In an emergency, every second counts
Every second counts for the fire brigade and police. But there is usually an unpredictable obstacle between the emergency services and the goal – road crossings with red lights. Despite the blue light and siren, the emergency services have to brake their vehicles vigorously so as not to expose themselves or other road users to any risk. If, on the other hand, the traffic lights were green shortly before they arrived, they could pass the intersection safely and more quickly. The solution for an accident-free and rapid deployment trip is provided by special signals from the European satellite navigation systemGalileo. “HALI-Berlin is the first and so far only project in the world in which the satellite signals and operational Galileo PRS receivers are used in real life. This combination of Galileo PRS receivers in emergency vehicles and modern communication and traffic technology in traffic lights now has its own First practical test mastered. The green traffic lights made the journeys more even – with less braking and accelerating in the intersection areas. In the future, the innovative satellite navigation technology will protect the lives of emergency services and other road users and at the same time accelerate emergency journeys. Space travel does its part to make traffic on earth safer, “emphasizes René Kleeßen, the Director for Organizations and Infrastructure at the German Space Agency at DLR. In addition, thanks to Galileo PRS technology and sensor fusion, the equipped emergency vehicles were able to be precisely located in the lane despite urban canyons, tunnels and bridges.
On the safe side with Galileo PRS
The term “HALI” is derived from the abbreviation of the Finnish “HälytysAjoneuvojen LIikennevaloetuudet”, which means “traffic light control for emergency vehicles”. In contrast to the original system idea from Finland, however, HALI-Berlin uses a highly precise and at the same time interference and deception-proof position determination on the basis of the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) for a green wave for emergency vehicles. A powerful encryption efficiently prevents the time signal and position from being deliberately falsified by so-called spoofing. In addition, PRS makes so-called jamming, i.e. the targeted interruption or superimposition of the signals by a source of interference, more difficult. ” This double security makes a multitude of security-critical and demanding applications possible in the first place. In addition, the special signal design and the use of different frequencies offer significant advantages under difficult environmental conditions such as urban canyons with shading. Galileo PRS is therefore ideally suited to be used in a demanding scenario, such as the traffic light control for emergency vehicles by the Berlin fire brigade and police, “explains Hendrik Osenberg, HALI project manager at the German Space Agency at DLR.
Equipment of fire brigade and police emergency vehicles
“So that the HALI system can go into real operation, the PRS receivers, which were previously operated under laboratory conditions, have been further developed in order to work more reliably and robustly they are optimized in terms of size and weight, as there is often little space in the emergency vehicles, “explains Alexander Rügamer, HALI project manager at Fraunhofer IIS. Because the power supply is covered by the on-board network, the developers also had to reduce the receiver’s “hunger for energy” before the devices could be used in practice. A total of five emergency vehicles were equipped with these enhanced receivers – including three patrol cars from the Berlin police and an ambulance and an extinguishing and rescue vehicle from the Berlin fire brigade. All of these vehicles are regularly in use in the Moabit district, which is the test field for HALI-Berlin.
Centrally networked traffic lights clear the way
“A precise and safe position determination via Galileo-PRS alone does not give the emergency vehicle a green wave. The traffic lights must also be technically equipped so that they can be” addressed “by the emergency vehicle. , explains Robert Oertel, HALI project manager at the DLR Institute of Transportation Systems. Therefore, eight systems in the test area were additionally equipped with special communication and traffic technology. “This means that approaching vehicles can register at these traffic lights well in advance, whereupon they automatically switch to green. This avoids a possible backlog in advance. The central HALI server first receives information from the fire brigade and police operations control systems on the targets of the equipped vehicles. The deployment routes correspond to the routes most frequently chosen by the fire brigade and police. At the same time – for the benefit of everyone – the rest of the traffic is obstructed as little as possible. The central HALI server first receives information from the fire brigade and police operations control systems on the targets of the equipped vehicles. The deployment routes correspond to the routes most frequently chosen by the fire brigade and police. At the same time – for the benefit of everyone – the rest of the traffic is obstructed as little as possible.
About HALI-Berlin
The HALI-Berlin project is funded by the German Space Agency at DLR with funds from the PRS technology program of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) promoted. Next to theInstitute for Transport Systems Technology at the DLR and the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS are the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport as well as the Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, the Berlin Police and the Berlin Fire Brigade as well as Siemens, Airbus, IABG and Alarm Dispatcher Systems GmbH partners in the project.