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WASHINGTON, DC — Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication works. A sit-in at the Washington Auto Evidence provided route information and warnings in iii scenarios: a curve approached likewise quickly, a motorcar approaching a traffic light turning red, and roadway construction with a airtight lane.

The demo was part of the Washington Auto Show's media days. Where other shows are big on new car intros, Washington bills itself as the Public Policy Show with a ii-twenty-four hours forum (Mobility Talks) featuring members of Congress, automaker experts and representatives of the consumer (this year, Gary Shapiro, caput of CES and the Consumer Technology Association). The V2I demo was also function of the show, equally hybrid, EV and hydrogen-motorcar media ride-and-drives have been in the recent past.

5.9-GHz roadside unit sends traffic info, warnings. Inset: prototype in-car transponder.

five.9-GHz roadside unit sends traffic info, warnings. Inset: paradigm in-automobile V2I transponder.

The button for V2V, V2I

The National Highway Traffic Rubber Assistants (NHTSA) wants to run across vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity implemented in new cars starting in the next 5 years. Like much in Washington, that timetable is very much dependent on the new administration and its priorities. V2V may well relieve lives, information technology volition certainly add together to the cost of cars, it will probably reduce crashes, and it will mean additional regulations. In the meantime, the DC roadshow went on with a demo of V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communications. V2X comprises the more than ordinarily heard terms V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) and V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure).

The demos were held in the vast parking lots of RFK Stadium, ii miles from the Capitol, in areas that weren't taken up by dozens of tractor trailers retrieving and hauling away staging, platforms, and other materials from the presidential inauguration the week before. Information technology was staged by Crash Abstention Metrics Partners LLC (CAMP), working on behalf Fiat-Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, General Motors, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Volkswagen.

V2I warnings in plenty of fourth dimension to react

I rode in a vi-year-quondam Nissan G37 (predecessor of the Q50) with an On-Board Unit (OBU), hither a Denso V2X transceiver installed (to report speed and location), and the center stack display modified to receive warning messages. We ran three traffic situations where V2I could be helpful.

Construction zone with lane closure. We approached the structure zone at 40 mph, what the feds call a Reduced Speed Zone Warning / Lone Closure Warning, or RSZW/LC. Every bit the automobile came into range of a temporary, 5.ix-GHz V2I transceiver, or Route-Side Unit (RSU), the car was sending position and speed status. The RSU transceiver informs (warns) if vehicle speed is over the zone limit (hither 40 approaching a 25 mph zone) or if a lane modify is required. "Lane Closure Ahead" popped up on the center stack. Eight seconds later, the horn honks and the screen displays "Lane Closure — Merge Over."

The RSU is broadcasting, every second, a Basic Information Message (BIM), in this case the geometry of the work zone, lane closures, and speed limits (normal limit, piece of work zone limit, or workers-present limit). See the video below; the voice is test commuter Dana Schuckman.

Bend Speed Alert (CSW).The car approaches a bend at a speed too fast to negotiate safely. The car sends the speed-location-condition data. The RSU sends road geometry/map info (hither, a curve with a 30-meter radius), the posted limit, the advisory speed, roadway fabric information, and road surface condition. The in-car transceiver combines the road information (curve radius, dry road surface, cobblestone, zero-caste banking concern bending) with its capabilities (centripetal force and stability/rollover possibilities for the road currently). And then it issues warnings (on-screen or horn) to slow downwardly when the car, driving the posted xxx mph, is going too fast for the curve under electric current conditions.

Reddish Low-cal (take a chance of) Violation Alert (RLVW). The car approaches a signalized (traffic low-cal) intersection as the lite goes yellow. The RSU broadcasts, once a second, a road geometry map and optionally an exact GPS location and real-time clock data. X times a second, the RSU sends Betoken Phase and Timing (SPaT) information, significant where the traffic light is on its path from green to yellow to ruddy. The vehicle alerts the driver to the xanthous lite and then warns if the driver is in danger of entering the intersection after the light goes from yellow to red, which would be a violation. Approaching at 40 mph, we got increasingly animated warnings until the commuter striking the brakes and slowed in time to stop before the intersection.

The purpose of the cherry low-cal warning is to warn the driver he or she is almost to run the red low-cal. One hopes information technology'south likewise not being used to automatically issued speeding citations. Everyone says that's not the intent. At least not now.

Is this the way to deliver V2X?

Automatic driving technology sometimes moves away from the initial direction. Cocky-driving at one fourth dimension was going to exist achieved by magnetic striping laid down the centre of each roadway lane.

This vision of V2X involves roadside transceivers (RSU) at every intersection and curve in the route. For Bend Speed Warning, it would crave a moisture sensor that correlates to the road'south friction. Another vision might be oversupply-sourced data and in-car maps that are kept upwardly-to-date. Cars ahead could report rain, either from the driver/rider tapping a push (as with Waze) or indirectly: Windshield wipers and headlamps on, traction control or ABS triggered on several cars, temperatures beneath 32 degrees, and lower overall speeds would suggest slippery and moisture conditions.

Audi, BMW, and others are already getting traffic light information directly (from stage information sent to a regional data clearinghouse). Audi and others have suggested nosotros take a long look at cellular data to transport and receive data. More and more than cars will have cellular modems built in. And different V2X transceivers, users won't mind the cost, because information technology likewise lets them stream music, video, and map updates, and send emergency crash notification requests.