Bilbao Port Authority has asked TST to design and develop a wireless remote control system to manage 13 traffic lights at train level crossings in Bilbao’s harbor.

Many traffic lights that regulate the traffic along the level crossings of goods trains within the harbor area are mobile traffic lights that have a rechargeable battery with a solar panel, i.e. no wires reach the traffic light. For this reason the system to manage them must be a wireless system. The system must be robust and reliable against electromagnetic noise and interferences to meet the range and availability demands. Quite often the Harbor Police jams the frequency bands for security reasons. Furthermore the area to cover with the wireless system is quite extense, since the traffic light most far away from the access point connected to the harbor’s intranet is approx. 900 meters away without line-of-sight.

TST has developed for Bilbao’s Port Authority a wireless remote control system based on its TSmarT platform and using ZigBee technology. According to the remote commands that are received from the control room via the web interface, the relays that control the traffic light are switched on and off. In order to facilitate mobile operations, the system can be also managed by remote controls developed also by TST. Usually train convoys are escorted by the harbor police. When the convoy is about to reach the crossing level, policemen can activate the traffic light or group of traffic lights with the remote control directly from the car.