The Victoria Government has successfully finished a six-month trial wherein advanced light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors were adopted to enhance safety of road users.
The technology was developed and delivered by Omni-Aware, a consortium of specialist technology companies including Intelligent Transport Services, Transoptim Consulting and IBIS Computers.
The Omni-Aware technology adapts perception technologies derived from Automated Vehicles (AVs) to roadside use by using multiple LiDAR sensors to build continuous spatial awareness of pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses and trucks at a road location.
The trial project was a safety initiative and explored the technology’s capability to intervene with hazard warnings ahead of a potential problem. When crashes and near-misses occur, the technology can act as a black box, making available highly detailed information for analysis to help prevent future crashes.
The recent six-month trial followed an off-road testing in September 2019 and took place at a busy intersection in Melbourne’s western suburb of Yarraville.
The trial found that the technology can accurately detect potential hazards within 0.2 seconds to alert road users.
The trial also investigated ways for intersection infrastructure to communicate hazard warnings to connected vehicles using roadside Co-operative Intelligent Transport System equipment.
The $2 million trail, part of the Victorian Government’s $9 million Connected and Automated Vehicle Trial Grants Program, was the first extended trial using LiDAR technology to collect road data in Australia.
Victoria’s Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll said results from the trial would allow Road Safety Victoria to improve safety at intersections throughout Melbourne’s suburbs.
“Road Safety Victoria will now take this data away – and continue to work with local communities to keep traffic moving safely through intersections as Victorians get to where they need to go,” the Minister said.
The latest data shows 23 per cent of deaths and 34 per cent of serious injuries occur at intersections. Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 sets ambitious targets to halve road deaths and significantly reduce serious injuries by 2030.
The Connected and Automated Vehicles Program was launched as part of Andrews Labor Government’s $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan.
In late 2017, VicRoads called for expressions of interest from companies, industry bodies and other transport technology organisations to apply for funding to spur the development of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), which led to a $2.3 million automated vehicle trial by Bosch in 2019.
This is in addition to the ‘don’t block the box’ trial which began last week with six busy intersections in Melbourne painted yellow to reduce the number of cars blocking intersections which can create congestion and puts other motorists in danger.
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