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Interview: Michael Zweck
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Michael Zweck
We expect Car-to-X communication to increase at a rapid rate as cities become smarter and ever more data can be transmitted seamlessly. “ “
Michael Zweck, the Senior Predevelopment Engineer at Audi Electronics Venture Gmb, has held various positions within technical development departments of Audi, since he joined the company in 2002.
In 2011 he initiated the predeveloped project “traffic light information”. After three years, he moved to the Silicon Valley to introduce this Vehicle-toInfrastructure feature as an industryfirst into the US-market.
Following the successful market launch of the function and the preparation of the first US cities, he came back to Audi to drive the European rollout and develop new Smart City functions.
We talked to Michael about Audi’s latest innovation – cars that communicate to their surroundings. We’re ready to relax, take our foot off the pedal, and enjoy the ride.
Q. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON CAR-TO-X COMMUNICATION AND HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT? A. I initiated the predevelopment of the V2I service Traffic Light Information in 2011 and it is overwhelming to see that so many people are excited about the feature.
Q. AUDI IS WORKING ON THE COMMUNICATION WITH TRAFFIC LIGHTS, HOW EXACTLY DOES THAT WORK? WHAT IS THE GREEN WAVE? A. Audi Traffic Light Information consists of two functions: Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA) and Time-to-Green. GLOSA calculates the ideal speed for getting a “green wave”. For example, if the function indicates the applicable speed limit, the next traffic light reached will be green. If stopping at a red light is unavoidable, a countdown displays the seconds remaining until the next green phase begins (Time-to-Green).
Q. IN WHICH CITIES AROUND THE WORLD IS THIS SERVICE BEING OFFERED? A. Audi Traffic Light Information premiered in 2016 in Las Vegas. Today this V2I service is available at more than 10,000 intersections in North America, including some 2,000 in Manhattan, New York City, and more than 1,600 around the US capital, Washington D.C. The service is also available in some cities in Germany and Canada – more cities are to come.
Q. DO CARS REQUIRE ANY SPECIFIC ADD-ON OPTIONS TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS? A.We use the existing vehicle communication and the available traffic infrastructure networks. Of course, the cities have to digitalise their infrastructure first and provide open data.
Q. HOW DOES THE MORE EFFICIENT DRIVE PAY OFF? LET’S SAY THE WHOLE COUNTRY WOULD BE CONNECTED, HOW MUCH FUEL COULD YOU APPROXIMATELY SAVE? A.Drivers do not have to accelerate unnecessarily, they are not stressed, and they drive more safely. A number of studies concluded that drivers move through cities more efficiently thanks to networked traffic lights. In a pilot project, Audi was able to reduce fuel consumption by up to 15%.
Q. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACED WHEN ROLLING OUT THE TECHNOLOGY? A.One of the biggest challenges is to get access to the data of the traffic lights and to establish digital processes in the agencies of the cities.
Q. WHEN DO YOU THINK THE MIDDLE EAST WILL BE READY FOR CAR-TO-X COMMUNICATION AND THE AUDI TRAFFIC LIGHT INFORMATION? A. At the moment no decisions have been made. But what we can say is that the infrastructure in Dubai is pretty new and the traffic lights are already connected to a traffic management centre, which makes it a lot easier to implement our system here than for example in old European cities, which have grown historically.
