How to protect pedestrians at an intersection

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users and thousands of fatal crashes occur every year. People are particularly vulnerable at intersections, which is the most complex part of the road network – here all means of transport can meet. Pedestrians change their trajectory and speed very easily, so it is worth building protection in the most dangerous intersections that can track their movements very accurately.

In our LinkedIn game a couple of weeks ago, we presented four solutions and asked the question:

How would you warn drivers to avoid a possible collision?

One answer we suggested was the use of infrared sensors. It’s a bit old-fashioned, but it still works. When a pedestrian passes through the infrared gate, warning lights turn on. Unfortunately, the installation requires serious preparation, the road may need to be drilled to accommodate the lights, and the pedestrian may bypass the infrared gate.

It’s easier to place cameras and V2X roadside units (RSUs) on a lamppost. We already use cameras in many places, specifically for traffic control purposes. Commsignia roadside units are good accessories for them, as RSUs can get information from cameras about pedestrian movement. Recognition is reliable, and it’s harder to avoid.

Closely related to this topic is the possibility of using radio anchors that help to measure the position of nearby pedestrians. We use ultra-wideband technology, (UWB) to track people at intersections. Pedestrians only need a UWB tag or UWB-supported device, like certain mobile phones or smartwatches. The UWB gateway responsible for the positioning, like cameras, sends data to an RSU, which then sends V2X alerts to vehicles in the area.

These developments are particularly exciting since these are the same sensors and cameras used in cars. The only difference is we install them along the roads. With this technology we can increase safety for all road users, even those not equipped with their own sensors.

We’ve successfully tested both camera and UWB based recognition at intersections in the Secredas project, a huge collaboration between 70 European industrial partners to improve road safety and cybersecurity related technologies.

How about using location data coming from pedestrians’ mobile phones?

Well, that’s a tough question. Anyone can easily turn off location services manually on a mobile phone. Users might want, for example, to reduce the power consumption of their device. The same is true for the internet data connection. We have to take these into account when designing road safety systems based on mobile phones.

There are also tasks to be solved on the network side. A much denser installation is needed to be able to tell your pedestrian position extremely accurately – it only depends on 10 centimeters whether someone is on a sidewalk that shouldn’t trigger unnecessary warnings in cars or is already on the road where a warning can save lives.

You can learn more about our VRU protection solutions by clicking here.

Our guide to navigating 5G and V2X airwaves

A diverse infrastructure operates along the roads combining 5G mobile networks with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) roadside units and other radio technologies to offer traffic participants safety and efficiency solutions.

We made a short video about these network technologies used in Intelligent Transport Systems. This includes long-range 5G for general infotainment services and short-range V2X messaging for almost real time information sharing. The latter is crucial for life-saving services. 

Everyone is talking about 5G and V2X

Cars use the same 4G or 5G mobile network for long-range connections as mobile phones. We need to keep in mind that these devices are usually considered a distraction. For this reason, some may not think it’s a good idea to build road safety on that.

 

4G and 5G are ideal for distributing general weather news and traffic information. However, it is short-range V2X messages that are essential for safety. These low-latency V2X messages are transmitted in the 5.9 GHz band directly between V2X roadside and on-board units.

The two do not have to be treated completely separately. An interesting connection between the V2X and the 5G infrastructure is that V2X roadside devices may give a helping hand for 5G mobile network operators, providing a space for 5G radio equipment.

The more information sensors and networks provide, the better decisions we can make

This is a huge topic. Fortunately, if you want to find out more you can take a look at our CTO, Laszlo Virag, explaining it all in a recent webinar hosted by ITS America. Laszlo talks us through the present and future of 3GPP mobile network standards, and how mobile phones could fail to work as a pedestrian safety tool. Lastly, he also talks about how data fusion, the combination of 5G, V2X and different sensors can be crucial in road safety.

Commsignia’s devices use pieces of information coming from navigation services like Waze, TomTom, Here, Google Maps, and other pieces from short-range messages delivering information from roadside sensors, cameras and V2X-equipped vehicles. All we need to do is to combine this data in a smart way to provide accurate and timely warnings to traffic participants.

We recommend V2X to ease the effect of hard braking

Let’s face it: we don’t always have a good response time. Even a good, experienced driver can be tired or distracted. Still, when driving, we are responsible for a 2 ton metal monster with wheels. Thankfully, technologies like driver assistant systems help us in traffic and can help avoid accidents.

In an ideal world, cars would be unbreakable. But, there are two methods that can stop the car automatically and safely during unexpected events. Of course the difference in the experience is huge!

Many cars have Forward Collision Warning systems that uses sensors to assess situations and stop the car if necessary. A radar, a lidar or an ultrasound sensor identifies an object on the road, and alerts the brake system to stop immediately. We may have had a near miss, but the cost was serious whiplash.

Life saved, neck tormented

Communicating vehicles have an application called Emergency Electronic Brake Light (EEBL) that broadcasts a warning to other vehicles in case of a hard braking. The receiving vehicle determines the relevance of the incident and, if applicable, warns the driver to avoid an accident. As the driver has been informed of the expected danger earlier, there is sufficient time to gradually decelerate.

The EEBL application is particularly useful when the driver’s line of sight is obstructed by other vehicles or bad weather conditions. But there’s much more! EEBL is a key factor in reducing traffic congestion and air pollution as well. 

According to scientific calculations, a moderately braking vehicle causes a cascade of braking, and the second vehicle behind it has to slam the brake at its physical limits to keep its distance to the previous vehicle. When EEBL sends brake information, other vehicles can avoid a heavy braking maneuver and traffic flows more easily. This reduces energy loss, brake wear, and eliminates the amount of pollutants released into the air during acceleration.

Germany prepares for self driving shuttles

An important bill was passed in the Bundestag last week that allows self driving shuttles – more specifically level 4 autonomous vehicles on public roads, predicting that over time we can really say goodbye to the steering wheel. While personal cars are still not allowed to be driven fully by a computer, self driving shuttles and logistics trucks can drive the streets without a human operator on board. 

Starting in 2022, self-driving in Germany will be geographically limited to certain areas, and the law also contains safeguards. What is particularly interesting from Commsignia’s point of view is that the bill introduces a new legal concept, the technical supervisor. 

Welcome tele-operated driving

According to the bill, a natural person with liabilities related to driving should always be available to deactivate the self-driving vehicle in case of issues. We are talking about a human being who can access, stop and restart the vehicle from a remote location. 

Self-driving fleet operator companies will have to be sure that the vehicles are not only connected to a network, but the operators receive real-time information from the vehicles and they can intervene immediately.

We at Commsignia develop products related to self-driving and vehicle communication. We also have experiences with driverless vehicles: in Las Vegas our V2X roadside units help a robotaxi fleet to navigate the busy streets.

Take a look at our video from Las Vegas, and reach out for our experts for more information.

We recommend V2X for Emergency response vehicle priority

Emergency response vehicle priority, we can all agree, has the potential to save countless lives. There are millions of emergency response vehicles globally, and these must be the fastest vehicles on public roads. I think we can all agree that saving lives is more important than showcasing a high life. Vehicle communication technologies, combined with a smart city infrastructure can give priority to doctors, firefighters and police officers more efficiently than roof mounted flashers and sirens. 

Cities are connecting their traffic lights to central management centers and vehicle-to-everything – V2X – roadside units, so V2X-equipped vehicles can communicate with the infrastructure. This is all we need to do the magic and turn the lights green on the route of an ER unit.

Another advantage of V2X installed in ER vehicles is that it can send warnings to other vehicles. Car manufacturers can decide how to display alerts in the vehicle without distracting drivers. It’s up to the user experience experts to find the perfect combination of sounds and visible signals.

The point is to notify drivers of an approaching ER vehicle before they see it, or hear the sirens.

In the age of always-on digital entertainment, when roaring music from 20 speakers can drown out outside noises, it’s very important to find every opportunity to get the driver’s attention.

For those who worry that some drivers will take advantage of the opportunities offered by the system can rest assured. Only special vehicles can acquire certificates to influence the infrastructure. Furthermore, all suspicious V2X units are automatically denounced and disconnected from the whole V2X network. 

Our view is that the V2X-based detection of emergency responders is more foolproof, efficient and accurate than a camera-based solution. It doesn’t require human labour, and radio communication requires much less computing power than an intelligent image recognition system.

Here’s one way to improve road worker safety with V2X

The National Work Zone Awareness Week, coordinated by U.S. DOT’s Federal Highway Administration, drew our attention to how vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications can vastly improve road worker safety.

A while back, we supported a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) research effort by supplying our V2X roadside and onboard units in a work zone safety setting. In this case study, road maintenance workers wore VTTI’s V2X-enabled vests that warned them of cars passing nearby, and at the same time warned drivers of the V2X-equipped vehicles to drive carefully. VTTI, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has deployed 11 roadside units in the Virginia Connected Corridor test bed in Northern Virginia and is already planning additional research efforts.

An exciting automation project using Commsignia’s devices at VTTI’s Division for Technology Implementation is related to work zone truck-mounted attenuator (TMA) construction vehicles. These large vehicles have crash cushions on the back to shadow dynamic work zones and protect those who are working on the shoulders. Even so, driving such a truck is a stressful job with a high risk of injury.

New technologies can help improve road worker safety

An automated vehicle is a great way to remove this stress and improve safety. VTTI is developing an autonomous system that allows the TMA truck to follow a lead vehicle on full automation, thus removing the human driver from a dangerous situation. By deploying a remote operator to one of its offices, VTTI plans to use low latency C-V2X and 4G LTE connections to oversee the work zone on a video stream and collect telemetry data from the autonomous vehicle.

The purpose of this system is to stop automatic operation if the operator sees that something is wrong or the autonomous system detects an obstacle which requires an operator to maneuver around. VTTI’s researchers will examine how C-V2X and 4G technologies can complement each other to provide a reliable connection between an autonomous vehicle platform and an operator.

VTTI is also working on another effort called the Smart Work Zone. This use case will extend VTTI’s Smart Vest capabilities to support C-V2X communications through a base station which will be connected to a C-V2X RSU, and it will be processing SAE J2735 BSM and PSM messages in order to alert both the connected vehicle and VRU that could be present on a work zone activity area.

We strongly believe that V2X makes road work zones safer, and VTTI’s work is a good example of this. If you are a highway operator or a transport tech researcher, contact our colleagues on how we can work together.

And, as a reminder to all drivers: 

Drive carefully near work zones 

Your attention can save lives.

V2X one of top 3 automotive technologies in the world

The next big thing in connectivity is in vehicle communications, as indicated by a recent McKinsey study showing vehicle-to-everything – V2X – as one of the biggest slices of investments of automotive technologies. 

Almost 18 billion dollars were spent on V2X

It’s the third largest amount after electrification and autonomous technologies. McKinsey doesn’t detail what counts as V2X connectivity, but it certainly includes low latency direct V2X connections for safety and long-range 4G/5G connectivity as well. You can find the full McKinsey study here.

investments into automotive technologies

One thing is for sure: this money was well spent. Automation, the largest driver of investments can only do so much without short-range V2X connectivity. If we want to see fully self-driving cars sharing the roads with conventional, human-driven cars, communication between vehicles is essential. It needs an ultra low latency connection, so vehicles can share information with their surroundings without having to rely on a cellular network.

Then there is the question of peer-to-peer communication. The need to integrate human gestures so that human drivers will understand the intentions of autonomous vehicles. Most of this is traffic safety and efficiency, for both human and algorithmic drivers.

V2X also helps us recognize and react to dangerous situations sooner. A broken-down car on the side of the road tells the system to turn on the fog lights and activate the emergency brakes to avoid a collision. Connecting with the roadside infrastructure allows vehicles to collect data from smart sensors and cameras. This gives drivers access to information from directions that the car’s sensors cannot see.

We can make life-saving decisions about invisible events

The amount of investment spent on V2X may be amazing, but it can also be said about the future it will realize.

We’d love to talk with you about how V2X can change the city you live in. Contact us to discuss the possibilities