An intelligent Fribourg network based on LoRa technology to manage traffic

This project, the first stage of which was the semester work of a telecom student, aims to develop new services based on LoRa technology for the Bulle and Fribourg conurbations, which are facing new challenges due to their strong demographic development. In response, three HEIA-FR institutes (iSIS, Energy and iCoSys) are working with a consortium of eight private and public companies.

Innovation has now turned to the creation of new services based on the latest Internet of Things communication technologies, where the data obtained are used to automate management systems and inform remote users. LoRa (Long Range) - already tested in the city of Sierre during a previous NPR project (LPWAN-VPN) - seems to be the ideal technology to collect key information of a city. Indeed, it allows the collection of information within a perimeter of several kilometers, with low power and moderate energy consumption, and without the need for a license.

In Fribourg and Bulle, as part of this project, smart cameras will be installed at strategic locations to measure traffic intensity: the number of vehicles per minute, the type of vehicle, their speed and the distance between vehicles. This anonymized data will be transmitted, via LoRa, to a central platform for data storage and real-time traffic status display. Analyses can thus be undertaken on a geographical and historical level: at what time and at what crossroads do traffic jams form and what is the congestion on the alternative routes at that time?

With the aim of making road traffic “smarter” in order to improve the quality of life in cities, other sensors will be used to measure air and noise pollution in order to discover the existence or non-existence of correlations between these data and road traffic. The impact of traffic peaks on air and noise pollution can thus be established.