One of the most amazing things about this would be to remove signs altogether. Just embed the sensor in the pavement and give the space the signs took up back to people, nature, or literally anything else.
Huge overhead highway gantries and traffic lights would be wonderful to remove, too. City sidewalks are narrow enough as is and they would be way better without 20+ft tall metal poles jutting out of the ground. Hopefully we can put trees in their place, but maybe I’m dreaming.
Having sensors in the road (along the side and middle line) and receivers on cars would do a lot of good.
The sensors could tell the car how close it is to the side/middle. They could tell the car how close other cars are around them. They could tell the car the condition of the road surface (ex wet or icy). They could be programmed to the speed limit of the road and keep the cars moving at that speed. Probably many others uses.
The downside is building a sensor that can withstand weather, traffic, crumbling infrastructure. Also they would have to have a way to stay powered up for years. And if you made them re-programmable there is another level of security that needs to be added to them. And then there is the cost to retro-fit all the roads with these sensors and building a common receiver that could be installed on new cars.
I don’t think my idea is practical at all but it’s a cool idea
Surely there is a viable, inexpensive, simple solution. I think it would have to be a permanently programmed chip type of thing that is cheap enough that if you want to change the speed limit or lane specifications, it would be cost effective to replace all the chips along that length of road.
One of the most amazing things about this would be to remove signs altogether. Just embed the sensor in the pavement and give the space the signs took up back to people, nature, or literally anything else.
Huge overhead highway gantries and traffic lights would be wonderful to remove, too. City sidewalks are narrow enough as is and they would be way better without 20+ft tall metal poles jutting out of the ground. Hopefully we can put trees in their place, but maybe I’m dreaming.
I’ve thought about this idea for a long time.
Having sensors in the road (along the side and middle line) and receivers on cars would do a lot of good.
The sensors could tell the car how close it is to the side/middle. They could tell the car how close other cars are around them. They could tell the car the condition of the road surface (ex wet or icy). They could be programmed to the speed limit of the road and keep the cars moving at that speed. Probably many others uses.
The downside is building a sensor that can withstand weather, traffic, crumbling infrastructure. Also they would have to have a way to stay powered up for years. And if you made them re-programmable there is another level of security that needs to be added to them. And then there is the cost to retro-fit all the roads with these sensors and building a common receiver that could be installed on new cars.
I don’t think my idea is practical at all but it’s a cool idea
Surely there is a viable, inexpensive, simple solution. I think it would have to be a permanently programmed chip type of thing that is cheap enough that if you want to change the speed limit or lane specifications, it would be cost effective to replace all the chips along that length of road.
Ooo like higher powered rfid tags! The info could even then be relayed to the driver via the on screen display since theyre now all required.
It could be relayed inside. But in a self driving car, the driver’s seat is just a second front passenger seat
Oh wow, that does sound amazing.