Robert Gordon's Colleagues at ALMAGuide LLC
Robert Gordon's Contact Details
Plainview,New York,United States
ALMAGuide LLC
Robert Gordon's Company Details
The ALMA ("Advanced Lane Management Assist") technology is largely described by two patents (US Patents 9,053,636 and 9,286,800) which take information from centralized traffic management control centers, condition the data, and use proprietary algorithms and propriety data structures to tell the vehicle (either with driver or driverless) both 1) the best lane to be in on the highway, based on traffic flow several miles ahead of the vehicle, and 2) the most appropriate speed for the vehicle.ALMA is a major improvement over either what drivers currently do, or what driverless cars are moving towards in the near future, because lane changes performed without using advanced lane management techniques are tactical rather than strategic, emphasizing the immediate environment compared with the prospective environment over which they soon will be traveling. As a result, many lane changes on highways are unnecessary; they are done under the misperception that "the other lane is moving faster." In fact, studies have shown that it is often moving at approximately the same speed or slower, which the driver learns after the unnecessary lane change is made. Unnecessary lane changes result in avoidable accidents and needless driver stress. Unless driverless technologies are coupled with strategic lane choices based on what is happening in each lane several miles ahead of the vehicle on the highway they do not change the sub-optimal decision-making framework for making lane changes.About 4% of highway accidents occur from lane changes, and ALMA provides the potential to reduce this number. Vehicle providers and route guidance information providers that add strategic lane management to their suite of other information for the driver or vehicle will help create safer vehicles and roads. At the same time, they will be able to generate an additional stream of revenues while the overall technologies for advanced guidance systems in autos continue to evolve.