R&D Update – February 2021

Superior Traffic Services focuses on Research and Development to ensure that it keeps up with the myriad new technologies that are bursting on the scene every day. At STS, we are constantly striving to update our designs to stay at the forefront of the portable-traffic-signal industry.

In the last quarter we have been hard at work testing an upgrade to the computer in our Light Con-troller boxes (often called LTCs). The new computer is a good deal faster than our current model, has more local storage, and will allow us to enhance our wireless capabilities at 2.4GHz. As if that’s not enough, the new computer will improve our timekeeping with a more accurate clock, one synchronized to the Atomic Clock at the U.S. Naval Observatory – even if we are operating in offline mode, disconnected from the internet.

We are also rolling out new firm-ware in our 900 MHz radios that will allow us to utilize low-powered repeater radios to extend the length of the work zones significantly. Another benefit of the new firmware is it will encrypt communications at the chip level, and as such the CPU will no longer need to use processing power to perform this critical task.

Future improvements include replacing the existing built-in cam-era model with its successor. Tests are under way right now to ensure that the new model provides the same features as the current model, and more!

The STS continuous-improvement process has our Light Controllers cycling through our depot facilities on a periodic basis, allowing us to upgrade the Light Controller box hardware in the process. This provides a high level of common functionality across our fleet, as well as extending the lifespan of the individual boxes. And of course, software upgrades can be rolled-out to controllers anywhere in the field as new features become available.