Robocop

The ultimate speed trap is just around the bend and the next bend and the next bend. An Israeli engineer has designed a system that not only provides an accurate, around-the-clock surveillance of all traffic, but even issues tickets automatically without bending the law for anyone.

The TELEM system developed by Tracon Systems Ltd. is based on two sensors embedded in the road about a meter apart and linked to a computer. The speed of vehicles driving over these lines is measured over every axle, enabling calculation of both speed and velocity - a vital parameter in law enforcement.

Dr. Shimon Cohen-Sivan, the engineer-turned-entrepreneur who conceived the device, explains that with this data it is possible not only to calculate the speed of all passing vehicles, but also nab "tailgaters" traveling too close to the car ahead of them. In Israel, failure to maintain safe distance is responsible for three times more fatal accidents than speeding. Furthermore, when programmed and deployed slightly differently, the system will be able to monitor a host of other moving violations.

Monitoring the behavior of every single passing car, the computer can automatically activate a video camera that will record the license plate of all drivers who break the law. Moreover, there is no film to collect; digital images are beamed directly to Police Headquarters.

Dr. Cohen-Sivan revealed that the idea of using the difference between two points on the road a foolproof method that carries none of the weaknesses of laser guns which in some instances have been challenged in court as inaccurate due to faulty operation - came to him while studying at MIT near Boston. "I was traveling down a main highway made of poured concrete slabs. I heard the "click-click" as the tires went over the interface between the slabs. It occurred to me this must have an application," he said. "Later, something clicked'."

The TELEM system is already up-and-running in a "road test" by police on a stretch of highway between the northern towns of Haifa and Yokne'am. Officials in the police force point out that at present the law requires that a policeman examine every offense before a ticket is issued.

"But with technology such as ours," stresses Cohen-Sivan, "this could be changed." TELEM is capable of automatically writing a ticket and sending it to the offender within ten seconds of the offense: remote control, but on the spot.

Work on the project began in early 1997 at the Technion Entrepreneurial Incubator a framework that operates in association with The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Funded by the government, the incubator provides initial seed capital and guidance for entrepreneurs to develop promising ideas into actual products. Within a year, a $1m investment in research and development lead to TELEM's first prototype.

While the model now under commercial production only evaluates speed and distance between vehicles, the new technology is much more versatile. Future models will cover moving violations such as passing in a no-passing zone, driving on the shoulder to bypass traffic jams, and running stop signs.

But won't drivers simply learn where the speed traps are located and be careful to "tow the line" in those areas? Not necessarily. Roads can be equipped with groups of sensors of which only certain ones are activated, as is currently the case with surveillance cameras stationed at intersections. In short, drivers will never know exactly where they may get ticketed. Moreover, the universal nature of monitoring - checking every single car and taking the pictures of all offenders provides a highly effective system for enforcing traffic laws in sensitive areas like school zones.

Mass production and marketing of the system is being undertaken by Tadiran one of Israel's leading electronics firms - and negotiations with tens of law enforcement agencies in North and South America, Europe and Eastern Asia have already commenced.