[CEATEC 2016] When it comes to predicting and providing data of traffic on the road, systems such as Google Maps and Waze rely partly on user information. However this means that it requires users to use their apps otherwise it wouldn’t be as effective. Recently at CEATEC, Murata showed off plans for a mesh network traffic system that they are proposing.
Using sensors that are placed every 500 meters, it creates a mesh network traffic system that could ping the information to drivers, letting them know if there is heavy traffic at certain roads, or in some cases, can even be used to send warning signals, such as earthquake or tsunami warnings.
Now the ability to detect vehicles isn’t exactly new, but Murata’s sensors are able to detect what kind of vehicle it is, such as whether it is a bus, car, lorry, truck, and so on. It will be able to calculate the speed that the vehicle is moving at, amount of vehicles per lane, as well as environmental information, with all the data being sent to the cloud.
Currently Murata is testing out the system in Bangkok, Thailand. The company claims that each sensor will cost around $1,000 which means that if cities/countries want to deploy it, it will probably end up costing them a pretty penny.