Amazon patented a highway network that controls self-driving cars and trucks
Amazon patented a highway network that controls
self-driving cars and trucks
The system will specifically help self-driving cars
navigate reversible lanes (or lanes that can go both ways).
BY JOHANA BHUIYAN@JMBOOYAH JAN 17, 2017, 11:34AM EST
Amazon was awarded a patent for a network that manages a
very specific aspect of the self-driving experience: How autonomous cars
navigate reversible lanes.
Reversible lanes indicate a change in direction of
traffic with an overhead signal, making it a potential disaster zone for
self-driving cars that haven’t yet been programmed to understand those signals.
In the patent, Amazon outlines a network that can communicate
with self-driving vehicles so they can adjust to the change in traffic flow.
That’s particularly important for self-driving vehicles traveling across state
lines onto new roads with unfamiliar traffic laws.
It’s not surprising Amazon has thought about how to ease
that process, given its recent push into creating its own logistics network and
controlling more of the delivery process.
A chart showing how the management system will work. A
series of boxes shows the flow of work. First box: Start. Second box: Obtain
destination for autonomous vehicle. Third box: Detect environmental information
associated with environment of autonomous
In December, the online retailer bought up thousands of
its own truck trailers to deliver goods from one Amazon warehouse to another.
It’s likely Amazon is thinking about its own self-driving ambitions —
particularly since autonomous delivery trucks would eliminate the cost of
hiring drivers.
Amazon is rumored to be working on creating self-driving
delivery vehicles out of its drone division, Prime Air. In fact, one of the
listed inventors of the network, Jim Curlander, is the technical adviser at
Prime Air.
The patent also indicates that the roadway management
system will help “assign” lanes to autonomous vehicles depending on where the
vehicle is going and what would best alleviate traffic.
It’s a system that’s similar to the cloud platforms that
automakers and tech companies are creating so vehicles can communicate traffic
patterns, safety stats and other information.
The main difference is that Amazon’s proposed network
would be owned and operated by Amazon, not each individual automaker. It also
appears to be designed so any carmaker’s vehicles can take advantage of the
technology.
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