Sensors reducing pedestrian-car collisions

The EU-funded ARTRAC project has developed new sensor technologies which it believes could help meet the European Commission’s target of halving road accidents by 2020. The project, which includes carmakers Volkswagen and Fiat, developed an affordable radar sensor that uses multiple antennas to detect, classify and avoid obstacles on the road before collision and reduce the likelihood of vehicles colliding with pedestrians.
January 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The EU-funded ARTRAC project has developed new sensor technologies which it believes could help meet the European Commission’s target of halving road accidents by 2020.

The project, which includes carmakers 994 Volkswagen and 1674 Fiat, developed an affordable radar sensor that uses multiple antennas to detect, classify and avoid obstacles on the road before collision and reduce the likelihood of vehicles colliding with pedestrians.

A high resolution image of the circumstances in front of the car, combined with a powerful digital processing board, enables the system to detect the presence of a person on the road, while an algorithm allows the system to track his or her movements.

Once the sensor detects a pedestrian, it can emit a warning or even be linked to an automatic braking and steering system. Radar was chosen because it is relatively cheap, robust and can work in all weather conditions and darkness.

The project is coordinated by Germany and includes Italy, Finland, Spain and Romania
“It is a big scandal that we accept that every year 5,000 people die on German roads,’ said project coordinator Professor Hermann Rohling of the Institute of Communications at Hamburg University of Technology in Germany. “That would not be accepted in air traffic.”

The system worked properly during more than 100 trials. “Even for me, that was really a surprise – that there was not a single instance of a radar sensor not working properly,” Rohling said.

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New technology trials to transform bus safety in London
    August 16, 2017
    Transport for London has announced plans to test new safety technology on London buses. Automatic braking and audible warning systems will be trialled alongside measures including new mirrors to improve the driver’s vision. All the new technology will receive a completely independent trial at the Transport Research Laboratory, whose engineers and technical specialists have been appointed to work with TfL, bus manufacturers and operators to trial a range of innovative safety measures.
    Read More
  • Millions of cars at risk due to flaw in keyless entry systems, say researchers
    August 15, 2016
    Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK have found that millions of cars could be vulnerable to theft, due to a flaw in keyless entry systems in many models. The findings, presented at the 25th USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas, highlight two case studies that outline the ease at which criminals could gain access to numerous vehicles with relatively simple and inexpensive methods. Both attacks use a cheap, easily available piece of radio hardware to intercept signals from a key
    Read More
  • US university investigates smart car tyres
    January 15, 2016
    Researchers at Virginia Tech, Penn State University, and 12 industry partners are collaborating on a US$1.2 million National Science Foundation-funded project to integrate sensors into car tyres, with the aim of providing information on the vehicle’s speed and road conditions. Saied Taheri, an associate professor of mechanical engineering in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering and the director of the Center for Tire Research (CenTiRe), is the project’s lead investigator. Taheri has been working for
    Read More
  • CCAM innovation at ITS World Congress 2021
    September 27, 2021
    We live in an era of increasingly cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) but there’s still a huge way to go - visitors to ITS World Congress in Hamburg will be able to see projects, innovations and real-life solutions showcased in the city
    Read More

Highlighted Content