Urban autonomous systems
Introduction
Intelligent Transportation Systems (SIT; in English, Intelligent Transportation Systems or ITS) is a set of telecommunications and computing technological solutions (known as telematics) designed to improve the operation and safety of land transportation, both for urban and rural roads, as well as for railways. This set of telematics solutions can also be used in other modes of transport, but its main development has been aimed at land transport. They are considered as a part of the Internet of Things.[1].
Traffic congestion has increased worldwide as a result of increased population growth, urbanization and changes in population density. This congestion reduces the efficiency of transportation infrastructure and increases travel time, fuel consumption and environmental pollution. SITs can contribute to transforming this situation and improving the efficiency of transportation systems.[2].
Definitions
There are several definitions, and as it is a young discipline, it evolves rapidly, making it difficult to reach consensus on a single definition. According to the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (known in English as ITS America),[3] ITS is defined as "people using transportation technology to save lives, time and money."
More recently, in 2010, Directive 2010/40/EU") defined these systems as advanced applications that, without including intelligence as such, provide new applications and services for transport management.
Related technologies
For the provision of SIT systems, it is necessary to have various related technologies. Firstly, vehicles need to be able to exchange information, either with other vehicles or with a communications infrastructure. To this end, vehicles must have an information transmitter (commonly known by the term On-Board Unit, OBU). For its part, the communications infrastructure can be implemented in various ways, from traditional mobile communication technology (e.g. GPRS, GSM) to specific forms for vehicle circulation. In the latter case, a series of communication posts (commonly referred to by their name in English as , RSU) are arranged along the roads, giving rise to what is known as Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks.