| Long-Range Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights |
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| NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California | |
| Apr 30 2005 | |
Addition of a forwarding system could improve preemption performance.
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A forwarding system could prove beneficial as an addition to an electronic communication and control system that automatically modifies the switching of traffic lights to give priority to emergency vehicles. A system to which the forwarding system could be added could be any of a variety of emergency traffic signal preemption systems: these include systems now used in some municipalities as well as advanced developmental systems described in several NASA Tech Briefs articles in recent years. Because of a variety of physical and design limitations, emergency traffic-signal-preemption systems now in use are often limited in range to only one intersection at a time: in a typical system, only the next, closest intersection is preempted for an emergency vehicle. Simulations of gridlock have shown that such systems offer minimal advantages and can even cause additional delays. In analogy to what happens in fluid dynamics, the forwarding system insures that flow at a given location is sustained by guaranteeing downstream flow along the predicted route (typically a main artery) and intersecting routes (typically, side streets). In simplest terms, the forwarding system starts by taking note of any preemption issued by the preemption system to which it has been added. The forwarding system predicts which other intersections could be encountered by the emergency vehicle downstream of the newly preempted intersection. The system then forwards preemption triggers to those intersections. Beyond affording a right of way for the emergency vehicle at every intersection that lies ahead along any likely route from the current position of the vehicle, the forwarding system also affords the benefit of clearing congested roads far ahead of the vehicle. In a metropolitan environment with heavy road traffic, forwarding of preemption triggers could greatly enhance the performance of a pre-existing preemption system. This work was done by Aaron Bachelder of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free online at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Electronics/Computers category. In accordance with Public Law 96-517, the contractor has elected to retain title to this invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its commercial use should be addressed to: This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Long-Range Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights (reference NPO-40492) is currently available for download from the TSP library. Login first to download.
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