Deer Me!

Bambi may be cute on the movie screen...but not on the highway. In the U.S., in fact, there are annually more than 1.5 million accidents involving vehicles and deer, totally more than $1 billion in vehicle damage.

And for the most part, the best preventative measures that highway engineers have been able to come up with are deer-warning signs, which are generally considered ineffective according to studies documented by the University of Wisconsin's Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse and elsewhere.

That may be changing, however, as embedded, sensor-based systems move from the lab into the woods. For the most part, two technologies are being implemented in developing animal-detection systems like those needed along highways--"area-cover" and "break-the-beam" sensors.

Area-cover sensors use infrared light or microwave radio signals to detect animals within a certain range. In some cases, the sensors are intelligent enough to distinguish between animals and moving such as vehicles. Break-the-beam sensors activate when animals break the beam--typically infrared, laser, or microwave radio signals--between transmitters and receivers.

When low-power (approximately 35.5 GHz) beams are broken in an experimental break-the-beam system at Yellowstone National Park, the system is triggered and warning lights start flashing. The system does require direct line of sight, with transmitters/receivers within one-quarter mile of each other. Solar panels power transmitters/receivers, and excess power stored in batteries for nighttime monitoring and alerting.

The evaluation of various technologies such as these is the subject of ongoing research at the Western Transportation Institute.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 08:31 AM  Permalink