How Chattanooga is building largest smart intersection in US

City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, plans to utilise $4.5m in federal funds to deliver 86 new smart intersections, thought to be the largest urban IoT deployment of its kind in the US.

The landmark project to optimise traffic systems and evolve roadways for electric vehicles will see the Chattanooga Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance, and researchers at the Centre of Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP) expand their partnership with Seoul Robotics.

Living laboratory

The US Department of Transportation will fund the $4.5m endeavour to create a living laboratory that will provide researchers mapping, tracking, and identification insights into the state of mobility in the city.

Intersections will be installed throughout 2023 and 2024, and once finalised, the city of Chattanooga will capture more than 100 intersections total, covering the entire downtown area. This project will expand the efforts of the partnership’s MLK Smart Corridor, a proprietary testbed first deployed in 2019.

The system leverages lidar sensors equipped with Seoul Robotics’ 3D perception software, Sensr, which uses deep learning AI with dynamic weather-filtering capabilities to anonymously detect, track and predict the movement of pedestrians and vehicles, regardless of weather conditions.

“We’re generating a real world, data-informed testing environment for emissions management, pedestrian safety, electric vehicles and more”

Through highly accurate, real-time data, Seoul Robotics claims the system is able to identify potential incidents such as accidents and wrong-way driving, as well as better understand traffic flow and the interactions between pedestrians and vehicles.

“Our partnership with Seoul Robotics on the MLK Smart Corridor delivered an entirely new dimension of insights beyond what we anticipated. The level of accuracy and actionability has enabled numerous advancements in how we can make our city safer, more efficient, and healthier for the people who live here,” said Dr Mina Sartipi, founding director of the CUIP at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“By expanding the project footprint, we will not only position Chattanooga as a pioneer of smart city technology, but also create a blueprint for other cities around the US to leverage the transformative capabilities of 3D systems.”