Intersection Monitor for Traffic-Light-Preemption System

This unit provides real-time phase data essential for effective preemption.

The figure shows an intersection monitor that is a key subsystem of an emergency traffic-light-preemption system that could be any of the systems described in the three immediately preceding articles and in “Systems Would Preempt Traffic Lights for Emergency Vehicles” (npo-30573), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28, No. 10 (October 2004), page 36. This unit is so named because it is installed at an intersection, where it monitors the phases (in the sense of timing) of the traffic lights. The mode of operation of this monitor is independent of the type of traffic-light-controller hardware or software in use at the intersection. Moreover, the design of the monitor is such that (1) the monitor does not, by itself, affect the operation of the traffic-light controller and (2) in the event of a failure of the monitor, the traffic-light controller continues to function normally (albeit without preemption).