Audi of America and Navistar have successfully demonstrated the role direct communication via Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology can play to provide potentially life-saving safety technology for the 26 million children riding school buses every day in the United States. C-V2X technology offers the potential to unlock the next substantial improvements in road safety and create a safer environment for children to travel to and from school.
With C-V2X direct communications technology, the driver receives a direct message alert in the cockpit of the Audi vehicle providing an early notification of an approaching school bus stop situation. The alert is provided even when the school bus is not visible to the driver, such as around a corner, over a hill or if the driver’s view is blocked by other vehicles. Conversely, the school bus driver receives an alert of the approaching vehicle during a school bus stop as well as a warning if a vehicle is potentially approaching too quickly to be able to stop in time. This allows the school bus driver to take actions such as not opening the door or alerting the children to remain on the curb. It gives drivers additional time to prepare or react and contributes to safer transportation for school children.
Direct communication allows vehicles and school buses to communicate 10 times per second at a distance of up to 366m, virtually eliminating the latency inherent in communicating via cell tower networks. Each vehicle shares its location, speed and direction with others, thereby providing more safety for all, especially when every second counts.
Audi has already demonstrated the benefits of direct communication within school and construction zones as well as for cyclists and construction workers. The same technology implementation can be utilized for motorcyclists as well as emergency vehicles and, at some point in the relatively near future, pedestrians. Direct communications technology has the potential to help save lives and provides an incredibly valuable step toward automated driving.
Audi and Navistar worked with technology partner Applied Information to bring this demonstration to life. The three companies now plan to share the knowledge gained with local, state and national government officials to push forward the adoption of the technology.
You can read more about Audi’s use of C-V2X to improve road safety in an exclusive feature first published in the January 2023 issue of ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International – see the original magazine format version, available to read for free, here: January 2023 ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International – UKi Publication Viewer (ukimediaevents.com)
