Honda world first can detect the potential for traffic congestion

Honda Motor Company has announced the successful development of what it claims is the world’s first technology to detect the potential for traffic congestion and determine whether the driving pattern of the vehicle is likely to create traffic jams. The company developed this technology while recognising that the acceleration and deceleration behaviour of one vehicle influences the traffic pattern of trailing vehicles and can trigger the traffic congestion.
April 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
1683 Honda Motor Company has announced the successful development of what it claims is the world’s first technology to detect the potential for traffic congestion and determine whether the driving pattern of the vehicle is likely to create traffic jams. The company developed this technology while recognising that the acceleration and deceleration behaviour of one vehicle influences the traffic pattern of trailing vehicles and can trigger the traffic congestion.

In conjunction with the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology at the 5315 University of Tokyo, Honda conducted experimental testing of a system using the technology to detect the potential for traffic congestion. The test results demonstrated that the system helped increase the average speed by approximately 23 per cent and improved fuel efficiency by approximately eight per cent of trailing vehicles.

With the goal to bring this technology to market, Honda will begin the first public-road testing of the technology in Italy and Indonesia in May and July of this year, respectively, to verify the effectiveness of the technology in minimising vehicle congestion.  

Rather than providing information to help the driver avoid existing congestion based on current traffic information, the system monitors the acceleration and deceleration patterns of the vehicle to determine whether the driver’s driving pattern is likely to create traffic congestion. Based on this determination, the system provides the driver with appropriate information, including a colour-coded display through the on-board terminal, to encourage smooth driving which will help alleviate the intensity of acceleration and deceleration by trailing vehicles, thereby helping to prevent or minimise the occurrence of vehicle congestion.

Moreover, the positive effect on minimising congestion and fuel efficiency improvement can be further increased by connecting the on-board terminals to cloud servers to make the driver aware of and in sync with the driving patterns of vehicles ahead by activating the ACC (adaptive cruise control) system at the right time to maintain a constant distance between vehicles at the most appropriate interval.
Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • July 19, 2016
    Industry collaboration ‘the key to avoiding autonomous driving traffic congestion’
    A joint whitepaper published by Here and SBD argues that new levels of vehicle automation will increase traffic congestion in the foreseeable future and it's up to the automotive industry to enhance its collaboration in order to create a seamless transition as we reach these new levels of automation. According to co-author of the study, Andrew Hart, director at SBD, autonomous cars have the potential in the long-term to revolutionise mobility and radically improve the safety of our roads. However, the pa
    Read More
  • October 28, 2015
    New analysis finds speed cameras may create bad driving behaviour
    Using more than one billion miles of driving behaviour data, collected over three years (2011-2014) and including 8,809 separate journeys in 5,353 vehicles, Wunelli, a LexisNexis company, has revealed the most frequent braking black spots across the UK created by speed cameras, based on motorists braking excessively just before speed cameras to avoid being caught. Eighty per cent of all the UK speed cameras investigated had hard braking activity, with braking increasing six fold on average at these loca
    Read More
  • July 24, 2012
    Intelligent parking guidance relieves congestion, reduces costs
    O R Tambo International Airport, near the city of Johannesburg, is the largest airport in Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and is one of 10 airports operated by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA). This airport places a massive demand on road infrastructure and parking facilities since a majority of travellers get to the airport by motor vehicle. The demand for parking left many people searching for a parking space for eight minutes or more
    Read More
  • February 1, 2012
    Advanced in-vehicle user interface - future developments
    Dave McNamara and Craig Simonds, Autotechinsider LLC, look at human-machine interface development out to 2015. The US auto industry is going through the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. But it has embraced technologies that will produce the best-possible driving experience for the public. Ford was the first OEM to announce in-car internet radio and SYNC, its signature-branded User Interface (UI), is held up as the shining example of change embracement.
    Read More

Highlighted Content