Category: News 2018

In June 2017 Smart Video & Sensing Ltd gained SIL2 accreditation from Det Norske Veritas (DNV-GL) for a project to fully automate the operation of Sandfield Bridge on the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal. The system has completed a full season of automatic operation without failure and the Canal & River Trust staff are evaluating feedback on the effectiveness of the project and will decide if the cost benefits and operational efficiencies initially identified have, in fact, been realised. This evaluation will influence the decision to rollout automation to a further 14 bridges on the canal. The Sandfield Bridge operates on average 4,500 times during the 7 month season but at busy weekends during the holiday period can operate up to 80 times in a day. Manual operation of the swing bridge restricted daily opening hours; closed 2 days a week in winter which created a major frustration to boaters and limited the economic potential of canal businesses. The objective of the project undertaken by SVS on behalf of the Canal & River Trust (C&RT) was to convert the bridge to full remote control operation. The ITS system design incorporated traffic signals, barriers, laser scanners, CCTV, intercom, VoIP, help points and the development of an app from a boater’s smart device to local WiFi to automatically trigger the opening of the bridge. Barriers and traffic signals on either end of the bridge control vehicular and pedestrian traffic light signals on the toll path bridge approaches control approaching waterway traffic. SVS worked with C&RT to integrate a smart device app which would operate with local Wifi installed in the bridge vicinity therefore removing the necessity for a mobile phone signal.  A boater sends request from up to 400m away via app to open bridge which triggers a preset safety-linked sequence to open the bridge. Boat owners cannot intervene or leave bridge open. They also receive instant updates of bridge status e.g. held closed for road priority, emergency services, strong winds etc. There is also a ‘remote operator system’ installed in a bridge control centre which allows manual operation by C&RT personnel who have full CCTV visibility at the bridge if a boater makes contact by radio or intercom. What are the perceived benefits? Improved overall management of canal traffic and bridge openings with anoverview from the new Bridge Control Centre, CCTV and communications Significant cost savings of £500,000 which can be spent on improvements to the canals Extended navigation hours will boost canal businesses and the local economy Improved road safety and traffic control Control centre provides a new single point of contact for highways, emergency services, road and canal users Faster bridge openings at 5 bridges which will also be upgraded: Sellars, Rea, Spla tt, Cambridge Arms and Hempsted Bridges. Instant detection and diagnosis of most faults CCTV records 24/7 Increases surveillance and security around bridges and roads.      

Smart Video and Sensing are proud to have stepped in to financially assist the disabled daughter of a former employee with her sporting ambitions. Maddie (14) who has spina bifida is the daughter of our former engineer Rob Martin and is confined to a wheelchair. She took up the sport of wheelchair basketball only three years ago. During this time she has so impressed the national and international governing bodies within her sport that, in 2017 she was invited to train with the Team GB squad leading to her subsequent selection this year to represent the Team GB Womens Wheelchair Basketball squads at under 24 & under 25 level. In November Maddie won her first ever Team GB international gold medal at the 2018 under 24 European Championships held in Bordeaux, France. The team won all 5 of their games at the Championships with Maddie playing a very impressive, mature and pivotal role in all 5 games. She has also been selected and represented England South at this years School Games and has won gold for the past 2 years for the South East Region at the UK Regional Championships. Maddie was the only female in the squad and her performances were lauded by all as ‘impressive and pivotal’. Maddie has recently been tipped by experts within the sport, as a potential ‘star of the future’. Excitingly Team GB have set their sights on her as a potential selection at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020. Peter Eccleson, Managing Director of Smart Video & Sensing commented ” Rob’s dedication to Maddie’s sporting ambitions is commendable. It is an honour for us to help Maddie with sponsorship and we are following her achievements in wheelchair basketball with great interest. She is certainly a star of the future and a future Olympian in the making for 2020.” As she has now reached the age of 14, and in addition to all her GB requirements and commitments, she now qualifies and plays in the National League (Div. 1 & Div. 2) and Women’s League (Div. 1 & Div. 2) as well as Junior League and Regional League. This commitment to her sport result in a tremendous cost in terms of her travel and accommodation for attending the numerous training sessions, league games and competitions up and down the country. There’s not a great deal of financial support and funding available for young Paralympians so we at SVS stepped in to help. Her father, Rob is her greatest support and accompanies her to all training and games. He makes an impassioned plea for financial support for Maddie to achieve the level of success that she is clearly capable of. Follow the link below to view Maddie’s profile on the Team GB website: https://www.britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/gb-teams/gb-players/gb-u24-women/#2 If, like us you can help Maddie out with the sponsorship/funding that she needs going forward then please contact Rob directly on 07885 655398 or email: robmartin2007@sky.com Alternatively, if you can make a donation then please visit Maddie’s GoFundMe site by clicking the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/maddies-gb-Paralympic-dream To find out more about wheelchair basketball visit www.gbwba.org.uk

Smart Video & Sensing have completed a major ITS project in Blackpool working with Blackpool Council and Swarco Traffic. Designed to keep traffic flowing freely within the town especially during the busy hoSVS have installed 27 ‘Bliptrack’ bluetooth units at strategic traffic locations throughout Blackpool along with 19 CCTV cameras. The installation compliments a Swarco parking guidance and driver information system. The bluetooth units provide journey time information on major routes to the council’s highways department and the CCTV is linked in to a public facing website providing video images of traffic flows on the various routes in the town. All of the CCTV cameras are housed in protective stainless steel enclosures to counter the effects of the salty atmosphere in the seaside town.

Smart Video & Sensing hosted the Autumn UK Roads Tunnel Operators Forum at Jurys waterfront, Brighton. The Forum, held at Jurys Waterfront Hotel in Brighton on 6th/7th November was attended by 125 delegates.  There were 15 very varied presentations given over the period from the implementation of the new Highways England Tunnel Management System through to Tunnel LED safety lighting. This full and varied series of presentations was supplemented by a Forum Dinner which culminated in a very entertaining and motivational after dinner speaker who was none other than Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards who represented great Britain in the 1988 Winter Olympics at Ski Jumping. In addition to the Forum there were exhibition stands and a Technical Tour to the Highways England National Tunnel Testbed at Southwick Hill tunnel. Some 30 delegates visited the testbed after the main Forum was closed. There was no confirmation of a venue for the usual Spring Forum which should take place in April 2019.

Smart Video & Sensing have moved to our new premises in Horndean, Hampshire.   Situated just off the A3(M), the offices on the Highcroft Industrial Estate provide SVS with more practical workshop and office facilities than our previous location. New Starters We also welcome two new members of staff to the team as well as the new premises. Danny Letts joins us from Portsmouth University as a Graduate Engineer. Danny has a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Computing and will work under supervision of our Operations Manager, Mark Ramus. Also joining us in the role of Office Administrator & Finance Assistant is David Ruis-Mateos who has recently relocated to this area having previously worked for West Sussex Council. David is a bi-lingual English/Spanish and will be a valuable asset to our team. We welcome both new starters to the team and wish them well for the future.

Smart Video & Sensing Limited are delighted to have been selected to host the next Road Tunnel Association (RTA) bi-annual “Tunnel Operators Forum” on November 6th/7th in the City of Brighton & Hove. Closing the April meeting in Cwmbran Wales, Russell Davies of Costain (pictured) who sponsored the April conference announced SVS as sponsors of the November Forum and invited delegates to the City of Brighton & Hove in November. The Forum will host the meeting of the Roads Tunnel Association as well as providing a conference, exhibition and networking opportunity for a number of delegates from across the industry. The Forum also provide delegates with an opportunity to view some of the latest technological developments in the exhibition which supports the conference. Manufacturers and suppliers have an opportunity to demonstrate their technology and talk with tunnel operators over the two day event. Contact SVS for further details.

SVS Ltd are pleased to announce that we have successfully transitioned from ISO9001:2008 to ISO9001:2015 underpinning our company’s commitment to maintaining our ethos for quality.

Come and meet the team from Smart Video & Sensing at the Tunnel Operators Forum in Cwmbran, Wales on Tuesday 17th April and Wednesday 18th April 2018. Smart Video & Sensing Ltd manage and operate Highways England’s tunnel detection test-bed installed in the Southwick Tunnel on the A27 in Sussex. We welcome discussions with manufacturers who would like to put equipment forward for evaluation in the tunnel testbed in our forthcoming evaluation phases.

Smart Video & Sensing Ltd, SVS, a leading value-added reseller in the transport sector have today announced a new partnership in the UK and Ireland with GIFAS ELECTRIC of Rheineck, Switzerland.   GIFAS was founded in 1978, and is a member of the GIFAS Group with other affiliates in Germany, Austria, France and Italy. Gifas-Electric are manufacturers and distributors of electro-technical equipment (e.g. power distribution boxes, underfloor distribution systems, LED technical lights, electromechanical bollards etc.). They first went to market over 50 years ago with their innovative junction boxes and housings made from a special butyl‐rubber mix. Gifas products are widely acclaimed and used within many industries including highways, rail, waterways, construction, power, military and other emergency service industries. Another important product sector is the optical guidance systems for road tunnels, where GIFAS are market leaders in Switzerland (more than 20,000 installed LED road marker units in over 80 tunnels). Yves Roediger, CEO of Gifas-Electric in Switzerland said “In SVS we believe that we have selected a dependable, sustainable partner. This relationship will play an important role in the success of our company. Both of our organisations’ share a view that our customers are the focus of our entire businesses. The strategic relationship with SVS in the UK and Ireland allows us to bring innovation and creativity to these markets. Peter Eccleson, Managing Director of SVS commented “The agreement with GIFAS is exciting and extends the SVS product range with unique high quality electrical products for our markets and reflects our commitment to broadening our capabilities to provide both our existing and new customers with the most advanced solutions and expertise.”