ITS America shows vehicle infrastructure integration technology

A number of ITS America members have signed up to display vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems and related applications at the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Technology Showcase being held at the ITS America Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, California, 4-6 June 2007.

The showcase, being staged in the Prairie Schooner parking lot just outside the Palm Springs Convention Centre, will include a range of demonstrations. For example, the VII California testbed demonstration is a dynamic, large-scale collaborative public-private partnership highlighting VII development, research and applications. This demonstration - including partners from 3879 Caltrans, 343 Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 3880 University of California PATH, 134 Telvent Farradyne and OEM laboratories, 2069 Daimler 1958 Chrysler REDNA, 994 Volkswagen ERL, 1686 Toyota InfoTechnology Centre - is actually a remote video of VII on the ground on real roads and with real cars in Northern California.

The demonstration will include CICAS-V and privately developed cooperative signal violation information at two intersections, one directly connected to the controller and another 'sniffed' on a legacy controller, traveller information with probes on freeways as well as arterials (on a real 511 system) and in-vehicle signage. These will be 'snapshots' of what is happening in VII California, underscoring realworld accomplishments.

Intelligent intersections

A finalist in last year's Best of ITS Awards, the Intelligent Intersection demonstrations, from 1763 Econolite and Technocom/110 Raytheon, have continued to evolve over the past year and highlight the capabilities of technologies that speak to the roadside and directly to vehicles through innovative wireless communication applications. These demonstrations will be presented in three formats - VII at the intersection; VII In-a-Suitcase; and VII On-the-Road. Application demonstrations will include Traffic Signal Violation Warning, Public Safety Vehicle Priority Signal Activation, and In-Vehicle Signing.

The California Department of Transportation Technology Showcase will occupy the southern half of the Prairie Schooner parking lot, featuring a moving truck as it demonstrates various systems, including onboard monitoring, portable weigh in motion in collaboration with 69 International Road Dynamics (IRD), and first responder actions to a staged incident, including gathering and transmitting data to a traffic management centre.

Meanwhile, 793 InfoTek will demonstrate ILDA (Intelligent Loop Detection Applications) which use an intelligent wireless modem called the wizard. Using inductive loops installed in a truck lane and a small car lane, InfoTek will demonstrate how to log onto the wizard over the Internet to monitor traffic in real time and view database reports over the Web.

OMJC Signal, a manufacturer of portable trailers for the ITS and traffic industry, will use its signals in conjunction with the Econolite/Technocom demonstrations and the Caltrans commercial vehicle demonstration, while Mark IV will demonstrate its 5.9GHz hardware platform that enables most VII applications.