The new signals use LED technology, minilenses and optical fibre and, as the light sources are in the base, a single technician can change them as required without needing a lift
Currently, whenever a signal fails, traffice police are needed to cut off the lane affected and the traffic may even have to be halted completely Moreover, technicians have to be raised up on an elevated platform, wearing safety harnesses, to a height of 8 metres
Scientists from the University of Granada’s departments of Optics and Civil Engineering, have designed and patented a new traffic signal, based on LED technology, minilenses and optical fibre, which is much more resistant than those in use and easier to repair when it fails.
The new light amounts to a major improvement in road safety since technicians will no longer need to stop the traffic when they have to replace an array of LEDs, as is currently the case. Moreover, in contrast to traditional traffic signals, those designed in the University of Granada have the light sources in the base, so a single technician can change them without the need for an elevated platform.
Currently, our roads and streets represent a constant threat to pedestrians and drivers because of the growing density of traffic. This obliges us to control and regulate traffic, through a highway code, efficient signalling and speed limits for vehicles.
Among the causes of the increasing number of accidents are human error, signalling failures, and poor road maintenance. So, signalling plays an important role in minimizing the consequences of human error, improving the traffic flow, speeding it up, all of which contributes to reducing the chance of accidents.
As Francisco Pérez-Ocón of the Department of Optics and lead author of this study explains, “whenever a traffic light fails at a crossroads, junction or important crossing, traffic police are needed full-time to cut traffic in the lane affected or close the road completely”.
This leads to an increase in the risk of accidents that local authoritis need to avoid. Moreover, the technicians have to be raised up on elevated platforms, equipped with safety harnesses, sometimes to a height of 8 metres, so as to repair the signals at that height.
“This situation is dangerous for the technician, causes traffic jams, and is dangerous for drivers and pedestrians–without going into the economic cost entailed for the local authority because of the dangerous task that’s under way”, says Pérez-Ocón.
Weather resistant
The results of this study have been published in Engineering Structures. The authors have used these findings to design a new traffic signal with the light sources located in the base. “Minilenses concentrate the light of the LEDs at the entrance to the optical fibre and this transports it up to the top of the traffic light. Our system means there is no need for new traffic signals because the optical fibre can fit into the posts of current traffic lights and reach the discs”, says Pérez-Ocón.
This new design is of major significance in the maintenance of traffic signals since optical fibre is highly resistant to natural phenomena and the passing of time. “Moreover, introducing optical fibre and minilenses into the system does not affect the quality of signalling on the roads and streets because our equipment fully meets current road safety standards”, he adds.
The traffic signal designed at the University of Granada represents a major improvement in road safety because traffic does not have to be stopped when an array of LEDs needs to be replaced. As the light sources are located in the base of the traffic lights, only one technician is needed to change the light sources, without an elevated platform.
Pérez-Ocón stresses that this innovative design “can be used in other contexts, since it means light sources can be projected over a distance without having to modify the electrical installation, so it is clearly applicable in other fields like public lighting, telephone towers (or communications towers in general) and so on”.
Reference:
Safer and innovative traffic lights with minilenses and optical fibers
F. Pérez-Ocón, A.M. Pozo, M. Rubiño, O. Rabaza
Engineering Structures. Volume 96, 1 August 2015, Pages 1–6
doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2015.03.059
Image: The University of Granada research team that has participated in this study. From left to right and top to bottom, Ovidio Rabaza (Department of Civil Engineering), and Manuel Rubiño-López, Francisco Pérez-Ocón and Antonio Pozo-Molina (Department of Optics).
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Contact details:
Francisco Pérez-Ocón
Department of Optics University of Granada
Phone: +34 958 241 000 Ext. 20011
E-mail address: fperez@ugr.es
