Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI)
Emergency traffic lights may start being flown into crisis situations to divert and stop traffic. The new technology, which uses a centrally controlled drone with a traffic light attached, will be used to rapidly manoeuvre traffic in situations where it can be difficult for police to get to the site, like during bad weather or current infrastructure malfunctions.
Speaking to Aletihad on Wednesday, Captain Saeed Mohammed Al-Rumaithi, Head of the Department of Innovative Practices at the Ministry of Interior’s Innovation Centre, said the traffic system was developed locally, and it would be part of a long line of innovations released by the centre.
“The traffic light will assist in regulating traffic signals when they malfunction using drones,” he said.
“We have many security and police innovations; we have a weapon cleaning device, digital twin technology, and other innovations. We also have the Smart K9, which is still considered a preliminary model and will be used for reconnaissance operations as well as detecting what types of smoke are present in a fire incident.
“There is also the Smart Scooter Patrol, this scooter features a device which sends a distress call to the nearest ambulance units in the geographical area that includes the geographic location of the incident that occurred in addition to the necessary medical data to allow for the rapid response of the ambulance units.”
The 3D-printed traffic signal drone boasts a 25-minute operational duration on a single charge, providing a temporary solution until police patrols arrive. The technology is still under trial and is pending final approvals before deployment.
