Zaragoza, Spain – October 26th, 2011 – Libelium, a technology leader in wireless sensor networks, announces the launch of the new Vehicle Traffic Monitoring Platform as part of its Smart Cities solution. The platform is capable of sensing the flow of Bluetooth devices in a given street, roadway or passageway while differentiating hands-free car kits from pedestrian phones. Sensor data is then transferred by a multi-hop ZigBee radio, via an internet gateway, to a server. The traffic measurements can then be analysed to address congestion of either vehicle or pedestrian traffic.

Understanding the flow and congestion of vehicular traffic is essential for efficient road systems in cities. Smooth vehicle flows reduce journey times, reduce emissions and save energy. Similarly the efficient flow of pedestrians in an airport, stadium or shopping centre saves time and can make the difference between a good and a bad visit. Monitoring traffic – whether road vehicles or people - is useful for operators of roads, attractions and transport hubs.

Libelium’s Vehicle Traffic Monitoring Platform enables system integrators to create intelligent monitoring systems for the urban environment. Libelium’s CTO David Gascón says, “With widespread use of Bluetooth devices both vehicular and pedestrian traffic can be monitored anonymously by detecting and tracking the MAC addresses of such devices”. He adds, “The platform can help drivers avoid congested roads through provision of real time warnings on electronic displays or via smartphone applications”. Similarly, pedestrian monitoring enables improvements to be made in the operation of airports, shopping centres, tourist attractions and sports stadiums. Such data can even be used to assess the suitability of emergency evacuation plans or even to detect ‘hot’ routes inside commercial centres for marketing and product placing purposes.

The Platform uses the new Expansion Radio Board for Waspmote which allows two different types of radio to be connected at the same time. In this case a Bluetooth radio is used as a sensor to make inquiries and to detect nearby devices, while the ZigBee radio sends the information collected using its multi-hop capabilities. Six power levels allow sensor operators to set an “inquiry zone” from between 10 and 50 metres. Although Bluetooth, ZigBee and WiFi all operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, Waspmote uses Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) to enable the Bluetooth radio to identify channels already in use by ZigBee and WiFi devices and thus avoid interference.
Libelium provides complete support services to system integrators developing and deploying the Vehicle Traffic Monitoring Platform. The platform will be presented in two of the major Smart Cities events: Intelligent Cities (Hamburg, 8-10 November 2011, booth H/14.3) and in Smart City Expo (Barcelona, 29th November 2011, booth G705).
More info is available at: http://www.libelium.com/vehicle_traffic_monitoring_bluetooth_sensors_over_zigbee

About Waspmote
Waspmote is a modular platform for building wireless sensor networks. The platform comprises: the Waspmote board with microcontroller, memory, battery, accelerometer and sockets for add-on modules; open source API and compiler; a range of ZigBee wireless communication modules offering a choice of protocol versions, radio frequency and range (up to 12 km); wireless modules supporting Bluetooth, GPRS, GPS; and a wide variety of sensor boards enabling the measurement of gases, physical events, agricultural & smart metering parameters. It has outstanding power management - an unprecedented 0.7 microamperes is required in hibernate mode. It supports over the air (OTA) programming. Waspmote is CE, FCC and IC certified.
For Waspmote platform details visit http://www.libelium.com/waspmote

About Libelium
Libelium designs and manufactures hardware and communication protocols for wireless sensor networks. The product portfolio consists of the Waspmote low power platform for creating wireless sensor networks; the Meshlium multi-tech router integrating WiFi mesh (2.4GHz - 5GHz), ZigBee, GPRS, GPS and Bluetooth technologies
The company was founded in 2006, is privately held and is based at the European Business and Innovation Centre CEEIARAGON, Zaragoza, Spain.
For more information call +34 976 54 74 92 or visit http://www.libelium.com

Press Contact
David Gascón
CTO Libelium
Tel: +34 976 54 74 92
e-mail: d.gascon[at]libelium[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of Libelium by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)