Patent Publication Number: US-2021192944-A1

Title: Adaptive traffic management system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/950,729, filed Dec. 19, 2019, the contents of this application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an adaptive traffic management system and more particularly an artificial intelligence based adaptive traffic management system that optimizes user-defined spatio-temporally varying objectives using heterogeneous and multi-resolution data sources. 
     Traffic management systems are known in the art and are used to ensure that traffic and pedestrians move as smoothly and safely as possible. A variety of different control systems are used to accomplish this, ranging from simple clockwork mechanisms to sophisticated computerized control and coordination systems that self-adjust to minimize delay. 
     While useful, the sophisticated computerized systems utilize a pre-defined objective function which is a combination of delays, stops, queue length, and the like. The traffic signal manager/engineer is not permitted to alter these pre-defined objectives for different problems and/or situations which may arise in traffic management. 
     As a result, current adaptive or signal timing optimization plans do not meet the expectations of the general public and traffic manager/engineers. This has led to less than 5% adoption of adaptive signal timing systems in the United States. Instead traffic managers tweak software driven signal timing plans. This process of tweaking is called fine-tuning of the signals. This “tweaking” process is time consuming and does not always solve the problem. 
     Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a system that addresses these deficiencies. 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide an adaptive traffic management system that permits a manager/engineer to alter pre-defined objectives for different problems and/or situations which may arise. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide an adaptive traffic management system that meets the expectation of the general public and traffic manager/engineers. 
     These and other objectives will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art based upon the following written description, drawings, and claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An adaptive traffic management system that includes a plurality of traffic lights positioned at a plurality of roadway intersections. Associated with each of the plurality of roadway intersections is at least one sensor to detect traffic flow. Both the sensors and the traffic lights are connected to a control system. 
     Predetermined weights are entered into the control system and based upon the predetermined weights and the information received from the sensors the control system generates a signal timing plan. Based upon the signal timing plan, the control system controls the operations of the lights. 
     In addition to the predetermined weights and information from sensors, information from multiple sources, driver wearables, and in-vehicle sensors may also be used to provide information to the control system for use in generating the signal timing plan and operating the traffic lights based upon different situations and conditions. 
     The system has multiple modes of operations which use default weights for various problems and/or situations. In addition to generating signal timing plans, the control system can also generate and provide route guidance to a driver based upon different problems and situations. 
     The control system is adapted to use artificial intelligence and traffic theory principles to generate the signal timing plans, default weights for modes of operation and for the development of route-guidance. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an adaptive traffic signal control system; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of a signal timing plan; 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of a signal timing plan; and 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of a signal timing plan. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the Figures, an adaptive traffic management system  10  includes a plurality of traffic lights  12  positioned at a plurality of roadway intersections. Associated with each intersection is one or more sensors  14  to detect traffic flow. The sensors  14  include, but are not limited to cameras, inductive loop detectors, radars, magnetometers, motion sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID), E-Z pass tag, or the like. 
     In addition to the sensors  14 , data is automatically collected from multiple sources  33  and used by a control system  16  to estimate change of traffic demand and quality of operations at an intersection. Examples of the multiple sources  33  include weather predictions/reports in the region, twitter feeds talking about an upcoming event, and complaint logs that explain a problem faced by commuters. 
     Both the traffic lights  12  and sensors  14  are connected to the control system  16  to a traffic management control center  18 . The control system  16  includes a processor  20 , software  22 , memory  24 , a display  26 , and an input device  28 . The control system  16  could also be connected to wearables  30  and/or in-vehicle sensors  32  that are in proximity of a given signalized intersection. 
     Using the software  22  of the input device  28 , a technician  34  enters weights  36 , for problems/situations  38  that exist in the system  10  to generate a signal timing plan  39 . The weights  36 , for problems/situations  38  are of any type. In one example, at one intersection a side street delay may be given a cost per vehicle weight of 0.2 $/vehicle and a main street delay given a weight of 0.5 $/vehicle. These values can be changed by the technician. These values can also be converted into more understandable classes such as high, medium, and low dial that can be operated by the technician. In another example, the weight  36  is a function, such as a step function where based on rules/criteria weights  36  are changed by the system  10  at different levels. In yet another example, weights  36  are changed spatially, temporally, by specific times, and/or events. More specifically, a higher weight  36  is given for delays on a busy side street and a lower weight  36  to a rarely used side street, or different weights  36  assigned for morning peak, afternoon peak, late night, or events such as sporting events or concerts. 
     The system  10  also has several modes  40  of operation. The modes  40  are of any type and have default weights  36  that promote the mode&#39;s objective. Examples of modes  40  include, but are not limited to, a mode to minimize public complaints, another to promote emission minimization, one to handle special events, incidents, weather, and the like. 
     Another mode  40  example is to promote a minimization in driver stress. For this mode  40 , through the wearable  30  and/or vehicle sensor  32  a driver&#39;s heart rate, galvanic skin-conductance and other physiological parameters are transmitted to the control system  16 . Based upon analysis, weights are assigned for different areas such as at an intersection based on a detected stress/anxiety level. In this mode both long-term observation of stress/anxiety at intersections will be used to associate a weight  36  for optimization and real-time measurements are used for short term adaptations. Default weights for all modes  40  are calculated by the control system using data from multiple sources and not just from sensors present near an intersection. 
     Based upon the weights  36  assigned by the technician  34  and/or the default weights  36  calculated by the control system  16 , the control system  16  operates the traffic lights  12 . In addition to controlling the traffic lights  12 , the control system  16  determines and provides route-guidance  42  derived from data to minimize motorized and non-motorized traffic stress. The route-guidance  42  for minimal stress routes are provided through a stand-alone mobile application or used as a stream consumed by existing route-guidance services. 
     While technicians  34  assign weights  36 , the control system  16  also uses artificial intelligence and traffic theory principles to generate signal timing plans  39 , default weights  36  for modes  40 , and route-guidance  42 . 
     From the above discussion and accompanying figures and claims it will be appreciated that the adaptive traffic control system  10  offers many advantages over the prior art. It will be appreciated further by those skilled in the art that other various modifications could be made to the device without parting from the spirit and scope of this invention. All such modifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims and are intended to be covered thereby. It should be understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in the light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included in the spirit and purview of this application.