“The growing demand for even lower power detection requirements will be addressed in new radar designs”
will have different intelligent radar detec- tion requirements and varying dynamic street lighting requirements, depending on the nature of specific locations and their resulting traffic volumes. Authorities can choose the level of com-
plexity they wish to deploy. For example, they may wish to install one, low cost radar detector per luminaire or they may decide to install a more sophisticated single radar that links to a series of interconnected streetlights. At its simplest level, some authorities
may want to just detect approaching or bi-directional vehicles and illuminate the streetlights accordingly. This highly accu- rate means of vehicle detection at specific times of the day can lead to considerable cost savings for local authorities. The UK is at the forefront of the move
towards fully interactive, dynamic street lighting control management systems, with one company in particular, Harvard Engineering, leading the drive. A market leader in the design, development and manufacture of LED and control solutions, Harvard’s innovative wireless monitor- ing and control system for street lighting, ‘LeafNut’ has enjoyed considerable success with local authorities throughout the UK since its launch several years ago. AGD has joined forces with Harvard to commence trials of dynamic street lighting control using intelligent radar detectors for West- minster City Council in central London. Russell Fletcher, Sales and Marketing
Director of Harvard, says: “These are excit- ing times for the lighting industry. Munici- pal authorities looking to significantly reduce energy usage and save money are waking up to the practical and economic benefits of installing lighting control man- agement systems. We are delighted to be engaging in on-street trials in London with AGD Systems using the power of innova- tive radar technology to dynamically con- trol street lighting levels as efficiently and cost effectively as possible in line with traf- fic volumes.” Dave Franks, Service Development
Manager for Public Lighting at West- minster City Council, comments: “This technology is an exciting opportunity to move our knowledge and under- standing of dynamic lighting on to the next stage, potentially helping the City
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radar, AGD is able to provide an effective vehicle detection solution mounted to the existing street infrastructure that can offer: Highly accurate identification of traffic flows and accurate vehicle counts in single or multiple lanes
Measurement of average speeds on a per lane basis
Remote detection of queues or traffic congestion in real time
The AGD 307 radar currently being deployed in France
Council move closer to its aspiration of providing Ultra Efficient Lighting (UEL), which is “the right light, in the right place, at the right time, controlled by the right systems”. AGD is currently working with a
number of city and local authorities and lighting manufacturers and has started dynamic street lighting trials both in the UK and internationally. In France, it is currently deploying its ‘307’ radars specifically to control street lighting in different regions of the coun- try in partnership with a major lighting manufacturer. Using a simple opto or relay output per detect, the radars have enabled the French authorities to successfully and safely control lighting in response to the detection of traffic. Operating in the K-Band at 24GHz,
the chosen band for lighting manufac- turers, AGD’s ‘307’ is perfectly suited for international installations. A compact, Doppler vehicle radar, it is designed to be robust, cost effective and versatile detec- tion performance.
MORE DEMANDING APPLICATIONS Some road authorities may require a more sophisticated, demanding approach and will want to gather extra data when deploying a radar detector, such as conduct detailed vehicle counts and/or average speed measurement in one or multiple lanes over set periods of time to assist with traffic management and street lighting control. AGD’s latest range of 24GHz FMCW
radar platforms meets these more demanding requirements. By adapting its existing low-power traffic management
smarthighways.net
Sending of road traffic information remotely via wireless communica- tions on request to traffic or lighting control management centres - this enables the dimming or brightening of lights (the radar can send the req- uisite information directly to nodes in the streetlight to facilitate this or deliver data to the lighting control centre for appropriate actions to be taken
Adaptation of radar data outputs to meet local strategy requirements – AGD can deliver bespoke traffic information in whatever formats and/or frequencies clients would like to receive it. E.g. Some road authori- ties may wish to receive data every five minutes, others every hour, depending on traffic flow; while oth- ers may want to know exactly what is happening on every section of road, others may prefer a more general trend (i.e. intermittent reporting)
Option to link directly at a local level with the lighting control infrastruc- ture Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) or similar inter- faces, such as Harvard’s LeafNut wireless control and monitoring system - this enables authorities to decide whether they would like to receive the raw traffic data and then make lighting decisions or ‘delegate’ decision making to the radar itself to dim or brighten the luminaires directly at street level
Provision of remote trapdoor access for upgrading of radar set- tings, firmware and performance monitoring – this allows authori- ties to remotely access the radar for monitoring and maintenance pur- poses. This has a significant cost saving as clients don’t have to send engineers to the specific location to implement new settings
A radar heartbeat message to con- firm radar is active at all times
Frequency of operation and radar bandwidth suitable for worldwide deployments
Vol 2 No 1 smartHIGHWAYS
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