Portugal has quietly staged one of the first pilot projects in the world for the optimisation of traffic using a quantum computer. The Volkswagen Group and D-Wave, in partnership with the public passenger transport company of Lisbon, CARRIS, carried out tests using an innovative intelligent traffic management system during the Web Summit technological conference.
Despite having gone largely unnoticed, this milestone could turn out to be highly significant. The tip of the iceberg of something bigger, with huge potential for change. Let us look at the evidence. The automotive industry is expected to become increasingly dependent on revenue generated by data. Data collected from its vehicles, the respective users and the surrounding environment. And, if on the one hand, the quantity of data is expected to grow disproportionately, on the other, the complexity of the problems to be solved poses extremely demanding computational challenges. Data analysis challenges that today’s supercomputers have difficult solving, as it is often clear we are working at the limits of their capacity.
But quantum computing appears to be a valid solution to this problem. This new form of computing, which is still in its infancy, explores the laws of quantum physics to process a new type of bit, the qubit or quantum bit, which may have a value of one or zero at the same time. This surprising and counterintuitive property opens the door to the solution of extremely complex computational problems faster and with reduced power consumption. A conventional digital computer processes information in zeros and ones sequentially. However, a quantum computer has the ability to make multiple calculations simultaneously, exponentially increasing its information processing capacity and solving in a fraction of a second a mathematical problem that a modern, high-performance supercomputer would only be able to solve over hours, months or years. In other words, very often, the result is not made available in a timely manner.
The automotive industry is already considering the implications of the disruptive power of quantum technology as a tool for facing the challenges of the future.
In Lisbon, the “Quantum Shuttles”, as they were dubbed, consisted of a small fleet of vehicles for transporting passengers to and from the Web Summit venue, equipped with technology enabling each bus individually to calculate the quickest route, practically in real-time (a kind of Waze on steroids). The algorithm used by the system faced the challenge of maximising routing efficiency, thus allowing passengers’ journey times to be significantly cut, even in rush hour traffic.
But the Volkswagen Group is not alone in testing the capabilities of quantum computing. Daimler, for example, has two independent research partnerships in progress. One with Google and the other with IBM, two pioneers in the development of hardware and software for quantum computers. As with the example of traffic management, many of the computing tasks in the industry are essentially problems of optimisation. And Daimler plans to harness this powerful capability in relation to problems in its component logistics chain, the optimisation of car production, the development of new materials, in particular batteries, and of course, in its initiatives connected with mobility as a service.
There are many challenges to be faced before actual quantum supremacy can be achieved, which is the point from which quantum computers are unquestionably more efficient than digital computers. Nevertheless, the automotive industry is already considering the implications of the disruptive power of quantum technology as a tool for facing the challenges of the future. And who knows, what just happened in Lisbon could mark the beginning of a new era.
Reference:
Volkswagen AG (2017). The Beginnings of a Quantum Leap: The Volkswagen Group is the first car manufacturer using a quantum computer to calculate traffic flows. Available at: https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2017/03/the-beginnings-of-a-quantum-leap.html [Accessed Nov. 2019]
Daimler (2018). Quantum computers: “The next big thing?”. Available at: https://www.daimler.com/magazine/technology-innovation/quantum-computers-future-daimler-google-ibm-technology.html?r=blog [Accessed Nov. 2019]
** Opinion article originally published in Fleet Magazine paper edition /November 2019 **
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