Road authorities are being challenged with finding the most cost-effective way to maximise the throughput of road network, whilst maintaining safety and positive user experience. They need real time data across the network to enable optimisation of traffic flow and to effectively respond to any incidents should they occur. Any systems installed to support this need to be operationally effective, with high detection rates in all weather and light conditions, good coverage and low false alarm rates over hundreds of kilometres of road.
Why ClearWay?
ClearWay not only does this, but also sets the industry standard of lowest false alarm rates, generating a maximum of only one per kilometre per day. In addition, due to the use of innovative radar technology, it delivers excellent operation in all weather and light conditions, extensive coverage for each sensor and a very low cost of ownership. This is a fully automatic active system, and personnel are only required to monitor actual incidents, rather than every detail occurring on the network. ClearWay has achieved various accolades for its pioneering radar technology, ranging from Government grants to renowned international innovative technological awards.
Problems We Solve
Tunnels
Due to the confined environment, when incidents happen in a tunnel they can quickly develop into secondary issues. ClearWay is designed to perform in all weather and light conditions, and its detection rate is unaffected by smoke, fire or hot gasses
Highways
With the rapid growth of road users, Highways Authorities have to maintain safety on crowded networks. ClearWay detects the exact location of stopped vehicles within 10 seconds of an incident. It can also trigger alerts for other road users.
Bridges
The lack of barriers may allow pedestrians and bicycles to enter a bridge, posing a threat to themselves and other road users. ClearWay detects pedestrians and cyclists and rapidly generates an alarm to the control centre.
Frequently Asked questions
1. What is special about 77GHz radar?
Navtech radar sensors operate at 77 GHz for two reasons. Firstly this band is licence free in many countries around the world, making it easier to install. Secondly, higher frequencies enable better resolution in a smaller physical size. For example, a 24GHz would need to be three times the size to achieve the same resolution.
2. What is the resolution of the radar sensor?
The resolution of the radar sensor is 17.5 cm in Range and 1.8° in Azimuth.
3. What is the technology used? Is it a Doppler radar?
The technology is Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW). Target speed is calculated from successive observations within the software, as such there is no requirement for Doppler processing. This improves the processing performance, and provides more accurate data.
4. Can the radar be used in very cold weather e.g. mountain / arctic conditions?
The sensor operating temperature is -20 to 60°C. All sensors have a heater built in that allows the sensor to operate at even lower temperatures.
5. What are the power requirements of the radar sensor?
Each radar requires a 24Vdc 20 Watt (or 60 Watt with heater) power supply. A five metre power cable is supplied with each unit. A power supply is available from Navtech Radar and typically purchased with each unit.
6. What are the data connection bandwidth requirements of each radar?
Each radar sensor continuously delivers up to 12Mbps when in service. Networks should be capable of handling this data throughput with low latency (<15ms). We are currently working on an enhancement to the radar, that will see the bulk of the data processing occurring near to, or within the radar, reducing the data output to a few kbps. Contact Navtech for details.
7. What is the power output of the radar? Is it a danger to health?
The power emitted is less than 15mW, much less than a mobile phone (~500mW).
8. What is the service interval of each radar?
The radar needs no maintenance, other than a preventative service at the five-year point. This consists of replacing the rotating assembly inside the radar unit. A service typically takes less than 30 minutes be a trained service engineer.
9. What is the ROM budgetary cost of a system?
ClearWay is totally scalable. It could range from one sensor to several hundred. Please contact us with your project details and we would be happy to advise on ROM budgetary costs based on your requirement.
10. What is the effect of rain on the radar?
Radar is mostly unaffected by rain. Heavy rain conditions however might slightly reduce the maximum range the radar can reliably detect. This should have no effect on the number of false alarms.
11. What is the coverage of each radar sensor?
The instrumented range of each sensor is 500m for vehicles and 350m for pedestrians. This is the maximum range in ideal conditions. In practice, installation ranges are typically shorter and depend on line of sight, and availability of roadside connection points. Line of sight is dependent on the complexity of the road (undulations, curvature in the road, density of traffic, number of lanes, location of road furniture, location of trees etc.) and performance requirements e.g. 100% coverage. Hence, practical installation distances may typically be half the instrumented range. We strongly recommend that you consider a site survey or consult with one of our team or a trained partner to advise on the best approach for your application.
12. What is the ideal mounting height?
The optimum mounting height is between four and five metres for the standard radar range, though actual mounting height can vary depending on the specific site.
13. What happens if you have more than one target? Is there any a limit to how many targets the radar can track?
The number of targets the software can track is virtually unlimited and depends on the processing server spec. Simulations have been done with around 200 tracks simultaneously.
14. Can the radar discriminate between people, motorcycles, cars, and trucks?
ClearWay provides multiple vehicle classifications that are user definable. The system also identifies people, wildlife and debris.
15. How does the radar measure speed, and is it enforceable?
The software measures the target speed using the information of the movement in space over time. No certification is currently available.
16. Do radar incident alarms direct the camera to the incident (e.g. track the vehicle) or a zone?
Radar alarms will direct a configured camera to the incident zone. Configuring cameras within our software is possible but not recommended for large installations.
17. Does ClearWay integrate with third-party software?
Yes, ClearWay provides a custom XML input/output capability to which a third-party software can integrate.
18. Does ClearWay provide to other interfaces?
ClearWay can interface to multiple Ethernet relay units, providing multiples of six digital inputs and six relay outputs. These I/O lines can be linked to various actions/events within ClearWay.
20. What training is offered?
Navtech offers both customer and system integrator (SI) training. Customer training enables a user to respond to, and interact with the ClearWay system. Integrator training includes customer training, commissioning of the radar, camera and ancillaries, as well as training on how to deliver the Navtech sales message in support of your own business development activities.
21. Which cameras does ClearWay support?
ClearWay currently supports a selection of cameras, as detailed in the camera control datasheet. Additional cameras can be added if they support Pelco D absolute positioning commands 0x4B, 0x4D and 0x4F, or adhere to the Onvif protocol.
