Page 25 - TrafficInfraTech Magazine - July Digital Edition
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ON THE COVER
According to end-use industries, in Free flow tolling. Integration of
the Highway Toll and Road Safety ANPR with HSWIM is a challenge.
segment dominates a significant We have covered more grounds
slice of the WIM market. In this in this domain. From Ministry
context, the request set forth by side, regulations to legally accept
a Parliamentary Committee to HSWIM against Static weighbridge
the Ministry of Road Transport would clear bottlenecks in adapting
and Highways to examine the HSWIM in free flow scenario.
possibility of charging toll based
Says, Varun Kumar Singh, Chief
on weight seems prudent (as Manager- Technical Solutions &
opposed to the axle-based
toll collection). This initiative, Project Engineering, Vaaan Infra
according to discussions by Pvt Ltd, “The non-intrusive sensors
concessioners, would issue are prohibitively expensive and
automated challans to tackle the are a deterrent to the growth of
deliberate flouting of rules. this industry. The current designs
are serving the purpose to a large
Another development is GNSS extent and they should continue
tolling - charging road users using to be used till the non-intrusive
the Global Navigation Satellite technologies become affordable
System (GNSS) sensors that would and more reliable.”
be fitted inside vehicles.
• Standardisation: Lack of
P V Shreedhar, Vice President, uniformity and standardisation
Increasing accuracy and Sales, Essae Digitronics Pvt Ltd in traffic management solutions
providing reduced downtime for says, “GNSS based tolling is the and Weigh-In-Motion (WIM)
the roads is of essence, with a latest development and to a larger systems hinder global service
high-speed capture being key to extent this will be a viable solution provision. Different countries
unlocking the potential of WIM. to enable uninterrupted traffic and regions use diverse
On-board sensor systems could flows. But again, overloading on communication network
be potentially installed between highways will tend to damage the standards and protocols,
the body and chassis, especially roads faster and also will certainly impacting interoperability. To
for heavy industries, mining, invite accidents. How to overcome address this, a common set of
chemicals and infra-aggregate these challenges by preventing protocols for communication
sectors. However, this would overload – is an issue yet to and components (sensors and
require a policy level change from be resolved.” hardware) is needed worldwide
the government. to foster the growth of the
What are the challenges WIM market.
Bhutani continues, “For the with WIM?
Weigh-in-Motion system to • Accuracy: Achieving accuracy
weigh at speeds of 100km/hr Shreedhar adds, “The CAPEX cost in WIM systems has been
and 120 km/hr the accuracies of owning these new technologies is a persistent challenge.
will further compromise. At high, considering core development Factors like vehicle braking,
the high speeds the system has in the field of Sensor/Strain gauge/ acceleration, strong winds,
fraction of a second to collect Piezo are mostly happening in and weather changes can
the weight data so the sensor Western continent. Adapting affect reading precision.
response needs to be super-fast similar Technology to India seems Weather conditions, such as
with filters in place to reject noise like a costly affair but is expected snow and ice on sensors, also
and process valid weight data to to overcome volumes across the impact consistency. Integrating
provide accurate readings. We nation since there is a clear vision of additional sensors could offer
are doing tests and reconfiguring MoRTH towards minimal accidents. a solution, employing a multi-
the system to keep the tolerance “Medium speed WIM’s are to be modal, sensor-fusion approach
under +/-10% FSR.” replaced with High Speed WIM’s to enhance accuracy.
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