Laser-scanner-based powered two-wheeler traffic monitoring

Abstract

Powered two wheelers (PTWs) represent only 2% of the traffic, but 30% of all deaths on the road. European governments have made this particular point a priority for road safety. This presented study overcomes the lack of PTW traffic-analyser systems in real traffic conditions. A detection technique based on a single two-dimensional LIDAR sensor is proposed. This system is able to accurately detect and count PTWs with a single sensor in dense traffic on a highway with multiple carriageways. The method consists, firstly, in generating spatio-temporal observations of vehicles crossing under the LIDAR, then, in classifying vehicles using machine-learning techniques, and finally, in evaluating PTW traffic. Such a system has direct industrial applications since it is a non-intrusive traffic-analyser system that is reliable, easily deployable and inexpensive compared with existing industrial solutions. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.