Left and below: Cohda
Wireless provided
some of the hardware
for the first stages of
Project Insight
Lidar on Infrastructure |
the unique aspects of different
intersections – and you can add,
technology or take it away. So, for the
presence of say, cyclists we might add
lidar or radar.”
Pioneer’s Takagi agrees that
detection of vulnerable road users
might be one of the potential future
use cases, which will justify the
deployment of lidar on
infrastructure. “One of the
advantages of lidar is its
high resolution. So, for
example small we can detect
even very small animals,”
he says. “Also, it is not a
video camera. One of the
problems with cameras is
privacy. With lidar can
Seeing without cameras
The first stage of Project Insight, on the AIMES testbed in
Melbourne, involved using wi-fi to gain a rich traffic picture
University of Melbourne
researchers may now be
planning to deploy lidar on the
AIMES testbed, but this is not how
Project Insight started. The first
stage, completed in just five weeks
in 2019, involved Cohda Wireless and
Cisco collaborating to build a fusion of
roadside sensors, HD cameras, DSRC
and back-office data analytics to
create a rich picture of traffic flow.
In a move that brings potential realworld
value to road operators today,
from hardware being developed for
the V2X systems of tomorrow, Cohda
wireless retuned its roadside DSRC
units to listen to standard wi-fi signals
from smart devices.
“We’re able to listen to devices as
they move about in the local area, and
range to them,” says Paul Alexander,
chief technical officer, Cohda Wireless.
“In this way we can figure out where
they are in the intersection, how fast
Toshiba cameras can be used
for counting the number of
pedestrians on a crossing… now we’re
looking at combing that with lidar
data, in a fusion
Daniel Hoyne, program manager, AIMES,
University of Melbourne
they are going and if they stop. If it’s a
pedestrian we can see if they’re about
to step out into traffic. You don’t have
to opt in to this, we can see any wi-fi
enabled device. This live data is then
available at the edge.
“This enables us to understand
what the intersection is doing in
terms of flow and queue length, at the
lane level.”
Unlike existing Bluetooth systems
which only count cars, Cohda and
Cisco’s wi-fi pilot can look at where
vehicles are stopping and also derive
queue length and vehicle speeds.
“We’ve got more fidelity with this
system, we have lane level, we know
where vehicles are stopped, and we
have the pedestrian piece. We’re not
feeding back to pedestrians or
vehicles, yet. This is really looking at
a replacement for augmenting loops
– an alternative to Bluetooth or
cameras,” says Alexander.
looking at combing that with lidar
data in a fusion – it’s not happening
yet, but this is all in the pipeline.
When we start to combine those
vision layers – so we get one view
and another view – then that data
becomes really useful when looking
at, say, pedestrian crossing times as
well as left and right turn for vehicles
into those roads.”
Lidar on infrastructure may still
be at the planning stages, but on the
AIMES testbed deployment is
imminent. And it is Project Insight
that will see it first
“We have one lidar sensor that
we’re actually going to deploy on
Project Insight – we’re calling that
intersection ‘base camp,” says Hoyne.
“So we will have lidar there, if not by
the end of 2019, certainly very early
2020. We’re definitely looking
forward to it – yeah!”
recognize a shape as a human being,
but you cannot identify the person.”
Seeing the future
Among the many pilots taking place
on the AIMES testbed Hoyne is also
keen to highlight one with Toshiba,
which has developed a stereoscopic
camera that is mounted on trams and
can be used to monitor length of
queues at traffic lights, even when
the tram is still moving. The same
technology is further being tested to
assess the number of passengers
waiting to board a tram at a stop, and
thereby predict the necessary dwell
time for the tram and adjust nearby
signal timings accordingly.
“The Toshiba cameras can also be
used for counting the number of
pedestrians on a crosswalk,” says
Hoyne. “Now that in itself might not
sound that amazing, but we’re
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