Large Animal Activated Roadside Monitoring and Alert System

The objective of the project is to enhance road safety by developing and field testing a large animal activated roadside monitoring and alert (LAARMA) system for detecting large animals on roadsides and alerting motorists in advance.

The aim is to accurately detect multiple animal species within distances of 200 to 300 metres under various weather and light conditions.

Additionally, it seeks to evaluate the impact of advanced variable messages on driver behaviour, such as braking, speed profile changes, and lane departures. The project also emphasises the creation of open-source software for animal detection and identification.

By achieving these goals, the project aims to mitigate road accidents caused by animal-related hazards and promote safer driving environments.

Participants

• • Department of Transport and Main Roads (Queensland)
  • University of Sydney/ Australian Centre for Field Robotics
  • Queensland University of Technology/ CARRS-Q

Project background

The presence of large animals (specifically horses, deer, cassowaries, cattle) on roads and roadsides present road safety risks due to:

• Vehicle strikes of large animals
• Erratic driver responses to being startled by animals on the roadside and taking evasive action to avoid striking the animal.

Project objectives

The project objectives are to:

1. Accurately and reliably detect and identify a number of different animals on the roadside for distances of 200 to 300 metres in all weather conditions (including daytime, night-time, in the dry and in rain).
2. Evaluate changes in driver behaviour (road safety) in response to animals on roadside when drivers are provided advanced message of real-time hazard. That is:

• • detect change characteristics in driver behaviour (braking, speed profile change, lane departure);
  • measure magnitude of change in driver behaviour;
  • measure duration of the change in driver behaviour (from installation of warning system); and
  • if possible, evaluate which message wording is more effective.

3. Create open-source software for the detection and identification of animals on the roadside.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!