A proposal by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada to add a fourth light to traffic signals that would be specifically for communicating with self-driving cars.
The proposed light, which would be blue in color, would indicate to autonomous vehicles that they have been detected by the traffic signal system and that it is safe to proceed through the intersection. This would help ensure that self-driving cars are able to navigate through intersections safely and efficiently, without relying on human drivers to interpret traditional traffic signals.
According to the researchers, the addition of a fourth light to traffic signals could help facilitate the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles and improve overall traffic flow. However, they note that more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach and to determine how it would be implemented in practice.
As Oliver Kroemer, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, explains: “We need to design a system that works for both autonomous vehicles and human drivers, and that can be easily understood by everyone on the road. The addition of a fourth light to traffic signals could be one way to achieve this goal, but we need to explore all possible options and evaluate their effectiveness before making any changes to existing infrastructure.”
Overall, the proposal to add a fourth light to traffic signals is an interesting development in the field of autonomous driving, and it will be interesting to see how it is received and implemented by transportation authorities and industry stakeholders.
Via The Impactlab