Siemens cuts through traffic

Siemens has launched an alternative traffic detection system that uses magnetic disturbances to detect vehicles and low power wireless technology to transmit data to host controllers. According to Siemens head of product management Keith Manston, the WiMag system offers a cost effective detection system for stopline, vehicle actuation, SCOOT and MOVA applications. “Using a battery-powered wireless magnetometer sensor which lies beneath the surface of the road, the WiMag system utilises disturbances in the e
October 31, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Siemens has launched an alternative traffic detection system that uses magnetic disturbances to detect vehicles and low power wireless technology to transmit data to host controllers.

According to 1134 Siemens head of product management Keith Manston, the WiMag system offers a cost effective detection system for stopline, vehicle actuation, SCOOT and MOVA applications. “Using a battery-powered wireless magnetometer sensor which lies beneath the surface of the road, the WiMag system utilises disturbances in the earth’s magnetic field to detect passing and stationary vehicles, and relays the information to the traffic controller without the need for expensive cabling or duct works,’ said Manston.

For new sites in particular, the WiMag system is said to offer a more cost effective and flexible solution than installing traditional loop detectors, especially where detection is required at significant distances from the traffic controller. Being battery-powered, wirelessly linked and smaller in size than traditional loop detectors, WiMag is also said by Siemens to lend itself to installation at remote locations, as well as being less prone to damage by street works.

With an inbuilt low-power wireless transmitter/receiver and a dedicated battery, each sensor can detect and transmit data to an associated Access Point or battery-powered repeater unit. Simply installed in the carriageway as a loop equivalent device, the in-road sensors may be located up to 300m from the host controller, using repeater units where necessary.
Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road pricing revenue a source of investment funds
    February 16, 2012
    When channelled back into the road sector, revenue from road charging is seen by many as a source of additional investment and research funds as Patrick Smith reports. Late in 2010, three major European organisations put out a policy statement calling for fair charging for greener, smarter and safer road infrastructure. ASECAP (the European toll road operators organisation); ERF (European Road Federation) and the IRU (International Road Transport Union), said that in recent years the concept of road chargin
    Read More
  • Geosynthetic drainage technology developments
    June 13, 2012
    An innovative solution to providing vital, low-impact surface water control for one of Britain’s largest local authority road schemes is said to have been recently achieved using Hydro International’s (HI) Hydro Vortex Drop Shaft  ow control technology. The new 7km bypass built by Costain at Church Village, near Pontypridd, South Wales, required careful planning to minimise its effect on the countryside and the local environment. Rhondda Cynon Taff Council needed to bypass Church Village to reduce traf c
    Read More
  • High-tech, high places: 3M in US and MetService in New Zealand
    August 1, 2017
    The US state of Michigan sets up a high-tech test road while New Zealand’s transport officials buy in some high-tech weather forecasting. The road safety division of 3M will provide the US state of Michigan with lane markings and retroreflective signs for a connected vehicle technologies trial along the I-75 highway. Around 5km of the Interstate 75 work zone in Oakland County will be transformed over the next four months to improve safety for drivers and test advanced vehicle-to-infrastructure technologie
    Read More
  • Siemens leeds the way
    June 18, 2012
    Siemens has been asked by Leeds City Council to provide a new city-wide IP-Communications network. The network will initially be used for a new Urban Traffic Management Control (UTMC) system and may later support CCTV as well as the extension of UTMC to more than 1,000 sites. The UTMC system in Leeds controls around 400 signals in Leeds and Calderdale and is said to be key to keeping traffic moving through the large West Yorkshire city. Reliable communications are crucial, but to date this is said to have c
    Read More

Highlighted Content