Dozens of cars in the Boston area are testing the latest generation of an MIT mobile-sensor network for traffic analysis that could help drivers cut their commuting time and alert them to potential engine problems.  In addition the project, named the CarTel project, will allow automobiles to monitor their environment by sending data from an onboard computer — which is about the size of a cell phone — to a web server where the data can be visualized and browsed. They will do so via pre-existing WiFi networks which the car passes during a trip.

CarTel is also linked to a vehicle’s onboard diagnostics system (available in all cars sold since 1996), so a driver can check various parameters key to maintenance and be alerted to potential problems.

The CarTel project, is being run by Professor Hari Balakrishnan and Associate Professor Samuel Madden of MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as well as Jacob Eriksson from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

“Our goal,” Balakrishnan said, “is to make the data behind CarTel available to help you plan and organize your commute and drives. We want to minimize the amount of time spent in your car.”

The system has already been in small scale testing for a while.  The current system, deployed since January on 50 Boston-area cars – including 40 taxis — tracks traffic by monitoring each vehicle’s speed at different points during a trip. Unlike other route-planning systems, “CarTel understands where traffic delays are and recommends routes to avoid them,” Madden said.