A traffic informational system provides information to traffic moving along a road and may include a plurality of traffic information devices mountable to the road, each having an integral power producing source, at least a first set of illumination sources, and a wireless communications subsystem. The traffic informational system may further include at least a first external control device comprising at least one antenna and a transmitter communication wirelessly with the traffic information devices and/or with one another. The traffic information device may communicate with one another, and may include sensor for sensing ambient conditions. The system employs various approaches to reducing power consumption and improving communications, and is suitable for a wide range of applications, including use in remote environments.

Methods, systems and devices related to road mounted indicators for providing visual indications to approaching traffic

The theory of controllability and observability has been developed, one might almost say reluctantly, in response to problems generated by technological science, especially in areas related to control, communication, and computers. It seems that the first conscious steps to formalize these matters as a separate area of (system-theoretic or mathematical) research were undertaken only as late as 1959, by KALMAN [1960b-c]. There have been, however, many scattered results before this time (see Section 12 for some historical comments and references), and one might confidently assert today that some of the main results have been discovered, more or less independently, in every country which has reached an advanced stage of “development” and it is certain that these same results will be rediscovered again in still more places as other countries progress on the road to development.

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Lectures on Controllability and Observability

A vehicle guidance system includes first and second current-carrying conductors defining a portion of the vehicle guide path and in which current flows. The current in one conductor is equal in magnitude to 90 DEG and out of phase with the current in the other conductor. The conductors, when located in a parallel substantially overlapping relationship, establish a magnetic field having an effective phase different from the phase of the current in either conductor. The conductors are separated at at least one point of divergence to define separate vehicle guidepaths. A sensor unit on the vehicle sense the magnetic field of the conductors and controls the steering of the vehicle. The circuit which responds to the sensing unit is selectively controlled so that an output signal from only one or the other of the conductors controls the vehicle steering. In addition, the sensor unit which is on the vehicle senses data located along the guidepath in the form of lobes or nodes defined by the conductors. Furthermore, the sensor functions to sense phase modulation in the guidepath conductors as controlled from a central processor, and additional circuit means senses a change in phase modulation in the current flowing through the conductors and provides an output in response thereto so that data can be transmitted to the vehicle by phase modulation of the current transmitted through the guidepath conductors.

Vehicle guidance system

A novel system and method of integrating an RF emissions device, such as a radar system ( 103 A), within a traffic control indicator ( 101 ) system. The system and method determines, using LFM-CW radar signals ( 201 ) and a multi-stage spectral processing algorithm ( 600 ), if one or more object/vehicle targets will enter an intersection and comprises receiving a radar echo response ( 203 ) indicating the object/vehicle target ( 104 ) is approaching the intersection, receiving range and velocity of the object/vehicle targets ( 104 ), and based on the receiving, determining if the object/vehicle target ( 104 ) will enter the intersection. The system and method can programmatically be configured to activate red-light-hold, green-light-extension, or left-turn-warning.

Traffic light signal system using radar-based target detection and tracking

786,466 Telegraph transmitters ELDREDGE, K R, MERRITT, P E, and MARSH, M D Dec 8, 1955 [May 16, 1955], No 35317/55 Class 40 (3) [Also in Group XIX] A device for reading characters written in human language in magnetic ink comprises a magnetizing head 12, Fig 2, a reading head 16, means to move the characters past the reading head, an amplifier 18 and a rectifier 20 to obtain from the reading head a signal for each character having an envelope E (as shown in Fig 1), counters 22, 24 to divide the signal into portions and integrators 28 to generate voltages representative of the area of each portion and means to convert these voltages to voltages representing a binary number of corresponding to the character The magnetizing head is supplied by an oscillator 10 and applies an alternating magnetization to the characters The magnetized characters induce signals in the reading head 16 in the form of a series of pulses about thirty in number which after amplification and rectification have an envelope E, the shape of which, as shown in Fig 1 depends on the character being read The signal pulses are passed to a first counter 22 which is a predetermined counter of the kind which repeatedly counts up to a given number, eg 6 and supplies an output pulse for every 6 input pulses The second counter 24 is arranged to complete a cycle on receiving five output pulses from the first counter This counter is a ring counter of which each of the five stages of the ring provides an output as the count progresses Each stage of the counter 24 is connected to a different gate 26A-26E, each gate being opened in sequence and closing as the count proceeds to the next stage The output from the rectifier 20 is connected to each gate so that each gate passes a different section of the signal The section passing through each gate is integrated by the associated integrators 28A-28E To compensate for signal variations arising from strength of magnetization or thickness of ink a " normalizing " circuit is provided This comprises a total area integrator 30 which adds up the complete output from rectifier 20 and provides an output voltage representative of the total area of the signal envelope E of the character read The output from the integrators 28 are applied through " But " gates 32A-32E to further integrators 34A-34E The output of the total area integrator 30 is passed through gate 32F to an integrator 36 A read-out pulse is provided by a generator 38, eg a Schmitt trigger, at the end of the signal from the rectifier The output from integrator 36 is applied to a Schmitt trigger 40 which is tripped from one state to another when the input voltage exceeds a predetermined value and returns to the first state when the input voltage falls below this value The output from this trigger, when in its second state closes all gates 32 The larger the signal read from the character the sooner the trigger is tripped to close gates 32, which determines the integrating time allowed for the integrators 34A-34E to operate This compensates for variations in total signal envelope area and standardizes the voltage output The output of each integrator 34 is passed to a Schmitt trigger 42A-42E, each of which will be tripped to its second stable state or not according to the amplitude of voltage applied to its input The voltage levels of integrators 34 with respect to a fixed level is thereby converted by the triggers into a similar pattern of binary signals which are different for each character and form a binary representation of the character This representation can, if desired, be converted to another code by the code converting matrix 44 The output from read-out generator is used to cause a reset-pulse generator 46 to provide a signal, which is timed to permit all circuits to be reset before the next character is detected

Automatic reading system

Apparatus for indicia recognition

Automatic control system for vehicles

The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to signalling systems for controlling street traffic, including both vehicles and pedestrians. Traffic signalling systems in the past have ,5 employed either arrangements for controlling the signals in a cycle of changes at fixed times...

Traffic control system

An amplifier, including a pair of emitter coupled non-complementary transistors operated at constant emitter, base and collector potentials, provides a bidirectional output current proportional to an AC signal to be rectified. The output current is applied to a common base connection of a pair of complementary emitter-coupled base-coupled transistors having a common emitter connection coupled via a linearizing feedback resistor to the base electrode of one of the amplifier transistors and via a load to a source of reference potential. The collector potentials of the complementary transistors are regulated and a full wave rectified output signal is produced by a cascade connection of complementary current mirror amplifiers having inputs coupled to the collector electrodes of the complementary transistors and an output coupled to the point of reference potential via a further load thereby providing the combined advantages of improved linearity and dynamic range characteristic of feedback types of rectifiers and improved stability and wide bandwidth characteristic of feedforward rectifiers.

Winthrop S Pike

Papers

Apparatus for indicia recognition

Automatic control system for vehicles

Traffic control system

Full wave rectifier circuit for small signals

Radio signal receiving system