A number of car manufacturers and other companies are joining together in a public-private research initiative to create a system that wirelessly connects vehicles and helps make traffic flow more smoothly.
The University of Michigan is working with carmakers on technology that would let vehicles talk to each other, all designed to reduce traffic congestion and automate cruise control and smooth out stop-and-go driving.
The hope is an automated car system will be developed and implemented by 2021. The system will be developed and tested in Ann Arbor, Mich., the location of the university, which is reportedly testing a pilot program.
A number of companies are donating $1 million over three years to build the system, including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. From now until 2021, the Mobility Transformation Center of the University is expected to raise as much as $100 million.
Other companies donating to the cause include Verizon Wireless, a communications company, Xerox, a printer maker, and State Farm, an insurance company.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the University of Michigan began a partnership in 2012 to launch a pilot program, effectively equipping 3,000 vehicles with devices that track the location and speed of other vehicles around them. This alerted drivers to things like congestion or traffic light changes.
The program is expected to expand to 9,000 vehicles in Ann Arbor and 20,000 vehicles in southeast Michigan, enabling vehicle-to-vehicle as well as vehicle-to-traffic device communication.
While this effort will not create driverless cars, it will reduce how much control drivers have over their vehicles. This news comes as Google is developing the world's first driverless vehicles, which it hopes to have on the road within the next five years.
Unfortunately for Google's program, the technology that's now available cannot detect the difference between a normal pedestrian and a police officer, for example. It also can get confused if there is too much sunlight.
Toyota also recently announced it would not be pursuing driverless cars because of the potential safety issues. The company instead envisions a future where humans and computers work together to ensure the safety of the driver. Examples include corrective braking or speeding up to avoid dangerous situations.
Despite this, as technology evolves and cars become more connected, it is easy to imagine driverless cars taking to the road and being more aware of their surroundings.
This initiative will help make car travel safer while minimizing congestion.
