Smart-phones, Smart-cars, and now Smart… Intersections?

by: David Nickelson, Vice President of Research

As vehicles get smarter and communication bandwidth increases with 5G rollouts, we’re inching closer to the time when our vehicles will be able to talk with each other, and the prospect of fewer crashes and more smoothly flowing traffic is possible.

Among the numerous challenges this technology will face, busy intersections are near the top of the list. A combination of vehicles, pedestrians and other streetscape items make this one of the most complicated scenarios for connected vehicles to navigate.

To address this challenge, the University of Michigan (“Go Blue”) and their partners: Ford, Toyota, Qualcomm, the City of Ann Arbor, Continental, Iteris, WSP, P3Mobility, Econolite, and Purdue University will soon roll out 20 smart intersections in the city of Ann Arbor. These intersections will be able to gather data using cameras, radar and infrared sensors and communicate that information to connected vehicles for use in decision making.

In terms of IP for the Ann Arbor project, Continental Automotive Systems (the same Continental that makes Continental Tires) appears to have the most on-point patent art. Their issued patent US10733893 (“Intelligent intersection crosswalk vulnerable road user warning system”) and abandoned application US20190096246 (“Compact modular wireless sensing radar infrastructure device”) focus on the intersection (pun intended) of vehicle-based and location-based monitoring and the integration of the two.

As technologies increasingly overlap with one another the project shows both the importance of collaboration among numerous partners, and the opportunity for companies such as Continental, to carve out space apart from their traditional technology and innovation niches.

Whether you’re looking for partners for your next project, or to carve out your own niche of emerging technology, Techson can help. Give us a call and find out what our team of experts in business and IP can do for you.

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