Skip to main content

Swedish project aims to increase traffic safety with new radar technology

To help achieve the Swedish Transportation Agency’s ‘Nollvisionen’ (zero traffic-related fatalities) and the EU’s traffic safety goal for 2020, Swedish companies Denso, Qamcom, Amparo Solutions and Acreo Swedish ICT are jointly developing the next generation of radar sensors for improved traffic safety. The 79 GHz UWB Imaging Radar Sensor project claims the market for automotive radar sensors for ADAS is growing rapidly every year, but today’s systems that utilise the 24 GHz and 77GHz bands have clear ba
October 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
To help achieve the Swedish Transportation Agency’s ‘Nollvisionen’ (zero traffic-related fatalities) and the EU’s traffic safety goal for 2020, Swedish companies Denso, Qamcom, Amparo Solutions and Acreo Swedish ICT are jointly developing the next generation of radar sensors for improved traffic safety.

The 79 GHz UWB Imaging Radar Sensor project claims the market for automotive radar sensors for ADAS is growing rapidly every year, but today’s systems that utilise the 24 GHz and 77GHz bands have clear bandwidth limitations.  Project members aim to develop more effective radar technology.

“A migration to the 79GHz band allows for several advantages, such as increased resolution and the possibility of multiple sensors around the vehicle to utilize the same frequency band,” says project leader Jan-Olov Axelsson, Denso.

Within around six months, Qamcom and Amparo will deliver the first 77GHz radar system for monitoring of level crossings to the Swedish Transportation Agency. These systems are meant primarily to prevent train derailments caused by collisions between trains and vehicles.

“With broadband 79 GHz radar systems, which we will now start to develop, there is the opportunity of a wide range of performance improvements that, among other things, allow for an increased level of pedestrian safety, easier installation and improved interference protection. Such systems are also ideal for many other types of traffic monitoring applications,” says Johan Lassing of Qamcom Technology.

“Another advantage when switching to the higher frequency band is the opportunity to develop a global standard for a multi-function radar sensor that supports all ADAS and ITS applications, from near to far range applications,” says Michael Salter, Acreo Swedish ICT.

A large number of EU countries have approved the use of W-band radar and the USA is also very likely to open the frequency band for additional applications shortly.

Radar sensors, components and systems that work with wider bandwidths at higher frequencies have many advantages. With an increased effective bandwidth radar systems can see further and with increased precision and the ability for identification of obstacles increases significantly. Furthermore, the use of higher frequencies allows for the reduction in the size of microwave components and antennas. The new technology is therefore expected eventually to be less expensive than today’s systems.

Related Content

  • Huawei addresses congested, separated rail networks with cloud solution
    December 20, 2024
    A shift to a cloud-based operating regime solves the problems of trying to make cluttered, geographically-discrete terrestrial systems work together
  • Are truck bans the wrong move in the battle for air quality
    June 29, 2016
    Low emission zones and heavy goods vehicles’ access to city centres may at first glance appear attractive but how effective are such controls? Jon Masters reviews emerging trends across Europe. Around 1,700 European cities have implemented low emission zones (LEZs) and in addition some have restricted city centre access for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). Even those that restrict HGV access, such as Paris and Rome, allow exemptions at certain times and for particular classes of vehicle. But with what effect?
  • New Hampshire plans for tomorrow’s communication
    August 21, 2017
    Someone once likened predicting the future to ‘nailing a jelly to the wall’. With ITS, C-ITS and V2X technology progressing at such a pace, predicting the future is more akin to trying to nail three jellies to the wall – but only having one nail. And yet with roadways having a lifetime measured in decades, that is exactly what highway engineers and traffic planners are expected to do. Fortunately, New Hampshire DoT (NHDoT) believes its technological advances may be able to provide a solution. The Central Ne
  • Co-operative infrastructure reduces congestion, increases safety
    January 30, 2012
    ITS Japan's Chairman Hiroyuki Watanabe talks to ITS International about his country's progress with cooperative infrastructures and how the experience gained to date can benefit similar initiatives elsewhere. Japan gave the rest of the world a taste of the cooperative infrastructure future when, in 1996, it went live with the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS). Designed to provide real-time traffic information and alerts to in-vehicle navigation systems with the dual aims of increasing safe