Active collision-warning kit for road construction work zones
This system turns standard traffic cones into networked smart devices that continuously report their positions to a central base station, which uses that data to draw a virtual safety boundary around a road work zone. Workers wear connected devices that broadcast their real-time locations; if a worker or an approaching vehicle gets too close to that boundary, the system sends immediate alerts to the worker's wearable, to passing drivers, and directly to self-driving vehicles via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. All the data processing happens at the edge — on-site, without requiring a cloud round-trip — keeping latency low enough to matter in a fast-moving traffic environment. The system is essentially a real-time collision-avoidance layer for highway and road construction crews.
What you could build
A deployable hardware-and-software kit sold or rented to road construction contractors and state DOTs: smart cones, worker vests with embedded localization hardware, and a V2X base station that activates automatically when a crew sets up. Primary buyers are large highway contractors (e.g., Bechtel, AECOM infrastructure divisions) and state transportation agencies procuring through safety mandates.
Who in Virginia should care
VDOT and Virginia-based highway contractors operating on I-95 and I-81 corridors are direct potential customers; NOVA and Hampton Roads defense-adjacent tech firms with V2X experience are natural development partners.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Michael Mollenhauer, Jean Paul Talledo Vilela, Elizabeth White, Christopher A Cox, Nazila Roofigari-Esfahan, Sidhant Singhal
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed July 2, 2024
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20250069509A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.