Dubai Motorists in Dubai could be surprised to find their cars automatically obeying road speed limits in the future, no matter how hard drivers press down on the accelerator, said a scientist here.
Dr Mohammad Watfa, a computer science and engineering professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, said he is "in talks" with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for using his project to track and adjust the speed of cars remotely. "This project has been nominated for the RTA's Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport. If it wins, the RTA may jointly develop the system for use on roads here," said Dr Watfa.
The concept
The idea involves setting up thousands of wireless sensors on street speed signs and inside cars that work to decide the acceptable speed of vehicles. "By ‘talking' to each other, the sensors will first establish the speed limit on a particular road, and then limit the car engine's power accordingly.
"This is similar to how the ‘cruise control' function works. You select a speed, and then a computer regulates the necessary engine strength to maintain that speed.
"The network uses radio frequency, similar to the bluetooth option on cellphones or Wi-Fi internet facility in laptops."
Dr Watfa received the university's Research Excellence Award on Monday. He said he has been developing the technology, called Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), since 2000.
