vs | edge – Our Prediction Tool
What is vs | edge?
In traffic engineering and traffic planning we are confronted with the challenge of constantly increasing road traffic. One consequence of this is extreme congestion, which we can observe in cities. This in turn leads to the demand that we reduce waiting times. In addition, the requirements regarding climate protection are increasing. Here too we can make a contribution with intelligent traffic and light signal control systems.
In addition to the growing demands, however, we also want to take advantage of technical progress. Vehicles are becoming more intelligent and autonomous driving is gaining in importance. However, these systems would be further optimized if we provided vehicles with information about waiting times, green and red phases and so on.
What comes in handy is the increasing networking. More and more intersections are connected to each other or to a control center. From the point of view of vs | edge, the computing power available in control centers is an advantage we want to exploit. For example, complex models can be calculated in the shortest possible time.
vs | edge is a self-learning system that uses forecasts to think ahead and, on the basis of these forecasts, develops strategies with which traffic can be optimized.
How does vs | edge work?
The following figure shows a possible structure of a system with vs | edge (German only).
At the bottom we have the operational layer. This is where the individual nodes are located. These can be traffic signal systems that are controlled with vs | plus or those that are controlled by third-party products. On the tactical layer, several vs | edge components can be networked and a large number of intersections can be interconnected. At the tactical layer, the traffic situation at the individual intersection is analyzed, a switching time forecast can be calculated for a specific signal group, and commands can be sent to optimize control. At the top layer, vs | edge components are again combined, enabling the definition of strategies and network optimization, e.g. for an entire city.
Why should we use vs | edge?
Of course, vs | edge can be used for future, new traffic light systems. However, vs | edge is also suitable for existing traffic lights. Moreover, no expensive and complex infrastructure is required. The only requirement is a network connection to communicate with vs | edge. Optimized traffic control can be done automatically if desired and, moreover, vs | edge is independent of the control method, as it just processes process data and detector data.
First results
The first tests with vs | edge show promising results. For a test we ran a sample intersection in a simulation tool (here PTV Vissim). The traffic is randomly generated in the simulation tool and is therefore unpredictable for vs | plus. We then coupled vs | edge to this system and used it to predict the switching times of different traffic signals in the simulation. A screenshot of the result is shown below:
We leave the interpretation of the results to you. We are enthusiastic about it!!
On the occasion of the vs | plus eXperience (event held in Dresden and Basel in 2022), vs | edge was presented in more detail. The excerpt about vs | edge can be found here (German only):