A Wireless Sensor Network Approach to Signalized Left Turn Assist at Intersections

This paper presents one possible approach to Signalized Left Turn Assist at intersections. A sensing platform is designed to detect the presence of cars by measuring the deflection of the magnetic field when driving by. This platform is tested experimentally under different conditions. A threshold detection algorithm is designed to determine whether a car is passing in front of the sensor. The algorithm is first run off-board using a set of previously collected magnetometer measurements, before being implemented and run on-board the platform. We show how this detection algorithm performs better as the sensor is placed close to the traffic flow and we discuss how such sensors can be networked together to form a smart intersection.