The proposed signal system would leverage AI to create the most efficient sequence for traffic to travel
Sayan Bose
TRAFFIC patterns across the world could change as experts plan to add a fourth light amid AI-powered plans.
Researchers at North Carolina State have proposed a new traffic signal system at intersections with "artificially intelligent white light" to ease out city congestion.
Scientists suggest this would ease congestion in city traffic and lower drivers' fuel consumption, essentially saving drivers lots of money over time.
The fourth light would be used to regulate the traffic for self-driving autonomous vehicles - and will sync with their computing systems, according to lead researcher Ali Hajbabaie.
Hajbabaie and his team tried and tested the "white light" concept on complex micro-traffic simulators, which were tuned to anticipate the varied situations that could come on the road and how the self-driving cars would react to them.
“AVs improve traffic flow, regardless of the presence of the white phase," Hajbabaie said.
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"The white phase further improves traffic flow. This also reduces fuel consumption, because there is less stop-and-go traffic.
"[And] the higher the percentage of traffic at a white phase intersection that is made up of AVs, the faster the traffic moves through the intersection and the better the fuel consumption numbers.”
It was also found that the higher volume of AVs on the road led to the most reductions in traffic.
[The proposed traffic system] can be used to coordinate traffic in any given scenario that involves self-driving cars
Ali HajbabaieLead researcher at North Carolina State
According to the proposed plans, the AV cars would remotely communicate with one another in addition to the main computing system, which would control the smart traffic lights.
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"The white phase concept also incorporates a new traffic signal, so that human drivers know what they are supposed to do," Hajbabaie said.
"Red lights will still mean stop. Green lights will still mean go. And white lights will tell human drivers to follow the car in front of them."
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The proposed "white light" would activate when "enough AVs are approaching a given intersection" and an AI-powered machine learning system would help create the most efficient sequence for the traffic to travel, avoiding congestion and jams.
It will also direct human drivers in traffic full of self-driving cars to coordinate in the best possible way.
And at times when there are more human drivers on the road, the light would revert to a conventional red, yellow, and green combination system.
"Granting some of the traffic flow control to the AVs is a relatively new idea, called the mobile control paradigm," said Hajbabaie.
He added that the fourth light could be of any desired colour - and it can be used "to coordinate traffic in any given scenario that involves self-driving cars".
Hajbabaie's latest plans, however, differ from the model of a four-light intersection proposed back in 2020.
It was designed with a centralised system where a computer built into the light would communicate with all vehicles rather than having them talk with one another.
The researcher explained: "We’ve improved on that concept, and this paper outlines a white phase concept that relies on distributed computing, effectively using the computing resources of all the AVs to dictate traffic flow.
"This is both more efficient, and less likely to fall prey to communication failures."
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While the practical implementation of the new traffic signal system could be years away from now, Hajbabaie and his research team are scouting for areas where they could plan a test run for the system.
The proposed "white light" would activate when "enough AVs are approaching a given intersection" and an AI-powered machine learning system would help create the most efficient sequence for the traffic to travel, avoiding congestion and jams.
Traffic engineers want to add a fourth “white” light. With the additional light, they say travel times decrease as does fuel consumption. The secret is autonomous vehicles controlling traffic flow.
Red, amber, green – traffic lights are pretty much the same the world over, and have been for more than a century. However, they could one day have a fourth colour added to help traffic flow around driverless vehicles, scientists have proposed.
One of the biggest benefits of AI in traffic lights is the reduction of environmental impact. The optimised traffic flow and shorter waiting times at traffic lights reduce fuel consumption. This leads to lower CO2 emissions and consequently contributes to climate protection.
Traffic Flow of 4-way Intersection (with traffic light) In 4-way intersection, a four-stage sequence is implemented, i.e. Stage A, Stage B, Stage C and Stage D, with special patterns, and all controlled by three signals, red, yellow, and green coding lights. Stage A and Stage B have sligtly different pattern.
Different colours – sometimes flashing to indicate that a change is imminent – work best for the human brain, while a single light works better for autonomous cars. Therefore, a fourth light – most likely white – would be added for the benefit of self-driving cars.
“Our earlier work introduced the idea of a fourth traffic signal called a 'white phase,' which taps into the computing power of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in order to expedite traffic at intersections—but we had not yet incorporated what this concept would mean for pedestrians,” says Ali Hajbabaie, an associate ...
So, what do we make of this fourth traffic light? Essentially, this light indicates that some interconnected group of automated cars is taking over traffic flow patterns at that intersection, and human-driven cars should follow.
The universal colors and meaning of a traffic light sequence are red (which means stop), green (which means proceed), and either solid yellow (prepare to stop) or flashing yellow (yield and proceed with caution). The latest traffic lights have countdown timers which were introduced in the 1990s.
The traffic signal works on light signals and includes three colours: red, yellow and green. Here 'red' indicates that the vehicles must stop, 'yellow' means that the vehicles must slow down and finally 'green' means to go ahead.
AI can potentially improve traffic flow, aid in road condition monitoring, detect traffic incidents, and swiftly alert authorities to crashes or road obstructions. Moreover, AI improves road safety through driver monitoring systems, detecting signs of fatigue and promoting attentiveness during journeys.
In many ways, AI is simply a new version of automation. In cases where you're following a design concept with known lighting solutions, AI applications can quickly recognize the patterns in those solutions and complete these repetitive tasks automatically. This can save both time and money on any applicable project.
One area where AI can make a significant impact is in the optimization of turnaround times for airlines. Searidge's machine learning software can identify support vehicles and determine instantly whether they are in place quickly enough for planes to make their next departure.
The average traffic light has a height of about 30 inches, with each lens having the same size of the average human head. Traffic lights can weigh anywhere between 30 and 50 lbs. It can cost anywhere between $200,000 and $500,000 to install traffic lights.
A four-way stop is an intersection where traffic from all four directions is required to stop. Typically, these intersections are marked by stop signs at each corner and sometimes accompanied by a supplemental road sign stating "4-WAY.”
If two or more cars pull up to a four-way stop at the same, the car that is farthest to the right should go first. “If two or more cars pull up to a four-way stop at the same time, the car that is farthest to the right should go first.”
Traffic signals consist of three colours: Red, Yellow, and Green. When the signal turns red, you must stop, when it turns yellow, slow down and wait, and when it turns green, go.
Before one learns to drive, one already knows what each color stands for; red (stop), yellow (floor it, pray, or slam the brakes), and green (go). However, a new research study coming out of North Carolina State University has proposed the idea of adding a fourth "white" light, but its reason may unnerve some drivers.
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