The Fraunhofer Institute researchers have received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure for a project that could eventually improve traffic flow.
Conventional traffic lights use rule-based controls, but this rigid approach does not work for all traffic situations. In addition, the sensors currently in use such as induction loop technology embedded in the road surface provide only a rough impression of the actual traffic situation.
Instead of conventional sensors, the researchers used high-resolution cameras and radar sensors to more precisely capture the actual traffic situation. This allows the number of vehicles waiting at a junction to be determined accurately in real time.
The technology also detects the average speed of the cars and the waiting times. The real-time sensors are combined with AI, which replaces the usual rigid control rules. It uses deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms, a method of...