Technology Profile |
Traffic data and the
Internet of Things
The TDC1-PIR is an easy
to integrate detector for
single-lane traffic data
acquisition that consumes
a mere 60mW, equivalent
to 1/16th of a watt.
For this extraordinarily low
power consumption, the device
not only produces vehicle count
information but also measures
the speed and length of each
vehicle. The device was
introduced to market a few
years ago and thousands have
been installed with high levels
of success since. The detector
must be placed between five and
18 meters from the traffic lane,
meaning it can be used in
various settings.
The TDC1 uses multiple
passive infrared sensors (PIR)
detection zones and a passing
vehicle breaks these detection
zones much like a break-beam
system. Besides the data
interface, the TDC1 is also
equipped with a solid-state
digital output for less
sophisticated installations.
TDC1 serial TLS protocol is
easily integrated with numerous
systems – including in Siemens
Mobility systems. But for all the
situations where ready
integration is not available,
ADEC introduced
the BS2 IoT (Internet of Things)
gateway for traffic. Solarpowered
(mains powered
versions are available) with
the rechargeable battery, solarpanel,
charging circuitry, and
a 3G data modem included, plus
all the software and firmware
to retrieve data from the TDC1
traffic detectors and reliably
connect to the Internet via
secure https.
Data collection
Traffic data can consist of
individual vehicle records
representing near real-time
traffic data or interval-averaged
| Need to know
The detector must
be placed between
five and 18 meters
from the traffic lane
082 Traffic Technology International September/October 2019
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
> Up to six TDC1-PIR traffic
detectors can be
connected to single BS2 IoT
gateway
> Common application
include traffic
management and traffic
data modelling
Left: The TDC1-PIR is solar
powered, consuming only
60mW of power
BS2 need access to the Internet.
The ADEC cloud is organized
in portals that are essentially
a group of BS2 IoT gateways
and a customer account can
have multiple portals. Data
is transmitted exclusively via
secure TLS/SSL.
Authentication required
Each query for traffic data
requires authentication. The
data is formatted in the
ubiquitous JSON format. A
single-short query is used
to retrieve the latest entry in
the traffic data records online
database, and a longer query
is necessary if the traffic data
over a given time period are
being retrieved.
Besides the programmatic
web interface, the cloud also has
a browser interface commonly
used to setup an installation.
For each traffic detector, the
mounting height and distance
offset from the detector to traffic
lane must be provided. Once
BS2 and the associated TDC1
detectors are set up, the traffic
data can be viewed and
downloaded.
Besides the many IoT
applications often discussed,
traffic data from ultra-low power
traffic detectors attached to
specifically designed gateways
expand the advantages of lowcost
connectivity and cloudbased
data storage to the realm
of traffic management.
data. The latter is more concise.
This saves modem time and
therefore reduces power
consumption which in turn
permits operation of up to six
TDC1 traffic detectors per BS2
IoT gateway (requiring one or
two junction boxes to expand
on the three-detector limit).
In its standard configuration,
the gateway transmits the data
to the ADEC cloud server, which
is powered by Exosite. The data
on this IoT platform can be
accessed and reviewed using
a standard web browser.
All aspects of the
commissioning are done
through the web browser. That
means both the installer and the
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inquiry service
ADEC Technologies
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