4-color traffic lights will soon become a reality

Traffic lights may need to take on a new color to control self-driving cars. Photo: Jurni .

A research team from the University of North Carolina recently published research results in IEEE journal on the proposal to add new colors to traffic lights. This is directly related to the appearance of self-driving cars and how they can navigate at intersections.

The new traffic light concept would include red, yellow, green and white. As a self-driving car approaches an intersection, it would remotely “communicate” with the traffic light system. If it sees a white light on, the on-board system would allow traffic to be controlled.

The white lights also help the self-driving car’s system calculate the safest way to proceed through the intersection, stopping or just continuing, according to the report. The idea could help make intersections less chaotic, keep traffic moving smoothly, and reduce accidents. But there are still big questions about safety.

For example, if someone runs a red light when the white light is on, how will the self-driving car handle it? Will it recognize the danger and stop? These questions need to be answered clearly before this system can be widely used.

In recent years, self-driving car services operated in the form of robot taxis have appeared in more and more cities across the United States.

Waymo, the self-driving taxi company owned by Alphabet, is the leader in this field. After 15 years and nearly $30 billion in investment, Google’s self-driving car company now has a fleet of 700 taxis operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, with plans to launch in Atlanta and Austin soon.

China, one of Tesla’s key markets, is also becoming a hot spot for autonomous vehicles. Apollo Go, the robotaxi unit of tech giant Baidu, is set to launch its service in Wuhan in 2022.

It has since expanded to 10 other cities in China and aims to double its fleet in Wuhan to 1,000 vehicles by the end of the year. Other Chinese brands are also testing robotaxis in some locations, including Pony.ai, WeRide and Didi, the country’s largest ride-hailing company.

Source: https://znews.vn/den-giao-thong-4-mau-se-som-thanh-hien-thuc-post1548053.html