This article concerns the development by the UK company QinetiQ of fibre-optic sensing technology in traffic detection and weigh-in-motion measurement. The computer program produced to detect potential hazards and incidents on motorways in late night use was designed, through evolutionary computation, by another computer. All-optical traffic sensing is being developed to improve functionality and reduce costs; it can perform high-speed weigh-in-motion and monitor the condition of the road. Fibre-optic in-road sensors offer high-sensitivity and dynamic range and can multiplex many sensors on one fibre. Extended interferometric sensors were chosen for traffic sensing. System architecture studies showed that these sensors are suited to the architectures needed when large numbers of sensors are required. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118381.
Samenvatting