Final Report Summary - SAFELANE (An all-encompassing, intelligent safety and asset management system for highway maintenance)
Executive Summary:
Road maintenance is one of the most dangerous occupations in Europe. Despite stringent health & safety standards over 50% of UK road workers reported a near miss with a vehicle and a significant proportion of injuries or fatalities occur within designated safety areas. These safe zones are either protected by positive protection systems such as concrete barriers or soft barriers such as traffic cones. The latter are mainly used for temporary works. In such a scenario cones or beacons may be the only protection a road worker has from traffic. Due to the maturity of Europes road network and the rapid deterioration as a result of heavy traffic and weather conditions, temporary road work is increasing. In addition to concerns about safety, preparation of these temporary barriers is a major drain on resources. As a lot of roadwork is carried out at night, barriers are often equipped with lanterns. These are typically powered by disposable batteries which only last a short period of time and have to be changed frequently which is labour intensive. Safelane consortium member, Highway Resource Solutions has developed the award winning Intellicone temporary workzone safety technology which has formed the basis for the developments in the Safelane project. The consortium partners have developed a Smart battery which can be induction charged and has the ability to transmit a signal to an Intellicone alarm or Safelane transceiver when it gets moved or impacted. This enables workers to take immediate evasive action should a perimeter breach occur whilst simultaneously allowing live site tracking via a bespoke device management system and web portal which was also developed in the project. The result is a fully integrated, simple to install, temporary safety perimeter system for road works based on re-chargeable batteries which provides major environmental and cost benefits to industry
Project Context and Objectives:
Every day around 25,000 European road maintenance workers put their lives in the hands of over 100 million road users. Due to the relative maturity of Europe’s road network there is limited scope for major expansion projects. As a result the existing network is exposed to heavy traffic volumes which in combination with adverse weather, leads to the rapid deterioration of our road network. The ever increasing need to improve and maintain existing road infrastructure constitutes a significant safety problem for the industry. In order to minimise delays many of the maintenance activities are undertaken at night. Although night time traffic volumes are much lower, limited visibility also poses increased health and safety risks to workers and road users.
Across the EU, road maintenance workers are responsible for deploying and working on thousands of temporary traffic management sites every day on our motorways and major trunk roads. These sites can range from short sections (i.e. for barrier repairs) to longer sites (>5 km). However, the temporary nature of these sites discounts the possibility of utilising fixed barriers such as heavy concrete or steel designs. Therefore in many cases a simple line of portable traffic cones or bollards is the only protection roadside workers have from adjacent high speed traffic. As a result 75% of all road maintenance worker deaths are caused by workers being struck by vehicles, when they are in a designated safe zone which is clearly marked.
A key factor in the safety of road maintenance workers is therefore the integrity of this temporary barrier, which is often breeched by impacts from the oncoming traffic. Driver error, falling asleep or drivers looking for short cuts and ignoring road closures causes dangerous situations, which lead to severe injuries and fatalities. A recent survey by the UK Highway Agency found that out of 400 road workers surveyed, almost 20% said they had suffered some injury caused by passing vehicles and a staggering 54% (216 people) had experienced a near miss with a vehicle.
Project coordinator Highway Resource Solutions developed the revolutionary Intellicone safety perimeter system for highway maintenance and construction. Although very successful there were technology limitations that if overcome would make the technology even more easy to use.
The project objectives addressed were:
- Develop a series of signal processing algorithms which can be used to evaluate a sensor signal and accurately discriminate between the acceleration ‘signature’ of vehicle impact, manual movement of a barrier, wind noise and road vibration. The aim is to reduce false alarms by 90%.
- Improve the signal transmission reliability and reduce the potential of interference. In addition we will double the battery life, through only activating the sensor when the warning lamp is activated by alternative power sensing systems, such as electrical current. This will be achieved by integrating the new wireless sensors directly into a re-chargable ‘Smart battery’ design. The objective is to achieve a usable life of at least 2 years.
-Develop a wireless charging system which may be used to recharge our Smart sensor enabled batteries whilst they remain within the lantern and are stored between shifts. In addition, our objective is to increase the reliability of the portable central site alarm by removing all of the external power connectors. This means that induction charging technology will also be implemented on this device.
-In the Safelane project we are proposing to develop a new platform system through the inclusion of a scalable device management protocol and an advanced graphical user interface, which can provide third party procedure auditing reports.
When combined Safelane will provide an all encompassing site safety management system that is easy to use and has the potential to save lives.
Project Results:
Objective: Develop a series of signal processing algorithms which can be used to evaluate a sensor signal and accurately discriminate between the acceleration ‘signature’ of vehicle impact, manual movement of a barrier, wind noise and road vibration. The aim is to reduce false alarms by 90%.
Objective: Improve the signal transmission reliability and reduce the potential of interference. In addition we will double the battery life, through only activating the sensor when the warning lamp is activated by alternative power sensing systems, such as electrical current. This will be achieved by integrating the new wireless sensors directly into a re-chargable ‘Smart battery’ design. The objective is to achieve a usable life of at least 2 years.
Objective: Develop a wireless charging system which may be used to recharge our Smart sensor enabled batteries whilst they remain within the lantern and are stored between shifts. In addition, our objective is to increase the reliability of the portable central site alarm by removing all of the external power connectors. This means that induction charging technology will also be implemented on this device.
Objective: In the Safelane project we are proposing to develop a new platform system through the inclusion of a scalable device management protocol and an advanced graphical user interface, which can provide third party procedure auditing reports.
Potential Impact:
i. Improved signal analysis data to improve impact detection algorithms
As outlined in detail in D1.1 & D1.2 the project has resulted in data that has helped improve the granularity of impact algorithms. In practise this means that it is possible to determine the type of impact detected (i.e. manual movement, high speed impact, type of vehicle).
Exploitation plan: embed improved know how into existing Intellicone® impact algorithms in order to improve data collection and incident investigation for end-users. This will be done by HRS by the end of 2014 and requires no further investment.
ii. Novel smart battery based on the 4R25 format incorporating inductively re-chargeable battery and impact sensor transceiver
One of the main project results is the development of a Smart battery which can be inductively re-charged and contains Intellicone® impact and transceiver technology to create wireless safety perimeters around the workforce. There are two benefits to this: i) improved detection of workzone incursions and breaches; ii) re-chargeable batteries have the potential to significant reduce cost and manual handling. The former benefit has already been realised by HRS via its Intellicone® platform. The Safelane project Smart battery makes it even easier to use and adds features such as node counting and battery level information which will lead to increase interest in the platform technology across Europe. The second benefit is multifaceted and provides potential efficiency and environmental benefits. These need to be clearly demonstrated and hence a cost target is necessary for the end product. Preliminary estimates of the cost of current practises was undertaken prior to the project and validated during the project.
Exploitation plan: following the completion of the field trials, the productionisation process will commence and the actual production price will be confirmed. The consortium will initially work with Colas to do a pilot programme to demonstrate the cost and environmental benefits of utilising the Smart battery. It is intended that this takes place in Q4 of 2014 and Q1 of 2015 in the UK. Consortium partners Eldes and HRS will set up the supply chain and production process with Delta providing expertise with the rubber/plastic casing. It is intended to fund this phase with end users who will be able to claim the benefits and promote their safety and environmental credentials. Eldes will aim to source electronic components and batteries and look after assembly of the Smart batteries. HRS will act as route to market and Delta will form part of the supply chain.
iii. Design of a mass induction charging system for the Safelane Smart battery and Safelane control/alarm system
In order for the Smart batteries to be charged on site or within highway depots requires a robust yet low cost charging system that can easily be installed in what are generally areas with little environmental protection (except for cover against rain). The aim of this approach is to make it as simple as possible to charge the batteries. During the development end users were involved to ensure the design was user friendly and ergonomic. A full scale working prototype was fabricated and will be tested with end users during the last 4 months of the project. Initial estimates are that the charging station, capable of charging 36 lamps simultaneously. The intended business model is to hire/lease the systems to end users for a monthly charge which will include maintenance and installation. In addition to the development of induction charging capabilities for the Smart batteries, Philips developed an induction charging system for the control/alarm system. This can be offered to clients as it makes the system less vulnerable and prone to damage, which is very relevant as it is used outside in all weather conditions.
Exploitation plan: following the completion of the field trials, the productionisation process will commence and the actual production price will be confirmed. The consortium will initially work with Colas to do a pilot programme to demonstrate the cost and environmental benefits of utilising the Smart battery. It is intended that this takes place in 2015 in the UK. Consortium partners Eldes and HRS will set up the supply chain and production process with Delta providing expertise with the plastic shelving. It is intended to fund this phase with end users who will be able to claim the benefits and promote their safety and environmental credentials. Eldes will provide the electronic components to HRS who will work with local UK suppliers to assemble the charging stations. The control charging hardware will be sourced via HRS and/or Eldes.
iv. Device management
The Intellicone Safelane platform falls under the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) which provides major benefits to end users. Currently, temporary traffic management set ups are ‘dumb’ objects whereas more and more permanent highway installations are made to be more intelligent and interactive to improve throughput. The connectivity of Intellicone equipment was designed to operate over unlimited distances. The data provided to a web server includes location, deployment status and alarms. In order to make sense of the information requires a solid device management platform which has been developed during the project. The device management system and portal will be able to:
-present usage and alarm data to users in reporting format
-present location of worksites on Google map interface to inform user and general public where relevant
-provide accurate information about location and duration or road works
-Ability to present location of worksites on Google map interface to inform user and general public where relevant
-Ability to provide accurate information about location and duration or road works
Exploitation plan: the exploitation route for the device management system will be to offer it as part of the data/SIM package currently offered to Intellicone customers.
List of Websites:
www.safelane.fp7.co
Road maintenance is one of the most dangerous occupations in Europe. Despite stringent health & safety standards over 50% of UK road workers reported a near miss with a vehicle and a significant proportion of injuries or fatalities occur within designated safety areas. These safe zones are either protected by positive protection systems such as concrete barriers or soft barriers such as traffic cones. The latter are mainly used for temporary works. In such a scenario cones or beacons may be the only protection a road worker has from traffic. Due to the maturity of Europes road network and the rapid deterioration as a result of heavy traffic and weather conditions, temporary road work is increasing. In addition to concerns about safety, preparation of these temporary barriers is a major drain on resources. As a lot of roadwork is carried out at night, barriers are often equipped with lanterns. These are typically powered by disposable batteries which only last a short period of time and have to be changed frequently which is labour intensive. Safelane consortium member, Highway Resource Solutions has developed the award winning Intellicone temporary workzone safety technology which has formed the basis for the developments in the Safelane project. The consortium partners have developed a Smart battery which can be induction charged and has the ability to transmit a signal to an Intellicone alarm or Safelane transceiver when it gets moved or impacted. This enables workers to take immediate evasive action should a perimeter breach occur whilst simultaneously allowing live site tracking via a bespoke device management system and web portal which was also developed in the project. The result is a fully integrated, simple to install, temporary safety perimeter system for road works based on re-chargeable batteries which provides major environmental and cost benefits to industry
Project Context and Objectives:
Every day around 25,000 European road maintenance workers put their lives in the hands of over 100 million road users. Due to the relative maturity of Europe’s road network there is limited scope for major expansion projects. As a result the existing network is exposed to heavy traffic volumes which in combination with adverse weather, leads to the rapid deterioration of our road network. The ever increasing need to improve and maintain existing road infrastructure constitutes a significant safety problem for the industry. In order to minimise delays many of the maintenance activities are undertaken at night. Although night time traffic volumes are much lower, limited visibility also poses increased health and safety risks to workers and road users.
Across the EU, road maintenance workers are responsible for deploying and working on thousands of temporary traffic management sites every day on our motorways and major trunk roads. These sites can range from short sections (i.e. for barrier repairs) to longer sites (>5 km). However, the temporary nature of these sites discounts the possibility of utilising fixed barriers such as heavy concrete or steel designs. Therefore in many cases a simple line of portable traffic cones or bollards is the only protection roadside workers have from adjacent high speed traffic. As a result 75% of all road maintenance worker deaths are caused by workers being struck by vehicles, when they are in a designated safe zone which is clearly marked.
A key factor in the safety of road maintenance workers is therefore the integrity of this temporary barrier, which is often breeched by impacts from the oncoming traffic. Driver error, falling asleep or drivers looking for short cuts and ignoring road closures causes dangerous situations, which lead to severe injuries and fatalities. A recent survey by the UK Highway Agency found that out of 400 road workers surveyed, almost 20% said they had suffered some injury caused by passing vehicles and a staggering 54% (216 people) had experienced a near miss with a vehicle.
Project coordinator Highway Resource Solutions developed the revolutionary Intellicone safety perimeter system for highway maintenance and construction. Although very successful there were technology limitations that if overcome would make the technology even more easy to use.
The project objectives addressed were:
- Develop a series of signal processing algorithms which can be used to evaluate a sensor signal and accurately discriminate between the acceleration ‘signature’ of vehicle impact, manual movement of a barrier, wind noise and road vibration. The aim is to reduce false alarms by 90%.
- Improve the signal transmission reliability and reduce the potential of interference. In addition we will double the battery life, through only activating the sensor when the warning lamp is activated by alternative power sensing systems, such as electrical current. This will be achieved by integrating the new wireless sensors directly into a re-chargable ‘Smart battery’ design. The objective is to achieve a usable life of at least 2 years.
-Develop a wireless charging system which may be used to recharge our Smart sensor enabled batteries whilst they remain within the lantern and are stored between shifts. In addition, our objective is to increase the reliability of the portable central site alarm by removing all of the external power connectors. This means that induction charging technology will also be implemented on this device.
-In the Safelane project we are proposing to develop a new platform system through the inclusion of a scalable device management protocol and an advanced graphical user interface, which can provide third party procedure auditing reports.
When combined Safelane will provide an all encompassing site safety management system that is easy to use and has the potential to save lives.
Project Results:
Objective: Develop a series of signal processing algorithms which can be used to evaluate a sensor signal and accurately discriminate between the acceleration ‘signature’ of vehicle impact, manual movement of a barrier, wind noise and road vibration. The aim is to reduce false alarms by 90%.
Objective: Improve the signal transmission reliability and reduce the potential of interference. In addition we will double the battery life, through only activating the sensor when the warning lamp is activated by alternative power sensing systems, such as electrical current. This will be achieved by integrating the new wireless sensors directly into a re-chargable ‘Smart battery’ design. The objective is to achieve a usable life of at least 2 years.
Objective: Develop a wireless charging system which may be used to recharge our Smart sensor enabled batteries whilst they remain within the lantern and are stored between shifts. In addition, our objective is to increase the reliability of the portable central site alarm by removing all of the external power connectors. This means that induction charging technology will also be implemented on this device.
Objective: In the Safelane project we are proposing to develop a new platform system through the inclusion of a scalable device management protocol and an advanced graphical user interface, which can provide third party procedure auditing reports.
Potential Impact:
i. Improved signal analysis data to improve impact detection algorithms
As outlined in detail in D1.1 & D1.2 the project has resulted in data that has helped improve the granularity of impact algorithms. In practise this means that it is possible to determine the type of impact detected (i.e. manual movement, high speed impact, type of vehicle).
Exploitation plan: embed improved know how into existing Intellicone® impact algorithms in order to improve data collection and incident investigation for end-users. This will be done by HRS by the end of 2014 and requires no further investment.
ii. Novel smart battery based on the 4R25 format incorporating inductively re-chargeable battery and impact sensor transceiver
One of the main project results is the development of a Smart battery which can be inductively re-charged and contains Intellicone® impact and transceiver technology to create wireless safety perimeters around the workforce. There are two benefits to this: i) improved detection of workzone incursions and breaches; ii) re-chargeable batteries have the potential to significant reduce cost and manual handling. The former benefit has already been realised by HRS via its Intellicone® platform. The Safelane project Smart battery makes it even easier to use and adds features such as node counting and battery level information which will lead to increase interest in the platform technology across Europe. The second benefit is multifaceted and provides potential efficiency and environmental benefits. These need to be clearly demonstrated and hence a cost target is necessary for the end product. Preliminary estimates of the cost of current practises was undertaken prior to the project and validated during the project.
Exploitation plan: following the completion of the field trials, the productionisation process will commence and the actual production price will be confirmed. The consortium will initially work with Colas to do a pilot programme to demonstrate the cost and environmental benefits of utilising the Smart battery. It is intended that this takes place in Q4 of 2014 and Q1 of 2015 in the UK. Consortium partners Eldes and HRS will set up the supply chain and production process with Delta providing expertise with the rubber/plastic casing. It is intended to fund this phase with end users who will be able to claim the benefits and promote their safety and environmental credentials. Eldes will aim to source electronic components and batteries and look after assembly of the Smart batteries. HRS will act as route to market and Delta will form part of the supply chain.
iii. Design of a mass induction charging system for the Safelane Smart battery and Safelane control/alarm system
In order for the Smart batteries to be charged on site or within highway depots requires a robust yet low cost charging system that can easily be installed in what are generally areas with little environmental protection (except for cover against rain). The aim of this approach is to make it as simple as possible to charge the batteries. During the development end users were involved to ensure the design was user friendly and ergonomic. A full scale working prototype was fabricated and will be tested with end users during the last 4 months of the project. Initial estimates are that the charging station, capable of charging 36 lamps simultaneously. The intended business model is to hire/lease the systems to end users for a monthly charge which will include maintenance and installation. In addition to the development of induction charging capabilities for the Smart batteries, Philips developed an induction charging system for the control/alarm system. This can be offered to clients as it makes the system less vulnerable and prone to damage, which is very relevant as it is used outside in all weather conditions.
Exploitation plan: following the completion of the field trials, the productionisation process will commence and the actual production price will be confirmed. The consortium will initially work with Colas to do a pilot programme to demonstrate the cost and environmental benefits of utilising the Smart battery. It is intended that this takes place in 2015 in the UK. Consortium partners Eldes and HRS will set up the supply chain and production process with Delta providing expertise with the plastic shelving. It is intended to fund this phase with end users who will be able to claim the benefits and promote their safety and environmental credentials. Eldes will provide the electronic components to HRS who will work with local UK suppliers to assemble the charging stations. The control charging hardware will be sourced via HRS and/or Eldes.
iv. Device management
The Intellicone Safelane platform falls under the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) which provides major benefits to end users. Currently, temporary traffic management set ups are ‘dumb’ objects whereas more and more permanent highway installations are made to be more intelligent and interactive to improve throughput. The connectivity of Intellicone equipment was designed to operate over unlimited distances. The data provided to a web server includes location, deployment status and alarms. In order to make sense of the information requires a solid device management platform which has been developed during the project. The device management system and portal will be able to:
-present usage and alarm data to users in reporting format
-present location of worksites on Google map interface to inform user and general public where relevant
-provide accurate information about location and duration or road works
-Ability to present location of worksites on Google map interface to inform user and general public where relevant
-Ability to provide accurate information about location and duration or road works
Exploitation plan: the exploitation route for the device management system will be to offer it as part of the data/SIM package currently offered to Intellicone customers.
List of Websites:
www.safelane.fp7.co