Skip to main content

Colas’s Yellow Project warns highway teams of collision risk

Colas’s Yellow Project has been developed with Aximum Electronic Products - a Colas Group Company - and software experts Foxstream. The system uses thermal imaging and video analytics to detect and classify approaching vehicles into “threat categories”. It identifies those that pose the greatest collision risk with a highway works vehicle or nearby workers. The thermal camera is mounted at height on the rear of a works or emergency vehicle and performs in both dark conditions and full sunlight. It does not
November 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Project Yellow uses a rear-mounted thermal imaging camera

184 Colas’s Yellow Project has been developed with 164 Aximum Electronic Products - a Colas Group Company - and software experts Foxstream. The system uses thermal imaging and video analytics to detect and classify approaching vehicles into “threat categories”. It identifies those that pose the greatest collision risk with a highway works vehicle or nearby workers.

The thermal camera is mounted at height on the rear of a works or emergency vehicle and performs in both dark conditions and full sunlight. It does not suffer from false alarms caused by pixel shifting, as can occur with an optical camera analytic system, particularly at night. When a vehicle that poses a collision risk is detected by the analytics system, an audible and visual warning is sounded and additional or amended vehicle lighting can be initiated.

In addition, a wireless alarm is provided for workers undertaking works on foot away from their vehicle to ensure they are immediately aware of a high-collision risk scenario.

The system is equipped with a GPS and Internet of Things connectivity solution for real-time monitoring of the vehicle’s position and for directly uploading data to the Datex II traffic data interface. This allows satellite navigation manufacturers to use this information to warn road users of the location of the workforce. Highways workers can select a “detection area” to mirror the road geometry and lane width when they arrive on site. This ensures that the system is used on an infinite range of curves and elevation changes while preventing false alarms.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Heijmans’ bright yellow Dynapacs get the green light at Schiphol
    August 5, 2016
    A damp and foggy morning at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Some of the five runways are in normal use, but one of them shows a different kind of activity. At a slow but steady pace, a small army of bright yellow machines is repaving the surface. The project is being carried out by Heijmans, one of the largest road-building contractors in the Netherlands.
  • A milestone in hazard reduction – BOMAG Emergency Brake Assist
    October 14, 2024
    Avoiding dangerous situations on the construction site: this is one of BOMAG's core principles when developing new components and technologies. Optimising the interaction between human and machine plays a key role here. This also applies to BOMAG's latest automated assistance system: Emergency Brake Assist, which was designed for use on the AP-5 generation of pivot-steered BOMAG tandem rollers.
  • Versilis and Haas to offer Safety Cloud alerts
    May 4, 2021
    Versilis safety gates are now integrated with Haas Alert’s Safety Cloud, a cellular-V2X (C-V2X) solution that sends real-time digital alerts to drivers approaching work zones.
  • Colas trials 'solar road'
    October 26, 2016
    Colas is in discussions with clients who have suitable sites where the highway services provider could trial its solar road solution, Wattway. Colas says that the solar panels that make up the photovoltaic road surfacing technology are lightweight and strong and can be installed on top of an existing road surface. The panels are only 7mm thick and are applied on the surface with a high performance resin. A glass bead resin coating is also applied to allow the surface to provide acceptable frictional perf