Connected and autonomous vehicles are no longer a thing in the distant future, but something that will become tangible for the average Jane or Joe in just a few years.
The state of Michigan has teamed up with 3M to test the real-world application of a technology that enables vehicles to “speak” to infrastructure and others like them.
The system we are referring has already been mentioned on this website on numerous occasions, and it is called V2V, but also called V2I.
These two abbreviated names do not come as a mistake, but as a differentiator between two branches of the same technology. The first of them means vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which imply that a car driving on the road can “tell” an incoming automobile that it is approaching, and that a possible hazard lies ahead. The same applies to the other car in the equation.
Meanwhile, V2I means the situation when a car is traveling on a stretch of road that features this type of tech, and it asks a nearby beacon if it should expect any delays up ahead.
Thanks to the new systems, englobed under the V2X description, cars will be able to get a reply from beacons on bridges, for example, and they will know if heavy traffic or a crash has taken place further up the road.
For the moment, the deal between the Department of Transportation in Michigan and 3M focuses on a three-mile stretch of Interstate 75, located in Oakland County, Autoblog informs.
However, it is a step in what appears to be the right direction for the future, as self-driving vehicles will use the system in a more efficient way than humans might.
The same stretch of interstate also received all-weather lane markings, retroreflective smart signs, and short-range communication devices meant to communicate with “connected” automobiles. Audi and Cadillac have previously experimented with V2X technology, and they have shown impressive results with they prototypes.
The system we are referring has already been mentioned on this website on numerous occasions, and it is called V2V, but also called V2I.
These two abbreviated names do not come as a mistake, but as a differentiator between two branches of the same technology. The first of them means vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which imply that a car driving on the road can “tell” an incoming automobile that it is approaching, and that a possible hazard lies ahead. The same applies to the other car in the equation.
Meanwhile, V2I means the situation when a car is traveling on a stretch of road that features this type of tech, and it asks a nearby beacon if it should expect any delays up ahead.
Thanks to the new systems, englobed under the V2X description, cars will be able to get a reply from beacons on bridges, for example, and they will know if heavy traffic or a crash has taken place further up the road.
For the moment, the deal between the Department of Transportation in Michigan and 3M focuses on a three-mile stretch of Interstate 75, located in Oakland County, Autoblog informs.
However, it is a step in what appears to be the right direction for the future, as self-driving vehicles will use the system in a more efficient way than humans might.
The same stretch of interstate also received all-weather lane markings, retroreflective smart signs, and short-range communication devices meant to communicate with “connected” automobiles. Audi and Cadillac have previously experimented with V2X technology, and they have shown impressive results with they prototypes.