Skip to main content

Smart reflector improves pedestrian safety

In collaboration with Finnish plastics manufacturer Coreplast Laitila, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a reflector that can be wirelessly controlled via a mobile phone application. A traditional reflector, carried by a pedestrian and equipped with sensors, LED lights and wireless charging and communication, can be made to blink and alert vehicle drivers when the pedestrian is approaching a dangerous crossing. In the future, researchers say it could communicate directly with smart traf
January 29, 2016 Read time: 1 min
RSS

In collaboration with Finnish plastics manufacturer 8310 Coreplast Laitila, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a reflector that can be wirelessly controlled via a mobile phone application.

A traditional reflector, carried by a pedestrian and equipped with sensors, LED lights and wireless charging and communication, can be made to blink and alert vehicle drivers when the pedestrian is approaching a dangerous crossing. In the future, researchers say it could communicate directly with smart traffic lights or cars to warn, say, a turning truck driver that a pedestrian is in the area of a crossing.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Czech Republic deploying smart traffic lights to combat speeding
    May 4, 2012
    Municipalities in the Czech Republic are increasingly deploying smart traffic lights with radar that detects the speed of approaching vehicles and turns the signal red to slow them down to the required speed limit. Currently there are about 100 installations because mayors believe they are more efficient than speed cameras or speed humps. According to one mayor, over 90 per cent of drivers slow down because of the technology. The traffic light system contains a microwave radar sensor which measures speed. I
  • Australian tunnel strike captured on video
    November 14, 2013
    City-bound traffic on Sydney’s M5 came to a standstill when the partly raised body of a truck struck the roof of the M5 East tunnel causing extensive damage. This video clip on the BBC’s website shows the incident unfolding
  • TransCore upgrades Delaware DMV customer service centre
    August 15, 2013
    Delaware is set to become the first US state to combine E-ZPass and Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) call centre services when TransCore completes the upgrade and expansion of the DMV and E-ZPass customer service centres. After a competitive bid process, TransCore was awarded the US$30 million, three-year base term contract with multiple extension options and will install the system in parallel with the existing service centre operations while relocating to a new DMV facility. Project completion is expected
  • US small business research program to develop pedestrian traffic signal app
    October 26, 2015
    With the growing numbers of pedestrian fatalities in mind, the Federal Highway Administration, through the US Department of ‘Transportation’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, awarded a contract to Savari to develop SmartCross, a traffic signal interface app for smartphones. The SmartCross application interfaces with traffic signal systems that control the traffic lights and receives information about the pedestrian signal. Sending signals between the pedestrian’s phone and the nearest t