As part of ongoing efforts to seek the best methods available to minimise the disruption and safety risks from road works while keeping traffic moving, a recent project has seen EnterpriseMouchel and Tyco Integrated Systems installing 54 Rapid Deployable CCTV cameras (RDCs) for the Highways Agency in the UK.
Weighing just 6.5kg each, the cameras are located at selected junctions to work alongside the traffic signal team’s remote Urban Traffic Control system (UTC). The main objective is to have the ability to view junction performance via the use of the CCTV system, enabling informed decisions to be made by interacting directly with the traffic signal controllers who can vary timing plans via the UTC and the real time viewing of the CCTV system.
The use of 3G communication from the cameras to the dedicated server has reduced the cost of having to install and procure alternative transmission methods such as ADSL lines to each site. This has also meant placing the cameras on site has been faster as there have been no restrictions as to where they can be mounted, increasing the efficiency of how much the cameras can view.
“The need for a fast roll out with minimum traffic disruption made the RDCs a perfect fit for this project,” said Tyco Integrated Systems account manager Robin Satwick. “The ease of installation compared to a normal traffic camera, along with all the other benefits of this type of set-up, has given the client a high quality and flexible system.”
According to Tyco, one of the key features of the unique encoder built into the cameras is the ability to fix the bandwidth used, unlike other compression algorithms which vary the bandwidth according to the scene, allowing the cost of data transmission to be predicted and tailored to the client’s budget.
Additionally, says the company, as a web-hosted system, the cameras can be viewed from anywhere with the appropriate connection and multiple operators can view the picture simultaneously. This feature also allows pictures to be viewed and the camera controlled via a smart phone – in effect, creating a mobile control room.
