People do a lot of things to do as little as possible. The paradox is that there is no less work, and tasks never end. This is known to all who work with projects, of which there are not few. Not a little on Habré and articles on the topic of the future. Including about smart cars that will choose the best routes themselves, monitor the situation on the road, and most importantly take us from “point A” to “point B” without our participation and in the safest way possible.

I would not be surprised if there appear “custom firmware” for such bots drivers, in which it will be possible to adjust the movement algorithms of other bots drivers: blinking headlights, cutting and using other methods known to everyone.

But all this is in the future, which, thanks to individual companies, seems to be very close ... but not close at the same time.
Are you sure that the roads will not live drivers on your age?
For example, I am not sure, but I want to taste the future.
')
So why not take individual pieces of the future and not implement them now and as quickly as possible? Let's divide one big and difficult task into many “quite feasible-difficult” tasks and introduce smart cars into the future in stages.

The topic is definitely very broad. Therefore, I propose so far to discuss only one of these subtasks.
I propose to start with the navigation of the future. What prevents world corporations from doing it right now? How much is this necessary?

Navigating the future tomorrow

Navigation is not only and not so much a map. It is also the situation on the road: traffic jams, accidents, traffic police posts, cameras, etc.

How does it work now? Most of the participants in the movement have a variety of devices on which a variety of programs are installed. The essence of these programs in one. They know how to create routes taking into account the traffic situation, and they receive information about it from the server. Where does it come from on the server? From themselves. The problem is that the information is as accurate and operational as many participants in the movement with the same “programs” traveled along approximately your route, and more recently.

So we got to the main problem of modern navigation. It is not able to distribute the flow of cars in such a way that each of them spends as little time as possible in a traffic jam while driving the optimal route in time and distance. Everyone has different programs, and therefore different data on the current situation, so they help us, but not quite and not always ... and not a fact at all.

If you formulate the problem briefly and simply, you get:

Oh horror, we do not own the situation in fact. This is all an illusion!

Surely, the servers analyze not only the promptly obtained information about the situation on the roads, but also the history of the state of affairs on this route on the same day of the week, at the same time. This is good, but the problem of quickly obtaining accurate information on the road at a given time does not solve.

We need to somehow solve this issue

You can solve this issue! Or am I wrong.

We (well, or for us, hmm) have already decided that the cars of the future will be hung with a multitude of sensors and cameras designed to collect information in visible space. They will tell the driver-bot about other road users, their speed and movements, as well as the number of lanes, road damage and many other things (for example, eccentrics on summer bald rubber in ice). And let's ask our beautiful, smart machines to distribute this information? Right and left? Back and forth?

So, imagine ... Then I thought that you close your eyes and lean back on the backs of the chairs, but damn it, so you can not read .

So, let's imagine: each car collects information on its route, processes it and sends it to other road users. Oncoming cars, in turn, send information to her. Thus, it has independent, operational data about the current situation on the upcoming route. That is, in my opinion, it is possible to solve the problem voiced above. This is exactly how the information you receive will not depend on the software that you chose (or, more precisely, on the number of people who have also chosen the software) for navigation.

<Figure 1>


A few explanations to the picture:

1. The green brick is our car (I took this satellite image a little indiscriminately, so only the hood of our green mustang got on it).
2. The fat point in the picture is the destination.
3. The bricks of blue and brown are oncoming cars that send our collected data on their route.
4. Red arrow - everything costs, green arrow - everything moves (or no one)

As you can see, their routes are different (they are ingeniously depicted by a line in the color of the car) and data, respectively, too. The information that they carry is useful? More than.

I painted it for a very long time, so do not insult my feelings! Redraw if you can better! No, not so ... Redraw, please, someone.
And yes, I did not cope with habrastorage

Simple device?

So we need some kind of standard device (let's call it "chip"), which will perform the following functions:

• Receive information packets in a specific format from several sources: from peripherals inside the car (drivers can, then our chip can), from navigation software (everything is more likely to claim software, is also easily realizable) and from the same devices by air , with what immediately from many (here I have the greatest doubts, because "I do not rummage")
• distribute information packets to the same sources (no more difficult than receiving (or vice versa))
• Everything, coffee can not cook, I think. (Discussed)

Simply?
Just as easy as bots drivers.
No, really, is it really necessary for our happiness?

I personally asked such questions:

1. If such a device is designed and grind out a standard, will its manufacturers make cars and will they equip their cars with them?
I think yes! Why not? (I would not want to delay the answer to this question, so imagine that here I gave a bunch of pretty damnable arguments, scattering analogies with some other devices of cars, computers, etc., the essence of which is that it is profitable for automakers)

2. What if on my route the option of driving on a one-way road is possible?
Did anyone really cancel the data from the servers of your navigation software? They are designed to complement and adjust each other.

3. What if the navigation software will send all this information to their servers?
Fine! Everyone will have as close to reality information about the current situation! They will only have to compete among themselves for usability and prices!

4. What if I go for a long, long time, and no one comes across to me?
So everyone died! Or this can not be! Yes, and see the answer to question number 2.

Conclusion

Now there are no such heaps of sensors and cameras on the machines that will be in the future, but now there is already navigation software (coordinates of your movement, your route), as well as quite simple data from on-board computers (average speed, for example). This is still quite enough for one of us to invent this device and promote it to the masses! Let's bring the future closer.

I have only one question left: What am I a fool for? Or why is this still not on the roads?

As I said at the beginning, I propose to discuss this topic. Mentally, in the kitchen.

PS Maybe it’s all invented, and I’m alone not in the subject. Then forgive. Perhaps even all this is already used, and I am not alone in the subject. But it is unlikely.

UPD
User mutation cited a link to the development of BMV - Data exchange between cars.
There is more competently painted than me. But it becomes clear that there is movement in this direction. So, all radiation opponents will have to go to the streets with posters.