Ford Uses GPS, Digital Maps for Smart Intersection
July 21, 2008
Ford Motor Co. researchers have unveiled what they call a "smart intersection" that
uses GPS technology and wireless communications to reduce traffic accidents
and ease congestion, according to the car maker.
The intersection, established near Ford's Research & Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan, communicates with specially equipped test vehicles to warn drivers of potentially dangerous traffic situations, such as when a vehicle is about to run through a red light, Ford said. The intersection is outfitted with technology that can monitor traffic-signal status, GPS data, and digital maps to assess potential hazards, and then transmit the information to vehicles.
Once an in-vehicle computer receives data indicating a potential hazard, it can instantly warn drivers through visual and audio alerts, according to the car maker. It suggested the project would accelerate its research into proprietary, active safety technologies as it continues development of a common architecture and standards for smart intersections together with General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Daimler AG, Toyota Motor Corp., the U.S. federal government, and local and county road commissions. The joint public-private effort is known as the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership.
Ford's smart intersection transmits several pieces of data to a test vehicle, including a digital map of the intersection, six additional maps of surrounding stop sign intersections and crosswalks, lane-specific GPS location, as well as traffic light status and timing information. Once the information is received, the vehicle's collision avoidance system may be able to determine whether the car will safely cross the intersection or if it needs to stop before reaching it, according to Ford. If the system determines the need to stop and senses that the driver is not decelerating quickly enough, it issues visual and audio warnings to the driver.
"This technology has the potential to augment vehicle navigation systems to enhance safety by helping people who are distracted, drowsy, or cannot see the traffic light due to a visual obstruction," said Joe Stinnett, lead technical engineer, Ford Active Safety Research and Advanced Engineering. "Our research is helping to identify the kinds of warnings that drivers may find both more effective and easier to understand."
The active safety initiative comes as research shows that 40 percent of all traffic accidents and 20 percent of crash-related fatalities occur at intersections, typically in a city setting. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data for 1997-2004, 84 percent of fatalities in signalized intersections and 37 percent of fatalities in stop sign junctions occurred in urban settings.
Infrastructure-to-vehicle communications could also directly ease congestion by reducing crashes, Ford suggested. According to the Texas Transportation Institute's 2007 Urban Mobility Report, traffic congestion continues to worsen in American cities of all sizes, annually wasting nearly 3 billion gallons of fuel — or about 58 fully-loaded supertankers — as recently as 2005. Accidents, breakdowns, and road debris cause approximately half of those traffic delays.
"A vehicle equipped with a collision avoidance system could act as a traffic probe, and communicate its presence and travel history when it encounters a smart intersection," said Mike Shulman, technical leader, Ford Active Safety Research and Advanced Engineering. "If smart intersections were widely available, such traffic information could be combined with information from other vehicles and would complement and enhance the information that Travel Link already provides," he explained. "It could even include future vehicle travel, based on a destination entered into the navigation unit or past trips."
Broad deployment of dedicated short range communications capability, such as that used in Ford's research, will require significant public funding, the car maker noted.
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