Volkswagen found a way to help improve traffic flow

With the increasing population of vehicles in the country, heavy traffic on major thoroughfares, such as the EDSA, is expected. But what if we can use computers to help improve vehicular flow and, hopefully, solve traffic jams? Well, that’s what the Volkswagen Group aims to do by using quantum computers.

The German automaker is teaming up with quantum computing company D-Wave Systems in coming up with an algorithm that will guide vehicles to avoid traffic congestion.

The first research by the duo made use of 10,000 taxis based in Beijing, China. According to the President of D-Wave International Robert Ewald, they were able to create and test an algorithm that optimizes traffic flow in the said mega-metropolis using a quantum computer.

Our first traffic flow optimization project in Beijing successfully shows how an algorithm on a quantum computer can guide vehicles in a metropolis in such an intelligent way that congestion is avoided. The results give us confidence for further applications on the quantum computer. We place considerable emphasis on the open source approach. Our work is to be transparent and to allow verification by third parties," said Principal Data Scientist at Volkswagen Group IT Code Lab Dr. Florian Neukart.

Quantum computers can solve complex problems faster than supercomputers. Using this kind of technology is perfect for their research as it involves several factors that grow exponentially as more complex tasks get involved.

Volkswagen expects that the research can be used elsewhere in the future such as autonomous driving, the robotic enterprise, the smart factory, machine learning, and intelligent mobility solutions.