Automotive Industry Trends
Innovative Transportation Solutions
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Picture a high-tech central control room equipped with state-of-the-art traffic management systems including numerous large monitors and computer workstations. With the help of a fiber optic communications system, you can view various roadside images from strategically placed closed circuit TV cameras.
Now imagine having the ability to tell this system which camera image you would like to see on a specific monitor, to zoom in or out on an image, move up and down, or pan to the right or left. To do this, the computer must have the ability to "talk" to the camera in a "language" it understands. Now, complicate this process further by having different models of cameras made by different manufacturers and each camera model speaks a different "language." This is the dilemma that faces Joerg "Nu" Rosenbohm everyday.
Rosenbohm is a senior engineer for PB Farradyne, Inc. (PBFI), a subsidiary of Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), the largest transportation infrastructure provider in the United States. PBFI focuses on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) planning, design and deployment. The company has developed and deployed an ITS system called Management Information System for Transportation (MIST) at more than 40 locations within the United States. MIST integrates communications, data and video systems, incident detection devices, basic traffic control and remote signalization devices as well as computerized signing. These systems monitor traffic conditions and communicate such conditions to central or other remotely connected control computers, as well as the Internet. They also provide real-time responses to dynamic changes in traffic patterns and climate conditions, by changing speed limit display devices, lowering control gates, activating timing patterns for signals, or changing the text on remote signs.
Rosenbohm represents PBFI as an active participant in several of the National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol (NTCIP) standards working groups. NTCIP is a suite of communications standards that ensure the interoperability and interchangeability of traffic control and ITS devices, if selected and combined properly. "Standards that communicate to connected field devices are very important to PBFI, as we currently have to develop protocol translators, called device drivers, for every model of field device in use," explains Rosenbohm. "Therefore, the development of a standard that will allow us to create one common device driver for a particular type of communications infrastructure and utilize it for all installations would save time and ultimately reduce costs to our clients."
The NTCIP working groups are the technical 'arms' of a consortium of three Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). The NTCIP suite of protocols provides both communications interface definitions as well as data element definitions allowing dissimilar hardware and software products to utilize a common communications infrastructure.
"The NTCIP effort is trying to determine how to utilize our existing communications infrastructure more effectively," says Rosenbohm. "We are trying to maximize the existing infrastructure, but also allow for flexible expansion in the future, without relying on any specific equipment vendors or software."
The future for ITS technology is unlimited. Some vehicle models already feature ITS technology including sophisticated navigational systems with real-time mapping systems that tell you where you are on your route. Exciting new technologies and applications are emerging continuously, and although ITS could certainly be termed the wave of the future, it's very much a reality today. Next time you're driving in your car, look around - you'll be amazed at how much of this technology already exists.