Traffic lights may soon be obsolete as semi-autonomous cars make driving through intersections easier

‘Are traffic lights set to become a thing of the past? They very well could be in a future where cars can navigate intersections without needing to stop. That’s the future envisioned by researchers from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). As new cars are being outfitted with semi-autonomous driving aids, they can also come equipped with the communication beacons and algorithms to make that future a reality.
“In the city of the near future, traffic lights would be complemented by and then replaced with a communication beacon,” said Bo Yang, lead author of the research report entitled: “Efficient intersection control for minimally guided vehicles: A self-organised and decentralised approach”. As reported by ScienceDaily.com, the system proposed by Yang and co-author Christoper Monterola would work like this: The beacon would collect and relay data on the speed and distance of vehicles approaching the intersection. The data would then be used by the system to design a safe pathway around those vehicles. Moreover, the concept of “adaptive repulsive force” ensured that cars would never come into contact with one another. The closer cars are to an intersection, the stronger the repulsion and the higher the speed adjustment to pass by one another safely.’
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