Skip to main content

Vinci Highways and Invision AI light up motorway in Greece

New smart system adjusts road lighting to suit driving conditions and save energy
By David Arminas December 19, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
Vinci says the adaptive lighting system, combined with the energy performance of the LED lights, will reduce annual energy consumption for night lighting by up to 75% (image: Vinci Highways)

The Athens-Patras highway is the first in Greece to have a smart lighting system that automatically adapts the road lighting to the level of traffic

The system along a trial section of the tolled 218km-long highway - also known as Motorway 8 - adjusts the lighting to best suit the driving conditions, according to Vinci Highways, operator of the road. Vinci has committed to achieve operational net-zero emission on its network by 2050.

The system uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine the optimal lighting level by processing live data including traffic, weather and road incidents from multiple sources. Constant monitoring of the vehicle traffic at each interchange of the highway allows the system to calculate the total traffic and make forecasts for the next hour. When traffic decreases and predictive traffic remains low, the system progressively reduces intensity of lighting.

The system also includes real-time data from the highway’s weather stations and cameras to immediately increase lighting in case of a change in driving conditions. The system has been set up in a trial along the Elefsina to Corinth section and will be progressively implemented along the entire length of the highway.

Vinci says the adaptive lighting system, combined with the energy performance of the LED lights already set up along the complete length of the Athens-Patras highway, will reduce annual energy consumption for night lighting by up to 75%. It also reduces light pollution for people living close to the motorway.

The adaptive lighting system has been developed in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens and specialist start-ups including Extrabit, Athens-based predictive weather forecasting company Ex Machina and Invision AI, which provides video-based AI solutions for transit and public safety applications.

Dutch firm Tvilight provided the luminaire controllers and software. 

Extrabit supplied the machine learning algorithm that accurately predicts the number of vehicles in predefined future intervals. The company also provided the communication protocols for interfacing with around 8,000 LED dimmable luminaires, as well as the visualisation and control of the complete system on a web-based platform.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Options abound for road weather sensing
    September 6, 2017
    Meteorological organisations invest millions in super-computers to crunch data for ever-more accurate forecasts but inherent unpredictability means that other methods of alerting drivers and road authorities to fast-changing weather and highway conditions are essential. For years, static weather sensors to measure factors such as surface water, ice or high roadway temperatures have been embedded in highways to provide such data. But that is changing.
  • Lidar: recipes for success
    March 28, 2022
    Lidar is being deployed all over the world - and you can even read a cookbook on the subject...
  • Indra developing smart energy pilot in Barcelona
    July 4, 2013
    Consultancy and technology company Indra is to integrate an advanced energy efficiency system for buildings and an intelligent public lighting demonstrator into its urban platform. The company is heading up the development of a pilot program to be carried out in Barcelona within the framework of the Arrowhead project, a major European initiative focused on developing technologies for providing advanced services in smart cities.
  • Portland puts priority software into service
    August 25, 2022
    TriMet deploys Lyt's intelligent transit signal system for improved traffic flow