SmartSensor
- Features
- Technology
Non-Intrusive Installation
SmartSensors install above the ground without affecting traffic flow. Since the sensors install at roadside, they do not require lane closures common with in-road detectors, and this, in turn, reduces the risk of injury or death to the workers installing the sensors. Additionally, SmartSensor is easier to maintain than in-road detectors, and can quickly be replaced or reconfigured to accommodate roadway changes.
In-Road Detectors
In-road detectors require saw-cuts or core-drilled holes that can weaken the road surface. Lanes must be closed, so traffic flow is disrupted and workers are placed in greater danger. And if an in-road device fails, or if the roadway changes, the devices must be dug up, making them very difficult to maintain.
Graphical User Interface
All Wavetronix SmartSensors feature a similar, user-friendly graphic interface for quick and easy sensor configurations. The interface’s intuitive design includes point-and-click operations that can be learned very quickly. Real-time graphic vehicle representations greatly simplify the configuration process, and they allow users to remotely monitor current traffic conditions.
The GUI software runs on various Windows platforms, including Windows Mobile so that in-field configurations can be performed using a handheld computer.
Auto-Configuration
Proper installation and configuration are essential for accurate performance from radar sensors, and SmartSensor installs and configures more quickly and more precisely than competitive devices. SmartSensor is well known for its auto-configuration capability. This industry-leading, patented process automatically determines lane positions by observing traffic flow, making SmartSensor the quickest and easiest sensor to set up. It also ensures the setup will be consistent from location to location, even with different installers.
Industry Leading All Weather, All Light Performance
Regardless of weather or lighting conditions, SmartSensor products continue to detect vehicles in their field of view. That’s because the length of radar’s electromagnetic wave is much larger than the wavelength of light, so radar can propagate through rain, snow, fog and even dust storms without becoming distorted.
Light. Radar-based sensors are active, meaning they transmit as well as receive a signal. Since SmartSensors transmit their own signal, they are not dependent on external sources in the same way that video is dependent on light. In other words, video detections are affected by too much light in the form of glare; too little sunlight; or inadequate street lighting; but these conditions will not affect radar.
Fog. In heavy fog, SmartSensor HD’s 24 GHz radar signal retains 99 percent of its original transmission strength over 100 feet. Light, on the other hand, can be attenuated in heavy fog so that it loses 41 percent of its power every ten feet. At that rate, light has diminished to less than one percent of its original transmission in less than 100 feet!
Wind. Since SmartSensor measurements are primarily range-based, the change in range to targets during windy conditions is nominal. During a wind storm, the distance between the radar sensor and the traffic on the roadway typically changes by 2 or 3 feet at the most. This amount of range change is typically not enough to cause vehicles to be falsely detected in adjacent lanes or zones. Slight changes in angle-based detectors during windy conditions can cause objects to show up in very different locations.
It is true that wet surfaces reflect radar signals differently than dry surfaces, but radar algorithms are designed to compensate for this change in background.