Highway Department Purchases Second Version of High-Tech Traffic Warning System

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Brett Schaefer (center) of VisuaLogistic Technologies installs an Automated Detection and Alert System node along Interstate 49 in Washington County last fall.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – VisuaLogistic Technologies Inc., a start-up company in Fayetteville founded by graduates of the University of Arkansas, has developed an updated model of its traffic warning system for potential use by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

The company’s Automated Detection and Alert system is comprised of a network of sensors that detects traffic congestion and other hazardous conditions. These sensors then wirelessly communicate the information to adjoining nodes, notifying drivers in advance of the hazard. The system can also compile traffic-flow statistics and send them to a centralized data hub, said Brett Schaefer, the company’s chief executive officer.

Each roadside device has a light that flashes different colors to alert drivers, such as yellow for traffic that has slowed but not completely stopped, Schaefer said.

The devices, which are primarily solar-powered, are designed to be placed along a highway less than a mile apart. The communications network is “self-healing,” meaning that if one node goes offline, the service would not be interrupted to the other nodes.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department purchased 12 nodes of the system in in 2013 for a Transportation Research Committee project and installed them over a three-mile stretch of Interstate 40 near Russellville in January 2014.

After the testing period was completed, Eric Specking, VisuaLogistic Technologies’ chief operating officer, wrote an annual progress report that was reviewed by the highway department. The department then provided its conclusions and recommendations, which were incorporated into version two. Last fall, the highway department purchased 12 nodes of the new version and installed four nodes along Interstate 49 in Washington County.

“The nodes on Interstate 49 were installed to ensure quality control and assurance before delivering the final product to the highway department this month,” Schaefer said. “The highway department wanted the system to perform vehicle counts, and that function is included in the second version.”

In addition to car counts, the units are recording weather data, average vehicle speeds and traffic congestion in the area, Schaefer said.

“Everything is more robust and more modular with this new unit,” he said.

Another new feature in version two is the Emergency Vehicle Alert System. Emergency personnel such as law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics would be equipped with hand-held remote devices. These devices would switch the nodes’ light to its assigned emergency color, notifying drivers of emergency personnel in the area.

The majority of the VisuaLogistic Technologies’ seven co-owners are graduates or graduate students in the College of Engineering at the U of A who developed the system’s prototype.

In 2013, Schaefer filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a provisional patent on the invention, titled “Wireless Traffic Congestion and Hazardous Condition Detection and Warning System.”

Schaefer holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in recreation and sports management from the U of A. He got the idea for a roadside traffic warning system for drivers three years ago, when sitting on the interstate in rush-hour traffic.

This past summer, the state Highway Commission allocated $27 million over a 10-year period dedicated to the department’s Intelligent Transportation Systems. A portion of these funds will assist in building a new Transportation Center for the highway department.  

“This looks like the perfect time for our technology to expand over the next decade on Arkansas highways and into other states, as well,” Schaefer said.