Browsing by Author "Weidemann, Ryan"

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    Advanced LED Warning Signs for Rural Intersections Powered by Renewable Energy
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section, 2010-12) Kwon, Taek Mu; Weidemann, Ryan
    A majority of intersection-related fatal crashes occur at rural, through/stop intersections. At these intersections, sight restrictions caused by vertical and horizontal curves negatively affect a driver’s ability to safely accept a gap in the traffic stream. Static advanced warning signs are sometimes installed at these intersections to warn drivers on the main, through approaches that an intersection is ahead. These warning signs appear to be ineffective. A new Advanced Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Warning System was developed and deployed at a rural, through/stop intersection with limited intersection sight distance due to a severe vertical curve. This warning system actively detects vehicles on all approaches and activates LED blinker warning signs for the conflicting movements. The research project included analysis of driver behavior obtained through video data and a survey of local residents and frequent users of the intersection. This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation results of this new warning system.
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    Portable Cellular Wireless Mesh Sensor Network for Vehicle Tracking in an Intersection
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2008-12) Kwon, Taek Mu; Weidemann, Ryan
    This report describes the result of a research project that developed an automatic, portable vehicle tracking system that can count the vehicle travel trajectories in an intersection. Using a cellular wireless mesh sensor network (WMSN), wireless sensor nodes are placed in the middle of traffic lanes in the intersection to collect the data. Each node consists of an anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) circuit for detecting vehicles, a PAN4570 Radio Communications Module (RCM), and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. When a vehicle travels over a wireless node, a detection occurs and a timestamp is recorded by the node and sent to the WMSN coordinator. The coordinator is responsible for logging the vehicle detections recorded by every node in the WMSN. From this logged data, a vehicle tracking algorithm that has been developed tracks the trajectories of the vehicles through the intersection and also records a total vehicle count of the intersection. The system performance was evaluated through both intersection simulations and real data collection. The details on the system component design, implementation, experimental results, and analysis are described.
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    TDRL Projects: Solar/Wind Hybrid Renewable Light Pole, Gravel-Road Traffic Counter, DLL-Based Traffic Software Development Kit
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2008-09) Kwon, Taek Mu; Weidemann, Ryan; Cinnamon, Dan
    This report describes the results of three projects initiated in Fiscal Year 2006 by the Transportation Data Research Laboratory (TDRL), using the funds provided by the Northland Advanced Transportation Systems Research Laboratories (NATSRL). They are (1) Development and field tests of solar/wind hybrid renewable light pole, (2) Development of a gravel road traffic counter, and (3) Development of a DLL-based software development package. Each project is relatively small and developed as a seed project for future expansion to a full independent project. Each of them is described as a chapter that includes its own introduction, the main body of work, and its own conclusion.