Is it possible to measure technological progression in units of distance? Gauging our technical milestones in feet, yards, kilometers, or even miles may seem strange to most of us – but not to the team over at Solar Roadways. This Sandpoint, Idaho based company aims to develop and deploy solar powered LED road panels to form smart highways. These are capable of collecting sustainable energy – a few yards of hexagonal tile at a time.
It uses specially developed materials, including a totally new type of tempered glass able to withstand insane amounts of abuse. Current testing of these interlocking panels proves they are suitable for any road conditions and vehicle weights. The panels are also designed in such a way that maintenance and replacement of damaged panels is a breeze as they can be serviced on a tile-to-tile basis.
Every panel is integrated with a smart temperature control system. This allows each panel to control their temperature, meaning it can use its own energy to melt snow. Meaning no salt on icy Michigan roads to ruin your vehicle! Praise science!The panels also have multiple LED lights arrayed across an integrated circuit board. This means you can program the LED lights to make dividing lines, lane specific symbols, and parking signs that all can be reprogrammed at any time. Which is surely going to save a lot of road painting costs and labor. Don’t forget the best part: the glowing lane lines at night looks super futuristic (and, therefore, super cool).If all that wasn’t enough, the panels have also pressure sensors, which can detect if there is a heavy object on the surface, such as rocks, trees, and even animals. It can also immediately draw a warning LED message for the vehicle that is coming in the direction to avoid a collision.These are just a few of the applications that have actually been successfully tested.
There is way too much exciting and interesting information to be contained in one post! Stay tuned for part two! In the meantime, check out this super helpful video explaining the technology![embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU[/embed](Image Source: iCLIPART)
