Intelligent Roadside Infrastructure for Connected Mobility

Intelligent roadside infrastructure units are crucial for connected mobility applications, smart traffic flow optimization, road condition monitoring, emergency vehicle routing during accidents or traffic jam situations, and for various autonomous driving use cases. Although significant achievements in the development of roadside infrastructure units have been accomplished in recent years, challenges still remain open. Advanced sensors, algorithms, and communication technology are required to design robust and reliable systems. To face these challenges, the work presented in this paper aims at developing an intelligent roadside infrastructure unit that can easily be adapted to various applications and locations. The unit is comprised of advanced sensors, i.e. camera, radar (Radio Detection and Ranging), and lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors for efficient environment perception, and one V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication module for sending the required information to nearby road users. A sensor data fusion module and communication technologies constitute the core of the intelligent roadside infrastructure unit. The development involves mechanical and electrical design as well as methods for the synchronization of multiple sensors and joint sensor calibration. Moreover, an auto-labelling framework for training data annotation and a multi-sensor monitoring framework is implemented. To test the work presented in this publication, a case study was conducted. Preliminary tests at a pedestrian crossing junction show that the intelligent roadside unit can successfully be applied for smart traffic light control.