RALEIGH โ€“ The N.C. Department of Transportation is continuing to research ways to use emerging drone technology to make highway travel safer.

Using drones could save time, money and improve safetyโ€‹

RALEIGH โ€“ The N.C. Department of Transportation is continuing to research ways to use emerging drone technology to make highway travel safer.

Last year, NCDOTโ€™s Division of Aviation and the N.C. State Highway Patrolย studiedย the use of drones for highway collision scene reconstructions, and found that they can save money and reduce the time a roadway must be closed during a reconstruction.

โ€œLast yearโ€™s study was groundbreaking,โ€ said Basil Yap, manager of NCDOTโ€™s UAS Program Office. โ€œWe found that not only does it save thousands of dollars, but using drones instead of traditional ground-based reconstruction techniques also cuts the time each reconstruction takes from almost two hours to less than half an hour.โ€

To follow up, the groups involved wanted to study using drones in low-light reconstructions, to see if it was possible and, if so, how much and what type of lighting needs to be brought to a scene.
A new study, conducted by RTI International and UNC Charlotte, found that it is possible to use drones in low-light collision scene reconstructions and still get useable, high-quality images.

โ€œProvided they use the right kind of equipment, drones are capable of producing high-quality collision reconstructions in darker settings,โ€ said RTI lead researcher Joe Eyerman. โ€œObviously, many collisions occur in less-than-perfect conditions, so knowing that the Highway Patrol can still use this technology is great news.โ€

The full text of the study by RTI and UNC-Charlotte can be found online. Joe Eyerman and others will be speaking about drone-based research happening in North Carolina at the N.C. Drone Summit in Greensboro at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Then at 10:30 a.m., the summit will feature the N.C. State Highway Patrol demonstrating using drones for collision reconstructions.

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