Disqus
A group of researchers at MIT and Princeton University are using the iPhone to save fuel when stopping and re-starting cars at traffic lights. The system called SignalGuru involves mounting the iPhone on the car’s dashboard, and relying on the built-in camera and GPS to tell the driver when it’s best to slow the car down in order to save fuel.
Apparently this scheme proven to be working in Cambridge, MA where researchers reported cutting down the fuel consumption by 20 percent. However in places like Singapore where traffic lights change the length they’re displayed based on the traffic around them it didn’t work as planned — it was off by up to 2 seconds. In that sense, I guess further fine tuning is needed to make SignalGuru a global product.
In the meantime, we’re hoping to see this kind of system released to the general public to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions…
[Via: TUAW]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
