This article describes the BEATRICS radar-based traffic management radar sensor, which was developed to provide automatic detection of road traffic incidents and congestion under all weather and traffic conditions. BEATRICS was developed by Thomson-CSF in collaboration with SAPRR, installed in France in 1994, and evaluated by the European-financed MELYSSA programme in 1995. It is an Automatic Incident/Congestion detection (AID/ACD) system, using radar, aimed at ensuring continuous coverage of all traffic lanes simultaneously in both directions, over a long distance, with one sensor. It detects any vehicle within its radar beam, and measures its distance and speed. It can rapidly and directly detect incidents up to 1000m, with no degradation in bad weather like fog and rain. Data processing is performed within the radar unit, and only alarms and selected traffic information, such as speeds, are sent to the traffic control centre. BEATRICS is a 24GHz-band-pulse Doppler radar system. Its AID function detects stopping vehicles and locates incidents while its ACD function detects congestion build-up. SAPRR will install several BEATRICS radar systems on different sites of its road network, and integrate them with regional traffic centres.
Abstract