero, but also implement some of the Ad-hoc/Mesh networking routing techniques to properly propagate sufficient data (it's not like all the 3000 vehicles will start transmitting HD video to each other, right?). To the GP, this experiment will probably behave more like a sensor network, rather than a P2P torrent network.
11. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by RicktheBrick · 2012-08-21 11:56 · Score: 2
  
  Why can't we control intersections this way? Every car going through a intersection would be given a certain speed to avoid being in the intersection at the same time as another car. If we could get rid of traffic lights, stop signs and yield signs, I am sure we could increase gas mileage enough to pay for the system. I would also like to see every car being mandated that it has both a gps system and cruise control. If they were integrated with the accelerating pedal so that no car would be able to speed, I would think there would be less accidents.
12. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by Baloroth · 2012-08-21 14:00 · Score: 1
  
  This is possible. You'd have to track car length (a tractor-trailer truck takes much longer to go through the stop light than a Prius, for instance) and that would prevent pedestrian crossings at stoplights, which is actually a pretty significant problem. Of course in some places you could build a bridge or tunnel for them, but that isn't feasible everywhere.
  Such system are, however, a natural progression of automated driving and would massively decrease travel times and fuel wastage (in theory, every car could be travel at or near the speed limit, always, even during the busiest times).
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
13. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by zmollusc · 2012-08-21 18:43 · Score: 1
  
  Why pay for a new system? Get rid of traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs and one-way streets and reap the benefits of increases economy and shorter journey times.
  
  --
  They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
14. Re:3000 WiFi radios at once ? by mcgrew · 2012-08-22 07:28 · Score: 1
  
  If we could get rid of traffic lights, stop signs and yield signs, I am sure we could increase gas mileage enough to pay for the system.
  The less gasoline is sold, the fewer taxes are collected. It would be good for the motorist, but bad for the city government that would be tasked with paying for it.
  I suspect that's why Springfield has twice as many traffic lights and stop signs per capita than the average city -- to reduce your gas mileage and collect more tax (sales tax is collected on gasoline and diesel here, as well as the state and federal motor fuel tax).
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
I can see it already... by milbournosphere · 2012-08-21 08:02 · Score: 1

"...caused a 3000 car pile-up today, the largest in US history..."
1. Re:I can see it already... by lightknight · 2012-08-21 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  Nonsense. It will be a 14-car pileup, with the rest working perfectly. It'll give the tea drinking engineers at DOT something to ponder over (bonus points if they find a reference to "Grassy Knoll" in the core dump).
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
Data release? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-21 08:04 · Score: 1

I'm sure there would be privacy concerns (maybe not, given that it's volunteer), but I would love to see som graphical animations of how these Wi-Fi-equipped cars interact with each other around a town. It would be interesting to see a heat map of overlap with regard to things like rush hour, sporting events, etc.
I have to assume they'll have Wi-Fi stations set up in various spots to monitor traffic. Could replace the old pressure tubes for estimating throughput.
mostly volunteer? by a2wflc · 2012-08-21 08:06 · Score: 3, Funny

Will they at least tell the non-volunteers that their vehicle has been modified? I hope medical scientists don't pick up this new way of increasing the size of your test group.
Re:Sounds like a place for a jammer. by Githaron · 2012-08-21 08:09 · Score: 2

I assume the wireless communication is simply for efficient coordination between the vehicles. The vehicles would be able to function without the wireless communication but traffic flow would not be as efficient. The vehicles would simply have a fail safe that if the network goes down. The gap between cars is increased and speed is decreased since the uncertainty of the situation is increased.
I can't wait by maroberts · 2012-08-21 08:09 · Score: 2

...for the video of the resulting Blues Brothers style pile-up.

--
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
The results? by slacktide · 2012-08-21 08:10 · Score: 1

I sure hope the post the results on YouTube.
1. Re:The results? by PPH · 2012-08-21 10:31 · Score: 1
  
  Here it is.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
Re:Sounds like a place for a jammer. by SuricouRaven · 2012-08-21 08:14 · Score: 1

Probably something involving ultrasound, laser or image-recognition imaging, and driving at greatly reduced speed. Not ideal, but good enough to get you past the disruption.
This is how it *really* starts.... by paulsnx2 · 2012-08-21 08:18 · Score: 1

And this is how it begins. First the computers keep you from crashing your car. Then they are injected into every car.
Then they eliminate us all.
Is NASCAR selling tickets ? by RichMan · 2012-08-21 08:18 · Score: 1

Where do the spectators sit?
link to project page by Trepidity · 2012-08-21 08:21 · Score: 4, Informative

Here is the DOT project page on the experiment, which includes a nice FAQ, and a description of the purpose.
This particular 3,000-vehicle experiment, fwiw, is not intended to test the crash-avoidance technology in a live trial, but rather to collect a data set. The indicators aren't going to be displayed to the drivers on a HUD or anything, but just recorded for analysis, along with vehicle position/telemetry.

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10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Re:Sounds like a place for a jammer. by Githaron · 2012-08-21 08:21 · Score: 1

They have already been testing complete autonomous cars.
surely... by zmollusc · 2012-08-21 08:22 · Score: 4, Funny

...they are using the wrong networking topology? Token ring is the way to go if you don't want collisions .

--
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
1. Re:surely... by freeze128 · 2012-08-21 09:00 · Score: 1
  
  That will only work if you're driving in circles.
2. Re:surely... by besalope · 2012-08-21 11:58 · Score: 1
  
  That will only work if you're driving in circles.
  I thought that was why they started building roundabouts all over the place.
3. Re:surely... by evilviper · 2012-08-21 15:27 · Score: 1
  
  Ethernet doesn't have collisions anymore, either. Hubs are a thing of the past.
  
  --
  Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Re:Sounds like a place for a jammer. by CanHasDIY · 2012-08-21 08:25 · Score: 1

It can't be difficult to build a powerful Wi-Fi jammer. Like almost anything wireless, this sounds like a dangerous thing to develop reliance on.
Screw that, MITM those bastards and send them all bad coordinates.

Or is this one of those closed "look how perfect everything works in a lab environment, which of course translates to identical real world results!" type of trials?

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
They missed something by na1led · 2012-08-21 08:29 · Score: 2

They programmed all the cars to avoid hitting each other, but forgot to tell the cars to also avoid hitting everything else.

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-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
Sounds like "Maximum Overdrive" just became viable by Timmy+D+Programmer · 2012-08-21 09:03 · Score: 1

Time to find a truck stop to hide at!

--

(If at first you don't succeed, do it different next time!)
Re:eliminate us all. by TaoPhoenix · 2012-08-21 09:13 · Score: 1

"Powered by Windows 8"

--
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Re:eliminate us all. by VortexCortex · 2012-08-21 10:14 · Score: 1

"Powered by Windows 8"
Then we have nothing to fear, Hackers will still be in control of everything.
Re:Sounds like a place for a jammer. by timeOday · 2012-08-21 12:35 · Score: 1

Light is easy to block also; even a sheet of paper will do it! Anybody who relies on vision for collision avoidance deserves whatever they get.
What a great idea by EmagGeek · 2012-08-21 12:39 · Score: 1

Put our safety in the hands of equipment operating in unlicensed spectrum that can be interfered with by every microwave, cordless phone, and cell phone hotspot within 200 yards.
Unintended consequence by ThatsNotPudding · 2012-08-21 23:29 · Score: 1

In the minus column of autonomous vehicles and car trains is this: the death of the freedom of travel (sans real-time monitoring). This will rapidly become mandatory, even for current cars via a module plugged into the OBD2 port. The insurance companies want it to more efficiently deny claims (and raise rates in real time) and John Law wants it as he despises privacy above all else.

Just like a free lunch, there ain't no such thing as a care-free autonomous car.
More likely by Sqreater · 2012-08-22 00:58 · Score: 1

...it will be a crash production test. Bad ideas just never seem to die.

--
E Proelio Veritas.