The rail sector is a critical component of American infrastructure, making it even more imperative to increase safety within the industry. A reported 94% of all rail-related fatalities and injuries occur at railroad crossings or due to trespassing, most of which are preventable. Railroad crossing incidents are also the second leading cause of rail-related deaths in America.
Protecting railroad crossings is a 24/7 effort. To increase safety standards, some South Florida counties are even implementing new “safety tools” to stave off train fatalities with a more sophisticated version of crossing gates that provide more security for the public. Nearly 60 of these barriers known as “quad gates” are being installed across Broward and Palm Beach counties.
But while safety may increase, so will cost; this technology is expensive, costing in the ballpark of a half-million dollars per quad gate – far beyond the realm of affordability for most municipalities.
So, what is the solution? Being able to see facilities and operations in 3D and combining that vision with hi-resolution video affords logistics professionals keen insight, spatial intelligence for better workflow, asset tracking, and utilization, and threat detection. Additionally, making a solution more affordable to organizations worldwide will help them detect issues before they become events.
Oyla has created the world’s first mass-market camera and analytics solution that fuses high-performance video and depth into a single camera that seamlessly integrates with existing physical security infrastructure while enabling more rapid and accurate decision making as well as greater safety – resulting in a system cost that is five times lower than other Lidar solutions on the market.
Transportation experts often rely on lane utilization, motorized and non-motorized vehicle count and classification, and observed behavioral analysis when configuring rail stations, roads, and intersections for optimal flow and safety. Having this data in real-time becomes critical to incident awareness and management, life safety, and effective traffic control measures. Oyla provides for better vision into these critical spaces, accurately identifying objects and placing them precisely in a scene. Whether counting pedestrians and calculating average time to cross through a busy intersection, monitoring speed and classification of traffic for signal timing schemes, or counting bikes in a dedicated lane to determine the utilization patterns, 3D visualization is invaluable.
Physical perimeter security technologies help protect people and assets within a facility and its grounds by detecting unauthorized intrusions across a delineated perimeter. Whether an actual fence or a virtual fence is deployed, detection and deterrence go hand-in-hand, and so do the detection technologies fused to achieve accurate detection. Oyla is currently working with a global railway operator focused on safety in their rail stations and at rail crossings. Our 3D sensor combined with video provides highly accurate detection when people have fallen into the tracks, or get very close to the ~1 meter next to the tracks. With LiDAR fused with video, we accomplish this effectively not only even when the platform is crowded, but also at night and in low light conditions when video analytics fail.
This combination of LiDAR providing 3D point data together with hi-resolution video imagery in a single cost-effect and easy to deploy device makes for accurate data dissemination in real-time, leading to better decisions.
Contact us today to learn how Oyla can help officials protect railways, people, and assets.