ETM Incursion Warning Radar System - Prototype Development

National Highways Traffic Officers when responding and dealing with incidents on the SRN often have to deploy temporary emergency traffic management (ETM) to create a ‘safety buffer zone’. This safety zone is crucial to the safety and well-being of operatives and road-users. Where ETM has been deployed, there has been reported incidents of breaches (i.e. incursions) by motorists that has resulted in near misses, injuries and in some cases the successful prosecution of motorists.

A prototype system owned by Race Technology Limited is to be trialled in a live environment to enable the development of both an algorithm to enhance software that predicts vehicle movements and for the further development of a radar and a handheld device so that the system operates as intended.

A direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 is permissible under Direct award for prototypes (Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5, para 2)

Direct award for prototypes (PA 23 Sched 5, para 2)

• ofor the production of a prototype, or supply of other novel goods or services, for the purpose of—
• (a)testing the suitability of the goods or services,
• (b)researching the viability of producing or supplying the goods or services at scale and developing them for that purpose, or
• (c)other research, experiment, study or development
• oDoesn’t have to be for the benefit of the public.

Further development is required of the prototype system to finesse the system based upon findings and feedback from on-road trials, specifically on parts of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), targeting tunnels and hard to access areas that could impede signal accuracy or require other algorithm refinements. These trials and the data acquired will be used to provide firmware, software and hardware updates to an existing prototype system.