The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1476428
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 17, 2022 B-3 Invention addresses the problems of running a red light at traffic intersections An invention from Purdue Uni- versity and the Indiana Depart- ment of Transportation that uses wireless communication devices could save lives at high-speed traffic signals. Principal research analyst Howell Li and transportation research engineer Jijo Mathew of the Joint Transportation Re- search Program in Purdue Uni- versity's Lyles School of Civil Engineering have collaborated with Tom Platte at the Indiana Department of Transportation to create technology that improves safety as vehicles approach a sig- nalized intersection. According to the Federal Highway Administration, two million crashes occur annually at intersections with traffic signals, leading to hundreds of thousands of injuries and more than 3,000 fa- talities. Mathew said a driver's deci- sion to stop at a traffic signal or continue through it is made at the onset of the traffic signal turning yellow. He said a section of road- way upstream of an intersection, known as the dilemma zone, is an area where a vehicle can neither stop safely nor clear an intersec- tion at its present speed. "To reduce crashes, the key idea is to provide dilemma-zone protection," Mathew said. "One would think yellow time can be extended; however, drivers tend to adapt to this, resulting in lower probabilities of stopping." "The state-of-the-practice for actuated intersections – intersec- tions where timing is influenced by sensors – is to use green ex- tensions, where the green time is extended for a certain period when a vehicle is present. Al- though this reduces the expo- sure of vehicles to the onset of yellow, this can go only for so long." The Purdue-INDOT technol- ogy extends green time or indi- cates yellow early as necessary to ensure safety and efficiency to the next intersection on a 0.1-sec- ond basis. The system would consider the trajectory of each vehicle relative to a predetermined time of when the green would end. If there is enough time to spare, the green is extended until the vehicle clears the intersection. However, when there are other vehicles competing for green time on other movements, the system would indicate yellow early before the vehicle enters the dilemma zone for a safe stop. Li said the innovation im- proves upon traditional technol- ogy that extends green-light sig- nals in several ways. "Infrastructure sensors have a fixed range, are expensive, may require intrusive installation on existing infrastructure, and need routine maintenance to ensure proper operation," Li said. "And most sensors do not detect vehi- cles continuously one mile away to adjust timing changes, such as when the onset of yellow oc- curs." (A YouTube video featur- ing Li explaining how technology works is available.) The technology uses wireless communication devices placed at traffic signals and in vehicles, and specialized control logic at the signal controller to bring it all together. Li believes barriers for his technology can be overcome. "Vehicles are already rolling off the assembly lines with built- in communication devices in the form of cellular. High-bandwidth, low-latency technologies such as 5G and beyond are being more widely adopted around the country and the world," Li said. "Compelling use cases such as reducing yellow- and red-light incursions for heavy vehicles and the safety data to support the findings will accelerate adoption by transportation agencies, I be- lieve." The technology was tested during brief sessions over a peri- od of a week at County Road 500 S. at U.S. Highway 231 in Tippe- canoe County, Indiana. The re- mainder of the benefit estimation was simulated. Platte said the tests proved the technology has the potential to reduce heavy vehicle red-light in- cursions by a significant amount. "During my time working at the Indiana Department of Trans- portation, I have only been aware of conceptual-use cases involving onboard vehicle communication technology integrating with live traffic signal control," he said. "Our new technology moves this integration beyond the merely conceptual. This work provides an implemented real-world use case that addresses an important safety concern, among other ap- plications. "As a signal systems field engi- neer, I work with live traffic daily. Crash statistics are more than just numbers for me. I have en- countered situations where this technology could have potential- ly saved the lives of people in my community. I look forward to ro- bust implementation of our tech- nology and similar technologies in the automotive and traffic-sig- nal infrastructure industries." The technology was dis- closed to the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technol- ogy Commercialization, which has applied for a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect the intellectual property. "We are interested in work- ing with more vehicle and truck manufacturers and govern- ment partners at safety-critical, high-impact corridors that will bring tremendous safety benefit to the motoring public," Li said. Soccer boys fall to South Knox, 1-0 Pike Central's Isaac Fair takes a forearm to the nose as he fights for control of a free ball during the Chargers 1-0 season opening loss to South Know on Thursday. Charger Noah Miller tries to out sprint a South Knox player to control a ball during their season opener. South Knox won the game 1-0 Thursday night. placed 66th in a time of 21:55. Sophomore Kaylyn War- ner ran a time of 26:22 to place 263rd and Kylee Weather ran a 27:15, good for 279th place. The young Charger boys squad placed 30th out of 37 teams posting scores. Sophomore Blaine Bar- nett had the best time with a run of 18:48 in 147th. Junior Jeremy Delobel was in 154th with a time of 18:54. Senior Payton Chanley ran a 19:29 and placed 200th. Dallas Reuepohler was 221st in a time of 19:56 with Carter Blackwell who had the fifth fastest time for Pike Central in 21:05 that put him in 263rd. Other runners for the Chargers were: Shane Woodhull 278th 21:39, Ty- ler DeCoursey 280th 21:44, Dylan Charges 296th 22:17, Jacoby Smith 298 22:21, Etha Mann 319th 24:08 and Quintin McCormick 331st 25.19. Charger sports schedule for 8-17 to 8-23 Wednesday, Aug. 17 Boys tennis vs N. Posey at 5:30 p.m. Girls volleyball at Washing- ton JV 6 p.m. V 7:15 Thursday, Aug. 18 Girls golf vs Washington at Prides Creek 4:30 p.m. Girls V soccer at Washington 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19 Football vs Riverton Parke at 7:30 p.m. Boy V soccer at River City Classic 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20 Boys V soccer River City Classic 10 a.m. Boys tennis at N. Daviess 10:30 a.m. Monday Aug. 22 Girls golf vs N. Knox at Prides Creek 4:30 p.m. Girls JV volleyball at South- ridge 6 p.m. Varsity 7:15 p.m. Boys V soccer at Mt. Vernon 6:30 p.m. Girls V soccer vs Ev. Bosse at OPG 6:30 p.m. Boys tennis vs Gibson South- ern at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23 Volleyball JV & V at N. Da- vies 6 & 7:15 p.m. MEET Continued from page 1 Howell Li, principal research analyst, Joint Transportation Research Program, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University. Hallett wins at State Fair Haley Hallett, 13 year old daughter of Chris and Shanna Hallett of Velpen, received top honors at the 2022 Indiana State Fair competition of August 14. She was presented with a blue ribbon for first place in Public Speaking, Junior Division. Hallett has been in 4-H for eight years. She wrote and presented a four-minute speech on the three main characteristics of a hero. Vehicles are already rolling off the assembly lines with built- in communication devices in the form of cellular. High-bandwidth, low-latency technologies such as 5G and beyond are being more widely adopted around the country and the world," -Howell Li