Audi Tests Out Travolution System to Improve Driving Efficiency, Safety, and Driver Sanity
On Wednesday, German car manufacturer Audi put out a press release regarding their Travolution system, a glimpse at what the future of automotive efficiency could hold.
The system, which is being tested out in Ingolstadt, Germany, is made up of 2 major components. The first component is located in the vehicles themselves. Fifteen Audis (13 Audi A4 allroad Quattros and two Audi Q5s) were outfitted with transmitter/receiver units. These units were designed to communicate with the second component of the Travolution system - similar transmitter/receiver units located in traffic lights. What kind of information are these units communicating to each other? Surprisingly, more than you would think.
The first goal of this project was to improve efficiency of automobiles, so Audi decided to ditch the method of trying to improve the efficiency of the car and try to improve the efficiency of the drive. Using the Travolution system, traffic lights can tell drivers how long it will be until a light turns green, calculate the precise speed at which they should travel to avoid having to stop at the intersection, and even set the car in cruise control to stick to the suggested speed. This eliminates the need to idle at an intersection unless it is totally unavoidable, and consequently saves gas and exhaust.
But that's not all. Apparently, the Travolution system will warn you when you are going run a red light, or a light that is about to change. It will give you a visual and auditory warning, and if it is not heeded, will brake lightly to further suggest to the driver that they should stop. If you do happen to be stopped at a red light, the system will give show a countdown timer that tells how much longer the light will be red.
Although it isn't quite feasible with just 15 Travolution-equipped cars on the road, a large population of them could help compile accurate, up-to-date information on traffic on different parts of a city, giving drivers a heads-up as to where they should avoid or which route would be best to take on their journey.
It even includes a method of paying for gas or parking (and even telling you how many empty spots are left in a parking garage) through an online account that is linked to the display in the car.
Even though it's only being tested, it makes you wish you could fast forward to the future when this sort of technology will (hopefully) be standard-issue.
Sources: Engadget
