The Green Wave flows on
Audi to introduce its Traffic Light Information service to a second German city.
Motorists in Düsseldorf will soon surfing Audi’s ‘Green wave’ as the brand’s Traffic Light Information service is rolled out.
29 January, 2020
It increases efficiency, convenience and safety on the roads, but riding the ‘green wave’ puts a smile on most motorists' faces because of the thrill of ‘catching green light after green light thanks to Audi’s Traffic Light Information service.
Already introduced in the brand’s home town of Ingolstadt, the Traffic Light Information service is being introduced in Düsseldorf, with information from 150 of the city’s traffic already visible in Audi driver’s cockpits and the remaining 450 to be added to the network in the next couple of months.
The vehicle-to-infrastructure system works by letting drivers know their ideal speed to catch the green light and also the time until the next green light.
The Green Light Optimised Speed Advisory (GLOSA) calculates the perfect (legal) speed to catch the next green and effectively ‘surf the green wave’ through town. No more mad dash to catch a light before it changes or diving on brakes if you ‘don’t make it’. This means less stop and start traffic and a more relaxed feel for motorists in general.
The vehicle-to-infrastructure system works by letting drivers know their ideal speed to catch the green light and also the time until the next green light
Audi Traffic Light Information services improve traffic flow, economy and safety as well as convenience
Of course, if stopping at a red light is unavoidable, a countdown displays the seconds remaining until the next green phase begins (Time-to-Green), so that drivers can relax and not try to double guess when the lights will change again.
“With Audi Traffic Light Information we wish to improve convenience for drivers, increase traffic safety and encourage an economical style of driving that looks ahead,” says Andre Hainzlmaier, head of development for Apps, Connected Services and Smart City at Audi.
“To do this, we have to predict precisely how traffic lights will behave in the next two minutes. At the same time, exact forecasts are the biggest challenge. Most signals react variably to traffic volume and continuously adapt the intervals at which they switch between red and green.”
Audi and its project partner Traffic Technology Services (TTS) have developed a complex analytical algorithm that calculates exact predictions drawing on myriad sources of information. The forecast algorithm improves itself continuously and learns how, for example, the traffic volume changes in morning commuter traffic or later when children leave schools.
The Audi fleet plays a decisive part in optimising the traffic light forecasts. “The cars send anonymised data when traffic lights are crossed to an Audi backend, which checks whether the actual crossings of traffic lights correspond to the forecast data. Only after this are the traffic lights cleared for the display in the car,” Hainzlmaier explains.
Audi Traffic Light Information premiered in 2016 in Las Vegas and today this V2I service is available at more than 10,000 intersections in North America, including some 2000 in Manhattan/New York City and more than 1600 around the US capital Washington D.C. Audi is also the world’s first automotive manufacturer to network its series-production models with city traffic lights.
Audi Traffic Light Information operates in all Audi e-tron, A4, A6, A7, A8, Q3, Q7 and Q8 models that have been produced since mid-July 2019 (the ‘2020 model year’) and are fitted with Audi connect Navigation & Infotainment package and the optional camera-based traffic-sign recognition.
Audi Traffic Light Information premiered in 2016 in Las Vegas and is now available at more than 10,000 intersections in North America
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