France's Eurovia aims to make roads change color to warn of ice

While there's already GPS systems out there that'll give drivers some indication of road conditions, French company Eurovia is aiming to provide some warnings that are decidedly more real-time, with it now testing a process that'll actually change the color of roads as the temperature dips into freezing territory. That's, of course, not an entirely new process (we've already seen spoons that change color based on temperature), but Eurovia is apparently fine tuning things to hold up to the wear and tear it'll see on roads, and working to ensure that it turns color early enough so the salt trucks can be deployed before the roads get too dicey. While there's no word as to when we might see a wide-scale deployment, the company did test it with five patches over a 50 kilometer stretch of road in France this winter, and it sees no shortage of benefits to the technology in the future, adding that it could also be used to warn pedestrians to watch their steps on sidewalks.

[Via Autoblog]

[Blake Bowen @ Apr 8th 2008 5:22PM]

How's it going to distinguish between ice covered pavement and just freezing cold pavement?

[ReggieXuk @ Apr 8th 2008 5:22PM]

oh they'll find a way

[Draaaainage! @ Apr 8th 2008 5:50PM]

They already have a system similar to this in norther Oregon, along the Columbia river. The reflectors turn from silver to blue when it is freezing. Putting markers on the road seems silly by comparison.

[Ynohtna @ Apr 8th 2008 6:53PM]

It doesn't matter if it's ice covered or not. It's supposed to alert drivers so that they can be more cautious. You don't drive carefully ONLY if it's icy, you're supposed to drive according to the current road conditions which is the purpose of colour changing roads. To help the driver recognize dangerous driving conditions.

[CharlieX @ Apr 8th 2008 5:23PM]

Good to see Hypercolor wasn't lost to the 80's

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 5:24PM]

Technicolor*?

[Andy @ Apr 8th 2008 5:34PM]

Ah yes, the wonderful hypercolor technology. Loved the shirts.

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 7:53PM]

hey! no one caught that the square is magenta!

[CharlieX @ Apr 8th 2008 7:59PM]

@phanbouy

what does that have to do with my comment? are you replying to early posts so you get on the 1st page? ARE YOU?!?!?!?! ARE YOU A CHEATER!?!?

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 8:20PM]

lol. actually it was the only color related post so ;P

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 8:21PM]

and besides... there's only one page here anyway. so double ;P ;P

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 11:42PM]

whoops. actually Killa Gorillaz beat me to it. i'm basting myself in failsauce as we speak

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 5:25PM]

I think it would be more beneficial and possibly cheaper to just make roads that are like large steel grates, preventing moisture from accumulating and freezing over.

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 5:28PM]

Market St in San Francisco is practically one giant grate. wouldn't say it's a lot of fun. especially if you've spilled out in your bike while riding over it

[BigD145 @ Apr 8th 2008 5:30PM]

In a residential area, perhaps. I'd prefer to see that metal get made into railroad tracks.

[B.S. @ Apr 8th 2008 5:39PM]

Grates are very loud. Road noise is a big concern in populated areas.

Plus, unless they're open at both the top and bottom (like on a bridge) they tend to fill in with dirt and gravel over time.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 5:55PM]

I was thinking more of like a porous road with 1/2"x1/2" square holes that would empty into some sort of irrigation system, possible channel it to the underground sewage system.

You're right they may be loud, but for applications like on narrow mountain roads where traction is super high priority, these would be super effecient, and would never need to be repaved as they could be laid in 10 foot segments; just remove and replace a damaged section.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 5:57PM]

i think possibly cheaper just flew out the window.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 6:28PM]

@Annonymoose:

I was thinking that when I was typing it but forgot to mention it. Expensive to retro-fit exisiting roads but I think digging a path and laying this down may be cheaper and faster than paving and tarring a road.

Oh well, it was a nice thought.

[Ynohtna @ Apr 8th 2008 6:47PM]

wouldn't work, ice will still form. Probably faster than on asphalt/concrete. You hear of peoples tongue getting stuck on metal but never on asphalt! :)

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 7:08PM]

Honestly, I've never heard of people licking the street.

Honestly.

[Jonny @ Apr 8th 2008 7:37PM]

way way way way way way way too expensive to build and maintain

[Juice Daddy @ Apr 8th 2008 7:37PM]

Somebody please tell me how this would be cheaper and more efficient than pavement/concrete?

Metal retains temperature, the water would freeze quicker, and would start to freeze in lumps...

Little holes would clog up with falling snow, sleet, or hail.. thus making it impossible to drive on.


That idea about the color changing reflectors up there^ is cost effective and quite brilliant IMO

[Ian @ Apr 9th 2008 3:18AM]

plus with the metal it makes it hard to stop on.. i have an jeep 89' and ive slid on that damn metal grate in the rain.. scared the shit out of me. (plus i just started driving so my instinct was to just push harder not pump the breaks like your supposed to) i stopped about midway through the intersection

[STIEN @ Apr 8th 2008 5:31PM]

It could be a distraction someone might say:
1-oh looks dear, the road has turned a pinkish color...*SMASH* (and/or) *CRASH*
2-people will claim its signs from e.t. like crop circles
3-why the frick is the road pink?

or smart people who read engadget will try to avoid pink spots on the road and drive into other lanes and more *SMASH* (and/or) *CRASH* -ing occurs.

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 5:33PM]

that reminds me of Dave Matthews. he's really sensitive.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 5:34PM]

That would be the UNsmart people from Engadget, which is 100% of this site.

[STIEN @ Apr 8th 2008 5:37PM]

oh sorry. i meant smart people who actually knew what the pink stuff was.

[Jon Doe. @ Apr 8th 2008 5:38PM]

It isn't as if we are talking about the thing changing color in 2 seconds. If someone gets that distracted they need to be off the road and on ritalin. No what NEEDS to be banned is these LED video displays that are showing up in metro areas. We have 4 here in Minneapolis/St Paul in MN. The color change can be seen over 2 miles away and changes ever 4 seconds or so with the image/ THAT is a distraction, this? Not so much

[tamarok @ Apr 9th 2008 4:02PM]

In some European countries there are already cats-eyes along motorways. At entry points they are green on one side and red on the other, elsewhere along the road they are white. If you have never see one, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road)

[Killa Gorillaz @ Apr 8th 2008 5:33PM]

I thought that color was copyrighted...

[STIEN @ Apr 8th 2008 5:38PM]

hahaha nice. maybe they read engadget and they hate t-mobile

[Aguiluz @ Apr 8th 2008 5:39PM]

If the road is covered with ice, this defeats the purpose.

P.S: Unrelated but take a look:
http://forums.engadget.com/
(Engadget Forums? Yay! Maybe later.)

[derX @ Apr 8th 2008 5:47PM]

Why would it defeat the purpose? If this thing is supposed to be a warning, it's might warn people not to take that route. If the driver is unable to change her course, it will be an indicator for her to drive more carefully and to put on that four wheel drive--I don't drive, I'm just assumin' 4WD would be handy then.

[dajimmers @ Apr 8th 2008 6:33PM]

I agree with Aguiluz- I fail to see the utility. From what I can tell, this just tells you that it's cold enough out for ice to have formed, not that ice is actually present (They are thermometers. Big pink ones. On the road.). Were ice actually present, it may be of the white variety, which would cover the pink and make it useless. So the BEST this system could do is tell you that their MIGHT be black ice. About as effective as those "Ice on bridge" signs everywhere. Seems an in-car thermometer would be more useful, as it also tells you other temperatures besides 0/32.

Also, where I'm from, if it is any time between November and April, you might as well assume ice is present...

[kidcanuck @ Apr 8th 2008 6:47PM]

Yeah, you can't miss icy roads in Saskatchewan, because when there is ice on the road, the entire road is covered in solid ice. The spots would bee invisible. I suppose they would serve as useful in autumn, though?

[way2trivial @ Apr 8th 2008 7:22PM]

or try dogshit.engadget.com

hmm? coming soon?

[Ian @ Apr 9th 2008 3:32AM]

wtf i actually tried dogshit.engadget.com and it fucking worked wtf?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 5:51PM]

i don't understand? do not the horses and heftier women and other assorted beasts of burden have sure footing? matters not the conditions of the roads in the france republic? don't tell me they actually have cars there.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 6:01PM]

They don't have cars anywhere in Europe.

That have these tiny golf-cart sized toys that they use to traverse the streets.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 6:09PM]

you know what? i believe that is why americans on a whole are fatter than euros. if euros get fat, they can't fit into their golf carts, forcing them to walk places which makes them lose weight to fit into their carts again. americans are fat because we have atms in mcdonalds and once we eat ourselves to the point of exploding, we're taken to the hospital where our IVs are filled with liquid butter awesomeness.

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 6:11PM]

i don't get it. are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 6:16PM]

well, if you study the migratory patterns of certain cocunuts, you notice irregularities that when spread over time represent a complicated algorithm heretofore unnoticed. now, when you take that algorithm and initiate a bivarian sequence using Caterichismal logic, well, you'll see what i'm talking about then, i don't doubt.

[rento @ Apr 8th 2008 6:33PM]

That's just a radiation patch. Is there just in case the atomic baguette becomes unstable.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 6:33PM]

"Here at Rockwell Automation?s world headquarters, research has been proceeding to develop a line of automation products that establishes new standards for quality, technological leadership and operating excellence. With customer success as our primary focus, work has been proceeding on the crudely conceived idea of an instrument that would not only provide inverse reactive current, for use in unilateral phase detractors, but would also be capable of automatically synchronizing cardinal grammeters. Such an instrument comprised of Dodge gears and bearings, Reliance Electric motors, Allen-Bradley controls, and all monitored by Rockwell Software is: Rockwell Automation?s ?Retro-Encabulator?.

Now, basically the only new principle involved is that instead of power being generated by the relative motion of conductors and fluxes, it?s produced by the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive diractance. The original machine had a base-plate of pre-fabulated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a direct line with the panametric fan. The lineup consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzelvanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar wane shaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented.

The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-deltoid type placed in panendermic semi-boloid slots of the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremie pipe to the differential girdlespring on the ?up? end of the grammeters. Moreover, whenever fluorescence score motion is required, it may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal depleneration. The ?Retro-Encabulator? has now reached a high level of development, and it?s being successfully used in the operation of milford-trenions. "

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 6:34PM]

Watch this without laughing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuhYd9L_d7w

[Ian @ Apr 9th 2008 3:46AM]

i so thought i was going to get rick rolled right there..

[Tim O. @ Apr 8th 2008 7:31PM]

"While there's already GPS systems out there.." In other words:
"While there's already global positioning system systems out there.."

I'm sorry, but the "S" in the acronym GPS stands for system, the other system is superfluous (and very annoying to me for some reason).

[CharlieX @ Apr 8th 2008 8:24PM]

Stretching a bit for a comment there, huh?

[Tim O. @ Apr 8th 2008 8:57PM]

Not at all, CharlieX. I dislike acronyms especially when they become so commonly used that people gloss over their actual meaning. Global positioning system is a simple example, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation is not so simple, therefore LASER is very abused. LASER does not tell you anything about how the technology works, it is only a stand-in for the concept. Engadget is a technology blog, I think the understanding of the underlying concepts is just as important, if not more so, than the headline. Color changing roads is only the surface of the information, how and why are what is important, again: especially in a technology blog. If someone forgets that S stands for system in GPS and writes 'GPS system' then they are obviously not cognizant of the meaning of the acronym. This is in addition to it being redundant and therefor poor writing.