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Spotted: A speed monitoring radar system alerts traffic at busy intersections and transport stops when pedestrians are moving rapidly towards the road. Rather than sound an alarm for people on foot, this system provides early warnings to vehicles that danger could be near. 

Created by a partnership between Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, and the Fraunhofer Application Center, the system is currently being tested at a bus stop on the campus of the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt university. 

As vehicles become smarter, more connected and increasingly autonomous, a warning system like this one has the potential to engage a car’s brakes and signal to occupants that a slower speed is necessary. The system relies on artificial intelligence and motion sensors to determine whether or not the object in motion is a human and if so, at what speed they are moving and in what direction. A lack of cameras helps alleviate potential privacy concerns.

As the sensors are deployed in various locations around busy locations, it is possible to make 100 measurements per second. When multiple measurements are mapped against a person, the system produces an alarm for the approaching vehicles. Development of the system includes adding an infrared camera and additional sensors to better understand the context of a developing situation. When a toy moves towards the road, the system will assume a child will be close behind and warn traffic accordingly.

Transport is a significant area of focus in the development of radar technology. Springwise has spotted a number of vehicular applications, including a prototype of an autonomous, electric freight truck and a 4D radar unit for a car that monitors both interior and exterior movement.

Written by: Keely Khoury

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