What if every motorist could see what the drivers ahead can see? In Munich, Germany, Ericsson and German automakers recently joined with Vodafone and local universities in a major research study that showed automobile crashes can be to a large part prevented, and traffic flow can be improved, if vehicles can communicate with one another over 3G/HSPA networks.
Using Vodafone’s mobile HSPA network and German vehicle manufacturer MAN Nutzfahrzeuge’s test grounds, the Cooperative Cars (CoCar) project simulated high-risk traffic situations to test applications that transmit time-critical information on traffic conditions between specially-equipped Daimler, MAN and Volkswagen vehicles.
Guido Gehlen, project manager in the CoCar project from the Eurolab R&D Center in Aachen, says that the results of the two-and-a-half year study show that cellular technologies such as mobile broadband can complement automobile communications systems with economically viable safety services.
“Mobile communications can defuse dangerous situations by helping motorists coordinate and adapt to surrounding traffic,” Gehlen says. For example, when a traffic jam lies just around the bend, the system automatically reports to the forthcoming vehicles – within less than half a second – that drivers ahead are drastically decelerating.”
Anders Fagerholt, Program Manager Telematics at BU Networks, says such solutions can initially be deployed on standard mobile phones or in existing navigation systems, but will reach full functionality once integrated into cars. “The initial market introduction studies, led by Vodafone, found that investment in such products can be paid back in as little as four years,” he says.
