OT: mystery roadside pole

[Tim+]

Any thoughts?

Seen on the M5 at regular intervals between Worcester & Bromsgrove.

Quite a lot of them, probably every quarter to half mile. Looks like a lamp on top but presumably not a lamp. ?Lamp? is isolated from pole by an air gap of 1-2? and connected by a wire that loops around the side. Seem to only be on bits of motorway with ?part-time? hard shoulders.

Tim

[Robin]

the system for detecting stationery vehicles uses radar and there are similar detectors for that on the M25

[Tim+]

Thanks. That sounds plausible. Given the dangers of part time hard shoulder the short distance between the poles makes sense.

Tim

[John Walliker]

Or they might be light sensors?

John

[nightjar]

You can see one attached to the side of a post in this National Highways article, entitled 'Stopped vehicle detection upgrades':

[Richard]

They aren't sensitive enough to discriminate on that level. They will detect all stationary vehicles though.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I don't think paper cars show up well on radar

[Robin]

true; cruel, but true :((

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Tim+ was thinking very hard :

In which case, probably detectors of broken down vehicles, in lane one, for when it is a running lane.

[Adrian]

In message <1Nudnc7 [e-mail], nightjar [e-mail]> writes

I noticed on Sunday that similar devices have appeared on the M27 eastbound (and guessed what they were, but thanks for the confirmation), where it is being converted into a Not Very Clever Motorway, but I couldn't spot any on the westbound. Perhaps they are working in one direction, then coming back and doing the other one.

Adrian

[John Walliker]

I found these which seem to be a reasonable match to the photograph.

are a radar with 360 deg coverage operating at 76 to 77 GHz. The range is 300m for people and vehicles. As they have 360 deg coverage, there is no need to have them on both sides of the motorway.

John

[nightjar]

Somewhere, possibly in the manufacturer's information, I read that one unit covers both sides of the road.

[Mathew Newton]

The AdvancedGuard offering is for security; it's their Clearway product that's specifically used for stopped vehicle detection:

There's a graphical video showing it in action - the short of it is that it can detect a stopped vehicle in any lane, in any weather, within 10 seconds of occurrence.

Mathew

[Andrew]

Will it also detect "Insulate Britain" Crusties almost instantly too ? (Or cows/heifers/bullocks/horse/etc) ?

[Mathew Newton]

Apparently so!