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Lumenera Partners with Aldis Inc. to Make Traffic Monitoring Systems Safe and Efficient

Aldis, Inc. was formed in 2006 with the aim of bringing their efficient traffic and energy management technology and services to municipal partners, focusing on the traffic signal and management segment. Aldis recognized a problem with the 20% per year failure rate of current traffic monitoring systems which rely on loops buried into the road to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle at an intersection. The costs associated with these loops are also a problem for many municipalities as it costs $3000-5000 to repair a single loop.

To eliminate the drawbacks of traffic loops Aldis developed GridSmart, a vision based traffic-monitoring and control system using Lumenera’s Le575 advanced digital camera. This technology replaces inefficient loop systems and obsolete central control systems with advanced digital camera technology paired with a proprietary and custom built 160 degree lens.

One of the major obstacles faced by Aldis in designing this system was ensuring all of the captured images were stable and clear, which is difficult when the camera is mounted above a traffic intersection and subject to movement. Rather than uncompress the prospectively distorted images into real-world coordinates, the image stabilization is performed on the Le575 camera’s embedded DaVinci processor. This reduces the processing overhead and allows the other valuable functions supported by the camera to be embedded as well.

After images are compressed they are transmitted along with time and date information to a host computer over the camera's Ethernet output. Several processors will then track pertinent objects within the images such as pedestrians, bicycles, and motor vehicles. As each object is tracked, the software identifies objects in the view and their location. This important digital information can be used to control a standard traffic controller with the PC digital and I/O interface. This is ideal for ensuring safety measures are enforced and accidents are properly investigated.

Another obstacle to overcome in the GridSmart system design plan was compensating for the various lighting conditions experienced in outdoor traffic monitoring systems. During the day, sunlight can potentially saturate the image sensor, and at night the system must be able to react to a car’s headlights. These extremes are accommodated in Lumenera’s smart camera by using various sensor images, some with +120dB range. Furthermore, by embedding a Global Positioning System within the Le575, the position of the Sun can be calculated at all times and used to aid in tracking.

The GridSmart system using Lumenera’s high performance digital cameras can communicate with existing controllers so any pre-existing infrastructure used to power and supervise lights is retained. It also allows for traffic statistics to be downloaded for analysis and used in intersection planning and road management.

Customer demands for process improvements, shorter build and inspection cycles, and of course at lower cost, are key drivers for new product development. Our trained professionals will work closely with your Project Managers and Engineering Teams to better meet your application requirements, and assist you with integration of our standard and customized imaging solutions. Contact Lumenera for your next imaging project at info@lumenera.com.

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