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RFID Roads

cheap guidance system
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Ok RFID is cheap and doesn't need batteries so why not embed RFID tags in roads as a guidance system. The tags would be in the middle of the lane and spaced about 2 feet apart. the car would have multiple readers on the bottom to center itself over the RFID tags and thus in the lane. The tags themselves would hold information such as the speed limit, upcoming exits or turns, how many lanes wide the highway is... basically everything we would see on a regular sign. Autodrive cars would need sonar (most minivans already have sonar on the back bumper) to avoid deer and dumb cars. They would also have WiFi to "talk" to stoplights and other cars about lane changes, speed changes etc. Easyest to implement on 400 series highways that have no stoplights. Pros: good in fog, Cons: impossible to plan for all possibilities.
WhiteWiz, Jun 17 2005

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       Make them active, and they could record the passage of every vehicle, and be 'swept clean' by an inspection vehicle. I expect they could (if they talked to neighbours) check your speed and distance from the previous vehicle.   

       GPS/ satellite navigation alternative that works between high buildings or in tunnels?
Ling, Jun 17 2005
  

       Con: wanna see a reaally big crash? just throw a dozen RFID security badges onto the road.
WhiteWiz, Jun 17 2005
  

       It could be also a complement to GNSS indicating the exact geoposition of each road beacon. In a far future with enough (not so many) beacons buried on lanes and roadsides this could be an alternative to military minded positioning systems for developing countries and others (90% of people live only on 10% of the territory and we pass over same places again and again). Same can be used for indoor guiding and navigation (for the blind person, etc). See www.roadbeacon.com
inventcat, Mar 29 2006
  
      
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