Amazon is Granted Patent for Roadway Management System to Help Navigation of Driverless Vehicles
Amazon has been granted a patent for a roadway management system that is capable of communicating with autonomous vehicles, and helping them navigate their respective driving lanes based on a variety of outside factors.
Amazon will seek to do this by connecting the system with transportation data, and enabling the system to communicate with driverless vehicles through an existing network.
From Business Insider, a filing from the patent says, “the roadway management system can determine the direction of travel for lanes in a roadway and direct autonomous automobiles to enter the roadway in a particular lane."
The system would be especially valuable in areas like Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, as it could help driverless vehicles navigate roads and highways with reversible lanes. Reversible lanes are utilized to ensure the smoothest flow of traffic, specifically during rush hour.
This is Amazon's latest dive into the world of unmanned systems. The company has already invested heavily in unmanned aerial systems, and even started making deliveries via UAS in England in December 2016.
