Australian connected vehicle technology developer Cohda Wireless has been selected by Bercman Technologies to provide the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) hardware and software for its newly launched Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk system.
Bercman Technologies is an Estonian company dedicated to developing smart city, smart road and mobility-related innovative products and services for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and cooperative ITS (C-ITS) applications.
The company created the new Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk (SPC) to address the large number of road-accident fatalities involving pedestrian crossings. In Europe alone, more than a quarter of road-accident fatalities (approximately 24,000) involve pedestrians or cyclists.
The system also uses sensor fusion to predict accidents, using software based on artificial intelligence (AI), and its design complies with all requirements concerning roadside C-ITS applications. The system comprises high-tech electronic signage positioned at either side of pedestrian crosswalks to alert pedestrians and other road-users to danger.
A survey, conducted among visitors at November’s Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, found that the SPC was the technology on show that most people wanted to have in their hometown. The C-ITS-ready solution can be used in many different situations and has numerous potential applications. Equipped with Cohda’s Mk5 RSU (roadside unit) hard and software, the SPC’s features include:
- All-in-one traffic sign with inbuilt cameras and sensors offering 360° images and detection;
- Cheaper than traffic lights for pedestrian crossings;
- Integrated communication with vehicles, pedestrians or other infrastructure (V2X);
- Sensors to measure air quality, humidity, luminosity, noise, speed and vehicle classification;
- License plate recognition (LPR);
- LED warning lights and sound alarm;
- AI-based vehicle/pedestrian collision warning system to prevent potential accidents;
- API for data acquisition available;
- Encrypted WAN data transfer; and
- Multiple units linked for average speed measurements.
“Accidents at pedestrian crosswalks are common all over the world and this technology could save many lives. There are several reasons why pedestrian crosswalks feature in so many accidents and fatalities involving vulnerable road-users, but one of the biggest reasons is that people place an undue amount of trust in pedestrian crossings and assume it is always safe to cross,” explained Paul Gray, CEO of Cohda Wireless.
“In a connected and collaborative road transportation environment, the Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk solution will leverage our V2X technology to alert vulnerable road-users of cars and other vehicles approaching the crossing and which appear, by reason of their approach speed, unlikely to stop.
“Similarly, connected vehicles will also be alerted to the presence of pedestrian crosswalks and vulnerable pedestrians in the vicinity, ensuring that the driver is aware of them and can take the appropriate action.”
Mart Suurkask, CEO of Bercman Technologies, said, “Cohda Wireless’s involvement in the Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk system is an essential part of our mission to support the widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles. Cohda’s V2X technology has been proven in trials all over the world and its incorporation in the Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk system enhances our ability to communicate with connected vehicles, and therefore increase safety level of the pedestrian crossing. All of our current and future smart infrastructure products will be equipped with V2X hardware to communicate with connected, autonomous or automated vehicles.”
