TU-TESL

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Researchers and roboticists at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, with the help of urban engineers and foundations, have developed and deployed a technology to keep traffic flowing, foreign media reported. Surtrac is led by Stephen Smith, Professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. His team focuses on multi-agent decision-making. "Our focus is not on one subject, but on collaborative decision-making, especially for traffic lights," Smith said The software can make the signal lights "talk to each other". Each signal light can generate the time planning of optimizing the intersection traffic by sensing the approaching traffic flow. These lights then share time planning with adjacent lights to coordinate actions. The system uses artificial intelligence technology to coordinate traffic lights according to traffic conditions, improves traffic flow, reduces the average travel time by 25%, and reduces the idling time of the car by as much as 40%, so the air pollution caused by exhaust emissions is reduced accordingly. Smith said that with vehicles equipped with devices that can communicate directly with traffic lights, additional data can be shared with traffic lights to improve traffic efficiency. Because surtrac can build traffic flow model and optimize traffic flow, it can directly use the additional information provided by vehicles, and the networking infrastructure can improve the safety and mobility of human driving and vehicles. Although it will take decades for all vehicles to be connected to the Internet, in the short term, there are still many benefits to be derived from the technology. For example, freight companies can know their routes in the city. If the fleet is equipped with communication capabilities, intelligent traffic lights can optimize the route, and network car Hailing companies can also optimize the route to carry more passengers. The Smith team is working on equipping the buses of the Allegheny County Port Authority, Pennsylvania's second largest public transport agency, with radio equipment to communicate with surtrac lights in order to better predict bus arrival times and give bus priority when appropriate. In addition, the team is working with the federal highway administration to develop a mobile application to help disabled pedestrians. The application communicates directly with the surtrac system and indicates how long it will take the user to cross the road safely. In addition, the system can let people crossing the road know how long it will take for the traffic lights to change color. (all pictures are from Carnegie Mellon University)