Visitors to the ITS America Annual Meeting will have an opportunity of seeing a new wireless roadway detection system from 5642 Trafficware. Operating under a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) patent in an exclusive license agreement, the company’s engineers developed the Valence Pod, a wireless system that uses roadway sensors to detect the presence of vehicles. The device can be used individually for a smaller zone or grouped with other Pods to create a larger, smarter detection zone. The omni-directional antenna will detect sensors from hundreds of feet away, allowing access to all Pods at an intersection with one antenna. Trafficware says advanced detection sensors can be reached without needing a repeater by using long range directional antennas. The system is easily installed, requiring only three main components - the base station located in the controller, the wireless access point, and the sensor.
The Valence Pod uses dual sensors to ensure redundancy in case of single failure and provides 10 years of battery life with an industry-leading D-sized Lithium battery. Furthermore, the company says its technical approach using 900Mhz wireless communication between sensor and base station solves a lot of range and interference problems. According to Clyde Neel, Trafficware’s chief engineer, “the magnetometer technology is robust and well suited for vehicle detection. Applying our industry depth of experience in other forms of detection played a critical role in overcoming some of the technical challenges to making this an effective and reliable solution.”
The Valence Pod uses dual sensors to ensure redundancy in case of single failure and provides 10 years of battery life with an industry-leading D-sized Lithium battery. Furthermore, the company says its technical approach using 900Mhz wireless communication between sensor and base station solves a lot of range and interference problems. According to Clyde Neel, Trafficware’s chief engineer, “the magnetometer technology is robust and well suited for vehicle detection. Applying our industry depth of experience in other forms of detection played a critical role in overcoming some of the technical challenges to making this an effective and reliable solution.”
