Future City Idea: an interface for safe AI-control of traffic lights
We want a traffic light that * Can function autonomously if there is no network connection * Meets some minimum timing guidelines (for example, green in a particular direction no less than 15 seconds and no more than 30 seconds, etc) * Secure interface to communicate with city-central control * Has sensors that allow some feedback for measuring traffic efficiency or throughput
This gives constraints, and I bet an AI system could be trained to optimize efficiency or throughput within the constraints. Additionally, you can narrow the constraints (for example, only choosing 15 or 16 seconds for green) and slowly widen them in order to change flows slowly.
This is the sort of thing Hash would be great for, simulation wise. There’s probably dedicated traffic simulators, as well.
At something like a quarter million dollars a traffic light, I think there’s an opportunity here for startup.
(I don’t know Matt Gentzel’s LW handle but credit for inspiration to him)
Future City Idea: an interface for safe AI-control of traffic lights
We want a traffic light that
* Can function autonomously if there is no network connection
* Meets some minimum timing guidelines (for example, green in a particular direction no less than 15 seconds and no more than 30 seconds, etc)
* Secure interface to communicate with city-central control
* Has sensors that allow some feedback for measuring traffic efficiency or throughput
This gives constraints, and I bet an AI system could be trained to optimize efficiency or throughput within the constraints. Additionally, you can narrow the constraints (for example, only choosing 15 or 16 seconds for green) and slowly widen them in order to change flows slowly.
This is the sort of thing Hash would be great for, simulation wise. There’s probably dedicated traffic simulators, as well.
At something like a quarter million dollars a traffic light, I think there’s an opportunity here for startup.
(I don’t know Matt Gentzel’s LW handle but credit for inspiration to him)
I expect that the functioning of traffic lights is regulated in a way that makes it hard for a startup to deploy such a system.