Revolutionary “Safety Cone Robots” have been spotted on highways in Ningbo, China, according to the Ningbo Evening News. In the event of a car accident, these intelligent cones will spring into action, autonomously closing off the emergency lane and broadcasting an alert through a rear horn to warn following vehicles. After the accident is handled, the cones will return to their charging stations.

Traffic Cone

A collaboration between Ningbo Traffic Police Detachment, Ningbo Datong Development Co., Ltd., and Farsoon Digital Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd, these robots feature a dome light on top and smooth-moving wheels on the bottom, allowing them to maneuver in formation like a fleet of drones. The cones use With the south link of the Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge undergoing an intelligent transformation, millimeter-wave radar, and visual image sensing equipment have been installed to detect and respond to unexpected road conditions. Upon discovering such a situation on the road, the drones receive instructions via the ‘brain’ of the command centre. Personnel who are in charge of the operation can simply deploy the fleet of drones using one button. 

Driving at high speeds is vastly different from driving on standard roads. To ensure the safety of passing vehicles, an emergency lane must be closed as quickly as possible. In the past, it took up to 30 minutes to close the lane in the case of a traffic jam, but with the help of these intelligent safety cones, the process is reduced to mere seconds, greatly improving emergency response times. The cones take mere seconds to respond to an event, which is far better than simply waiting for response teams to arrive at the scene and block off a section of the highway. This technology can prove to be extremely helpful, especially on expressways and highways where the nearest response teams can be far away from the site of the incident.

RELATED:

(Via)

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR