At the behest of traffic management specialist Vialis, part of the VolkerWessels group, Dutch system integration specialist Hecla Professional Audio & Video Systems were called in to develop a full colour city DRIP - Dynamic Route Information Panels - on Almelo's main arterial roads. Lighthouse LED video screen was chosen as the display solution.
On 13 of October 2006 a 4 x 2 panel 25mm Lighthouse screen, measuring 4.88 metres wide by 1.82 metres high, was set up on the Henrietta Roland Holstlaan. This LED screen was the latest addition to this system that is designed to manage both existing traffic and future traffic growth. Three Lighthouse P16 16mm DRIPS had previously been installed at strategic locations.
Hecla has designed a special housing for each screen that incorporates a door allowing technicians maintenance access to the screen above road level so as not disrupting the traffic flow, as is befitting for a system intended to alleviate traffic problems.
The complete system has been given the moniker TINA - Traffic Integrated Network Almelo - and is based upon on number of different premises including parking and traffic light information, plus data from a series of loops that Vialis have positioned on the roads themselves to count the number of cars at a particular point and time.
Once the combined data is processed, conclusions can be drawn about traffic conditions and appropriate information given to motorists about parking, re-routing, speed limits, etc. via the DRIPS system. When there are no traffic problems to report, the system can provide information about what's going on in Almelo such as public events, concerts or festivals, or broadcast safety announcements reminding motorists to comply with safety laws such as using seatbelts.
Hecla's R&D department has developed both the hard and software for the system under the name TVision, which is now part of the TINA system. "There is intelligence within this system," explains Jos den Hartog who handles sales and marketing for Hecla. "If it counts, say, 2,000 cars at a particular point, it will automatically generate a message on the screen telling motorists to re-route. Or if all the parking in the south of the city is full, it will give directions for parking in the north.
"Additionally, when there is no traffic information, a slot could be free for advertising as well as for public information," den Hartog adds.
This element is a new and attractive business model - all data is collected in realtime, providing accurate information to advertisers about how many vehicles have passed the screen in any given time slot. This allows them to be billed accordingly, with the added benefit of the assurance that they are paying on an accurate per view basis.
Hecla has also created a geographic user interface for City Hall known as RIO - Route Information Operation. If necessary, city employees can make up their own content for the screens in an automatically generated style. This is previewed to the programmer to ensure their content will work on the different formats of the 16mm and 25mm Lighthouse screens.
"This is another innovative use of Lighthouse LED screens that has been developed by Hecla," concludes Michiel Hettinga, Lighthouse sales director for Western and Central Europe. "There are a number of important factors when investing in a system such as this, not least of which are reliability and robustness. Hecla's continued commitment to using Lighthouse products is a testament to the suitability of its screens in a wide variety of applications.
(Chris Henry)
