Of congestion hunters and traffic regulators
Vehicles that communicate with each other, congestion detectors that process local data from mobile telephones in real time, electronic scarecrows for flight safety – without telematic applications all wheels would stop turning.
Ralf-Peter Schäfer knows how to make drivers happy: with their own personal congestion detector. Integrated in the portable satellite navigation system HD Traffic from TomTom it also warns of sluggish traffic on side roads and presents alternative routes in seconds. Available on the market since the end of 2008 this system already covers seven countries.
Schäfer is the head of research at the TomTom development centre in Berlin-Adlershof that he set up in 2006. The highlight of the new device: it not only analyses historical data available from GPS based traffic databases. “We link this to current data measured on traffic flows in real time,” explained Schäfer. To this end the TomTom developers utilise anonymous local data that mobile phone SIM cards exchange with their base station. In a network of thirty million Vodafone customers they can determine the present movements and draw conclusions on potential congestion.
Quite a few terabytes of data are collected in this manner, and these must be stored and processed ready for access. For this purpose Schäfer and his colleagues have perfected statistical methods for the reliable evaluation of these data – as well as data compression methods so that the information sent back to the sat nav occupies as little space as possible. “With a mass produced product like this every saved megabyte counts,” emphasised Schäfer.
The company Lesswire AG is trusting to a somewhat different mode of communication. Data exchange between cars is to raise driving safety. In addition car to infrastructure communication can provide information for regulating traffic in real time. For instance a green wave can be activated, allowing an ambulance to reach the accident site faster. “In international collaborations we have contributed towards developing the radio standards this technology needs,” said CEO Ralph Meyfarth. This involved defining the radio frequencies and the communication protocols so that as many systems as possible from all manufacturers can intercommunicate without problems. Also the tight bandwidth constraints must transmit data reliably, and there must be measures preventing unauthorised persons from sending their own signals and so manipulating traffic.
That telematic applications are no only restricted to road traffic is proved by the Adlershof company TSI TelematikSolutions International. One of its current projects involves deterring flocks of birds at airports. With precise measurements of locations following loud shots effective strategies can be elaborated for keeping birds away on a permanent basis. TSI also develops solutions for agriculture and logistics: precise details of location in real time help to organise the deployment of vehicles for greater efficiency.
Uta Deffke