Contact: David Baldwin 608-237-1780
Madison, Wisconsin – Central Signal, LLC, a Madison-based company, co-founded by David Baldwin and Masood Akhtar announced today that it has been awarded a $700,000 SBIR Phase II grant entitled “Cost Effective, Power Efficient, Wireless Sensor Network Based Highway Incident Detection & Warning System” from the United States Department of Transportation.
Wisconsin Interstate highways are an essential corridor between the major metropolitan areas of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota , Milwaukee , Wisconsin and Chicago , Illinois . The significant traffic volumes at interstate speeds all too often lead to incidents that result in injuries and loss of life. These incidents are often attributable to failure of driver judgment. These failures are often aggravated by weather conditions that may rapidly reduce the safe operating speed of the roadway and dramatically increase highway incidents. Small events become major incidents because drivers approaching the event are unaware of the problem ahead. A cost effective, easily deployable system, that could deliver timely and meaningful warning to drivers that they are approaching a roadway incident will save lives and reduce human suffering and economic losses.
This funded research will result in an innovative, cost effective and reliable solution that will enable the transportation authorities to install quick highway incident detection and warning systems, saving human lives, reducing injuries and eliminating billions of dollars worth of time and fuel lost in traffic congestion. The resulting technology will improve and enhance design solutions now available to transportation engineers in every area of transportation industry. “Such a system will increase highway safety, save lives, reduce injuries and conserve wasted resources, which will not only benefit the State of Wisconsin but the rest of the nation,” Governor Jim Doyle said. “I congratulate Central Signal for the innovative research and development that earned this federal grant. Central Signal’s work will not only save lives, but will create high-paying jobs and boost our economy,” said Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (WI-02).
Central Signal, LLC (http://www.centralsig.com), a Madison-based company formed in 2002, is a successful small business that provides conventional railroad signal services and is actively involved in research and development of intelligent transportation solutions. Central Signal’s unique development approach evaluates novel applications of new technologies to the design of vital transportation systems in conformance with federal and state standards and regulations.
