Liefkenshoektunnel Demo: What Does a Navtech Radar ITS Demo Involve?

When you are considering using an ITS technology for your project you need to know it will deliver on its specified performance and understand how it works.

There’s no other technology on the market like Navtech’s ITS solution. It works in poor visibility when accidents are more likely to happen, and other technology starts to fail; it delivers multiple capabilities from the same system including comprehensive Automatic Incident Detection, Count and Classification and Traffic Flow Data; it’s proven on large scale deployments of up to 200+ miles. The ClearWay system achieves its performance through a combination of 360°, imaging radar—using Navtech’s IP technology—and in-house analytical software capabilities.

As an alternative to other better understood technologies, we’ve found the best way to share its full potential and benefits is a real-life demo, like the one we recently performed in the Liefkenshoek Tunnel, Belgium. So, what does an ITS demo involve?

We work with you to understand what capabilities you would like to have demonstrated and when we can fit into your schedule. In this case that meant running the demo during a scheduled night-time tunnel closure.

Liefkenshoek Tunnel were asked to provide around 400m of bore during a tunnel closure, an on-site highway maintenance vehicle with driver to perform test scenarios to demonstrate alarm generation, and power to the demo radar and camera.

The Navtech team entered the tunnel as soon as it was safe to do so following the scheduled closure. A radar was set up on a pneumatic mast, and a PTZ camera on a tripod. They were connected to power, and a network cable that ran data to a laptop with ClearWay™ software installed.

Members from Navtech’s in-house project delivery team commissioned the system and carried out tests to ensure alarms were being raised correctly. The PTZ camera was integrated to record the alarmed incidents. The ClearWay user interface was relayed back to a monitor in a technical room within the tunnel, away from the noise of the other ongoing tunnel maintenance.

The event started at with a presentation to 15+ tunnel operators, emergency responders and engineers outlining the evening’s agenda, and giving an overview of Navtech and our AID technology. We then drove a vehicle through the tunnel and simulated events such as a wrong-way driver and pedestrian in the tunnel to show the technology live, displayed on the monitor. After the demo, the attendees joined our engineers in the tunnel to view the radar and ask further questions.

We demonstrated the ClearWay™ system live showing: Stopped vehicle detection, Wrong-way driver detection, Pedestrian detection, Debris detection, Emergency and operator situational awareness.

We used camera integration to record the alarmed incidents.

21:00 – Tunnel closure, Navtech commissioning and testing
23:30 – Attendees arrive, agenda outline and presentation
23:45 – ClearWay AID demonstration start
00:30 – ClearWay AID demonstration finish
00:45 – Pack up equipment