Smart phones can provide music, movie times, bus schedules. They can even make phone calls! And now, they might help ____1____ fuel use while driving. That is, if enough are used in a system called SignalGuru developed by researchers at MIT and Princeton.

A network of smartphones____2____vehicle dashboards captures and transmits images of traffic signals. The SignalGuru software then analyzes the data to predict traffic signal patterns. If the light ahead is red, the driver is told the optimal speed to avoid stopping and____3____. Or told to make a slight route change that avoids a stop. Because idling and accelerating significantly increase fuel consumption.

The system was tested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where traffic lights are on a set pattern, and in Singapore, where signals respond to traffic flow. Drivers____4____their fuel use by about 20 percent on average. The study won a____5____at the Association for Computing Machinery’s MobiSys Conference.

The researchers say the platform could work for a variety of driving tips—prices at gas
stations, or parking availability. And a bonus: with the phone mounted on the dashboard, you can’t text and drive.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
cut down mounted on idling slashed best-paper award
智能手机有放音乐,播电影和汽车时刻表的功能。当然,他们是可以打电话的。现在,他们可以帮助开车时减少燃料的使用。这就是一种名为SignalGuru系统,由麻省理工和普林斯顿的专家设计。 安装在仪表盘上智能手机的网络可以捕捉和传送交通信号的图像。SignalGuru程序分析数据,估算出信号变化的时间。如果信号灯是红的,系统会提供给司机一个理想的速度,避免急刹和等待绿灯。或者系统稍微改动一下路线来避免等待绿灯。因为等待绿灯和加速都会大大增加燃料的消耗。 马萨诸塞州,剑桥和新加坡测试了这个系统,除新加坡外,其他地方的红绿灯都有固定的时间间隔。新加坡的信号灯是随着交通流量变化的。测试中的驾驶者的燃料使用量下降了20%。这项研究在“自动控制移动机械系统”联合会会议上获得了最佳论文奖。 研究者还提到这个平台可以提供更多的驾驶信息——油站的价格,或者车位信息。但是,这些优势都有一个附赠品——你不能用仪表盘上的手机发短信,和专心开车。