Test driving the cars of the future
The key to the simTD is that cars communicate with one another and with a control station. This is more than a comprehensive map and traffic analysis; it practically gives the driver "super powers" for safe driving. It allows the driver to keep tabs on other cars locations in the area, the best routes to a destination, and most importantly it 'senses' if a car nearby makes a faulty move. If the car in front of you brakes too quickly, the system will alert you as the other driver stomps on the brake pedal, allowing for a quick reaction time. The system can also tell you how much time until the traffic light turns green, and the best speed needed to catch every single green light ahead.
Over the next few months of the test, the "fleet" of cars are going to role-play various traffic and accident-causing scenarios designed by researchers at the University of Munich. The drivers are a mixture of professionally trained and regular drivers. The professionals will be working together to create the designed scenarios and then see how the other drivers react. The cars are testing motorways, rural, and urban roads from Bad Nauheim to Frankfurt. At this point, there is only one traffic-control station, at the ITS Central Station. Eventually, simTD will set up roadside control stations to interact with cars nearby.
The University of Munich will soon be pouring over the data from these drives, to determine how best to tune the control system. We probably won't see this technology on the market until at least 2013, and we'll be waiting anxiously for our flawless morning commutes.
For more information, please visit http://www.simtd.de.