Editor TLN
The DGT has a plan to have everything connected: cars, roads and all those physical elements that have some relationship with both. This plan is DGT 3.0, a connected platform with real-time interaction between all those devices attached to it. In the near future, our car will be connected to this platform, and the plan is for traffic lights, V16 beacons and other elements to be connected as well.
The signaling cones They are a key element when it comes to delimiting areas in works, accidents or other emergency events on public roads. Connecting them to obtain real-time information on the state of the same was the next step. We have had a contact with him in the framework of MWC 2023. It makes more sense than it seems.
Yes, it is a cone, and it sends information in real time.
What you are seeing is all the hardware that mounts the connected cones that the DGT, PF Cone, will use. The cone itself is manufactured by Erum, a Spanish plastics company. But the important thing is the hardware that is mounted right on top. Here, for the moment, it is Vodafone that has closed the agreement to work together with the DGT.
The beacon that mounts the cone in its upper part is not only illuminated: it is capable of send the information to the DGT in real time via 5G connection. In this way, the General Directorate of Traffic can know, exactly, in which areas they have been located. The location data collected by the beacon is sent to the DGT 3.0 server, indicating the location of the cone.
The initial objective is that the DGT itself is the one that has proof of the areas with this type of signage, but in the future it is expected that the drivers will too. When DGT 3.0 is a system with complete integration in vehicles, we will be able to receive real-time alerts on those areas in which these devices have been signalled.
This hardware will go into production this year, although it will not be until 2026 when the full deployment of the DGT 3.0 platform is expected. The cones are just a sample of all the possibilities that exist for interconnecting road elements, and that everything turns towards a future in which the DGT will have more information than ever about them.
Image: Xataka
