Slot-Based Intersections Could Kill Traffic And Reduce Pollution
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETHZ), and the Italian National Research Council (CNR) have devised a slot-based intersection that could mean the death of traffic and a massive reduction in pollution levels because traffic lights would no longer be needed to control the flow of vehicles.
The solution would mean that future autonomous vehicles would slot their way through gaps by modulating their speed on approach, maintaining a safe distance between other cars while they do so. A little bit like this…
Of course, a system like this would need some getting used to by its users (imagine how many times you’d clench before and during an intersection approach), but if the autonomous future we’re geared up for will in fact be as clever as we’re told to believe, then there’s no reason why slot-based intersections couldn’t revolutionise travel times, pollution, stress levels and anxiety behind the wheel.
For the rest of us, it’ll be interesting to see how these autonomous cars and slot-based intersections cope when we take our petrol-powered turbo V8 Earth killers for a spot of intersection chicken…
Comments
but thats only possible if 100% of vehicles are autonomous (and no cyclists or pedestrians crossing the road). And I hope that will never happen
We will be long gone before that happens
No cyclists, pedestrians, and bikers.
Also assuming that these cars work perfectly 100% of the time, all you need is one car to f**k up and you have a 60mph T-bone.
It’s also only possible at non-peak hours. If there’s a bunch of people you’d still have to stop.
This is just asking for accidents….
not really, there’s no weird situations or bad human choices, just computers driving themselves.
Them eggheads think they might have a solution. But with the amount of idiots on the road it won’t take effect.
why does it matter if someone is an idiot if their car is driving for them?
I’d rather drive a Prius than drive an autonomous car
Good, because you will NEVER drive an autonomous car…. as that is the whole point of them!
than be driven in an autonomous car*
Roundabouts, do you know them?
I think by b the time every car on the road becomes autonomous, majority of roundabouts would become history.
that figure 8 is really satisfying to watch
I still don’t believe in autonomous driving and I wouldn’t get into an autonomous vehicle that I can’t control by something. Like Tesla you can turn of autonomous mode in a Tesla if you want soo it’s not a fully autonomous vehicle. Other thing I just don’t trust in an autonomous vehicle. Plus I absolutely love driving soo I don’t care if it’s a short or long journey I love driving soo driving is not a problem for me. Kinda interested if any government will ban us from driving because autonomous vehicles. Hopefully not.
We are many in this world if all petrolheads protest by driving our non-autonomous cars at the same time we could do a world wide protest and the government has nothing to do but lift the ban and adjust, that’s best case scenario, and it’s highly unlikely. The good news is that most of us will be gone by the time this take sit’s full effect as autonomous cars are still very experimental and expensive, so the major public will probably not buy it straight away since people are afraid of change.
You know what they say, though the tiger changes the forest, it wouldn’t change it’s spots. So what made them think humans are going to be any better? Remember how tesla had to re-do their auto driving thing cuz people are being stupid with it. Things wont change anytime soon
They are going to make some crazy strict laws if this was to happen on modding cars or hacking them and also are we actually anywhere near this because I don’t see non autonomous cars going off the road too soon…?
Looks fun :D