Technology company Continental has announced the launch of its Smart City Mobility and Transportation Hub in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA.
At the centre of the facility are two intelligent intersections featuring shore- and long-range radar sensors and software integrated into the infrastructure, including a roadside unit and electronic control unit to process data and run the environment model and functions.
According to Continental, this technology will be used to improve traffic flow, add convenience, reduce pollution and increase intersection safety by communicating hidden dangers to approaching connected vehicles and pedestrians.
Furthermore, Continental’s Wrong-Way Driver detection system, which warns at-risk drivers in the vicinity of a driver heading the wrong way, has also been installed. Packaged into a fixed-mount I2X roadside unit, the system can be installed on existing poles and gantries near the beginning of highway exit ramps.
Jeremy McClain, director of chassis and safety systems and technology for Continental, North America, said: “With about 80% of Americans living in urban areas, a steady increase in pedestrian fatalities, and more than 43% of crashes taking place at intersections, a focus on improved safety at city intersections has never been more important.
“By bringing together a variety of automotive-grade technologies, systems and expertise, Continental’s Smart City technologies have the potential to greatly improve the lives of everyone who enters the area.”
In its current phase, the Smart City Mobility and Transportation Hub is collecting non-personally identifiable information, such as location and movement patterns, about pedestrians, vehicles and other intersection-related activity to create an environment model needed for infrastructure-to-everything communication.
The environment model provides information about traffic participants (i.e. vehicles and vulnerable road users), traffic infrastructure, static objects and the overall road situation to connected vehicles.
In addition to Auburn Hills, Continental operates a Smart City Mobility and Transportation Hub in Changsha, China, as well as Intelligent Intersections in Walnut Creek, California, and Columbus, Ohio, and plans to expand to other cities in the near future.
