Traffic Signal Head Battery Backup for Flashing Red Outages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traffic signal systems fail to maintain operation during power outages, leading to dark intersections and increased accident risk due to lack of power backup, particularly vulnerable to copper theft and localized power cuts.
Innovation Solution
An emergency battery backup system is integrated into the signal head of a traffic signal, utilizing a control board to direct DC power from a battery to a flashing red light during AC power loss, with solar charging for extended operation, and separate AC/DC connections for lights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a battery backup is located in a control cabinet serving an entire intersection, then the system provides centralized power backup, but a single cut or theft results in the entire intersection being deprived of power
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized battery backup system into distributed individual battery backups, with each traffic signal head containing its own battery. This segmentation ensures that a cut or theft at one location only affects that specific signal head, not the entire intersection, thereby maintaining reliability while reducing vulnerability to localized harmful factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local power backup by placing batteries at individual signal heads rather than using a centralized approach. Each signal head has its own battery with sufficient capacity to maintain operation for a specified period, providing localized protection against power disruptions and copper theft.
2Device complexity
If a battery backup is located in a control cabinet, then the system structure is simplified, but the entire intersection goes dark when power wires are damaged or stolen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the power backup system by placing individual batteries at each traffic signal head, increasing structural complexity locally but ensuring that each signal operates independently. This segmentation prevents a single point of failure from affecting the entire intersection, thereby improving reliability despite increased device complexity.
3Reliability
If the battery backup is located in a signal head, then localized power cuts do not result in total failure, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by equipping each traffic signal head with its own battery backup system, ensuring that each signal operates independently during power outages. This localized approach increases reliability by preventing total intersection failure, while the modular design manages the complexity through standardized components at each signal head.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures traffic signals remain illuminated in a flashing mode, alerting drivers to potential issues, reducing accidents, and maintaining functionality despite power cuts or theft, with self-sustaining capability through renewable energy.
Implementation Method 1
a battery backup in a signal head of the traffic signal
Implementation Method 2
able to maintain itself in a charged state with renewable energy such as solar
Data Source
AI summary
An emergency battery backup system for a traffic signal has a control board operably connected to a battery, wherein the control board includes a DC input terminal that is operably connected to the battery for receiving DC power from the battery, and a DC output terminal that is operably connected to a red light of the traffic signal. The control board further includes AC input terminals for receiving AC power, and AC output terminals that are operably connected to the red light, and to a yellow light and a green light of the traffic signal. The control board directs DC power from the DC input in the event of a loss of AC power, so that the red LED goes into a flash mode to alert drivers that the traffic signal head is out.