Daimler Participating in Field Test of Car-to-Infrastructure Communications

From New York Times, August 6th 2012

Daimler AG announced on Monday its participation in a field test of a communication system that would enable participating vehicles to communicate with one another as well as with networked traffic infrastructure.

The trial, to be conducted on public roads in and around Frankfurt, Germany, through the end of the year, includes 120 vehicles equipped with the system.

To optimize traffic flow, vehicles will communicate with one another and with traffic infrastructure consisting of roadside communication devices. Should a hazard be detected by one car, drivers in similarly equipped vehicles would be alerted as they approached. The technology also can communicate with networked roadside devices, alerting drivers whose vehicles are not equipped with the system to be vigilant.

Beyond its safety features, Daimler said the system would provide convenience functions like directions to the nearest parking facility, a common feature among in-car telemetry systems like Ford’s Sync, General Motors’ OnStar and Daimler’s own Comand Online.

Daimler’s experiment in Germany is part of a project called simTD, or Safe Intelligent Mobility, Test Field Germany, involving the local government along with universities and research institutes. According to the simTD Website, the initiative is intended to determine whether systems like this can be smoothly integrated into the existing transportation infrastructure. The field test is also being undertaken to determine how, and in what form, messaging can be used to effectively aim at a fleet of communication-enabled vehicles.