BETAMONT has financed its own research and development activities while also receiving funds from the European Union. Research is driven by current marketing requirements, the condition of existing transport systems, national transport and industry initiatives and our planet’s environments, an aspect that has experienced the impact of transport and industry.
R&D at BETAMONT includes sensors for measuring physical parameters in transport and industry along with virtual smart spaces, edge computing, the cloud, big data, the Internet of things and data mining.
A significant and beneficial output from BETAMONT’s projects was the construction of a testing polygon directly on a three-lane road at an urban neighbourhood in Banská Bystrica. The polygon has two measuring stations approximately 500 metres apart that are equipped with sensors embedded in the roadway and also at the road portal. It is an invaluable research and development tool in the testing and implementation phases of any future projects. The intention behind the polygon has been to track free flow, which is possible on roads with more than two lanes running in one direction. This requirement makes its necessary to select a section with three lanes and disturbing elements such as incoming and outgoing lanes.
Because of where the sensors would have to be placed, the polygon was installed in the carriageway itself. The sensors were themselves configured for the greatest possible versatility and for universal use in future to monitor specific parameters.
Yet another major output for the future is the establishment on the corporate campus of a research centre for telematics systems, with a special laboratory and working area to simulate actual dispatching and traffic control. Here traffic data are collected, processed and visualised.
Traffic control also covers monitoring the status of the technologies that have been installed on the testing polygon and visualising the acquired traffic data. Opportunities here include actuators to simulate a traffic control system. The dispatching control room is equipped with large LCD wall screens for visualising images from cameras that have been installed either on the testing polygon or at installation sites. The cameras are able to communicate information and there are also PC desktops with monitors within the room. Both the cameras and the desktops make it possible to access individual technologies remotely and also to program new control algorithms and functions.
