Automakers are increasing the production of unmanned models, as if not noticing the obvious problems in this industry. In the context of gro...
Automakers are increasing the production of unmanned models, as if not noticing the obvious problems in this industry. In the context of growing traffic congestion and a shortage of parking spaces, it is difficult to talk about the safe use of such vehicles. And can it be called truly unmanned if the driver must always be on alert?
Forced transition to innovation
Nearly 1.3 million people die each year in road traffic crashes worldwide. Self-driving car projects aim to reduce accidents. Developers strive to eliminate the human factor and equip cars with sensors, scanners, radars, and automatic control systems.
The trend of introducing digital technologies into the transport industry will not lose its relevance in the near future. But in pursuit of leadership, drone manufacturers are not always able to achieve complete safety for the driver and passengers. Information about accidents involving digital cars is increasingly appearing in the news. The autonomous function of the autopilot is considered an assist system and the driver is responsible for its use. There were cases when, in the conditions of an imminent accident, the autopilot turned off a couple of seconds before the collision, which did not leave the person behind the wheel a single chance to take control.
Problems are waiting for solutions
Unmanned vehicles completely imitate the behavior of the driver while driving - whole systems of sensors are involved to monitor and analyze the situation. But this approach also has weaknesses.
- Bad weather and exhaust fumes make it difficult for lidars, scanners with a laser emitter, to recognize road signs and traffic signals.
- Cameras in low visibility conditions do not identify objects on the road.
- If the markings are covered with snow or worn out, the drone cannot respond in a timely manner.
- When driving in dense urban areas, the satellite signal will be transmitted with a delay.
- To support the functions of unmanned driving, the car interacts with services, and this requires high computing power. The issue of energy efficiency is still open.
Traffic density is another variable in the formula for the ideal functioning of drones on the road. In cities and on highways, drivers face high traffic density: in the first half of 2022 alone, 38.1 million new cars were sold worldwide. The solution to the problem of traffic jams, heavy traffic, and traffic safety, in general, can be the distribution of passenger and freight traffic to the second level.
The answer to all challenges in the field of unmanned transportation is the technology from Unitsky String Technologies Inc. This engineering company, recognized in Belarus as a scientific organization, offers a ready-to-implement product for solving transport problems of varying complexity.
Unmanned transportation above the ground
The developed transport and infrastructure solutions are based on the uST technology. When creating prestressed transport overpasses, the string rail is the key element. It is an ordinary steel, reinforced concrete, or steel-reinforced concrete beam or truss, continuous along the length. It is equipped with a railhead and additionally reinforced with pre-stretched strings (a bundle of wires prestressed by tension). Passenger and freight electric vehicles on steel wheels move along this track structure in automatic mode at speeds up to 150 km/h.
The string-rail overpass can be located above the existing building. In fact, unmanned vehicles pass over roads and intersections flooded with cars. In this space, traffic jams or accidents are simply impossible. Such routes can connect remote cities and run over forests, mountain gorges, and rivers. The optimal trajectory is chosen along which uni-mobiles move - rail electric vehicles.
Unimobiles provide for the principle of automating the operation of the system, excluding the human factor. An important feature: the automated control system analyzes the data collected from all components of the uST complex in real-time and makes decisions based on them.
- With the help of cameras, sensors, and radars, the technology of technical vision is implemented, which is effective in all weather conditions.
- The system controls the situation in the salons of uni-mobiles and prevents possible threats and the development of emergency situations.
- Zero accident rate is ensured by movement at the "second level", an automated control system, and the presence of an anti-derailment system - the uni-mobile cannot fall or tip over.
- The exchange of digital data occurs both between the uST transport and the control room. All information is transmitted non-stop, regardless of the time of day.
The system also solves another problem of modern drones. We are talking about reducing energy consumption and reducing the cost of transport maintenance. Unimobiles with low energy consumption are capable of speeds up to 150 km/h - the average speed is maintained throughout the entire route, from station to station, which reduces travel time.
uST technology has all the benefits of automated transport and at the same time solves problems that manufacturers of self-driving cars have yet to solve.
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