Rhythm Engineering Blog

Rhythm Engineering’s very own Sawyer Breslow was recently featured by Kansas City’s KSHB 41 News! Check out him discussing both the environmental and safety benefits of Rhythm’s In|Sync Adaptive Traffic Control System.

By: Charlie Keegan

A new traffic signal along Missouri Route 291 in Lee’s Summit will use artificial intelligence to make your drive more efficient.

The Missouri Department of Transportation activated the traffic light at 291 and Deerbrook Street on Tuesday. A traffic specialist with MoDOT said the amount of the traffic and recent crashes at the intersection led to the signal installation.

In 2009, MoDOT installed the In|Sync traffic synchronization system on 12 traffic signals along MO 291, specifically on the 2.5 miles between 1-470 and U.S. 50. Since Deerbrook Street is within that stretch, MoDOT needed to install the artificial intelligence system on this new light, as well.

The system uses cameras on traffic signal to analyze real-time data and adjust the timing of lights to best serve the current traffic situation.

“It’s not like a traditional signal where the main line is first, then the turns,” explained Alex Martinez, a MoDOT senior traffic studies specialist. “Here, it’s going to decide it’s easer for me to serve the left turn movement before I let everyone else through.”

By syncing all 13 currently-installed traffic signals, engineers believe drivers will save time and money, mainly by avoiding the stop-and-go of hitting multiple red lights during their commute.

You’re not stopping, you’re saving on gas money, reducing emissions to the environment, if you have a green thumb, and then the safety aspect,” said Sawyer Breslow of Rhythm Engineering, the Lenexa-based company that installed the In|Sync program. “You’re not having to come up and stop at the back of a long line of traffic and risk and accident.”

As part of this project, Rhythm upgraded the technology at the 12 traffic signals where it existed on MON 291. The upgrades, when paired with the new light at Deerbrook, cost the state $2.8 million.

MoDOT explained the traffic lights will also make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street. Work on the new traffic signal was delayed due to electricians from Kansas City traveling to Texas and Florida to help those states recover from hurricanes.

Fore more information please go to the KSHB 41 website.

By: Lance Kaminski & James Bley

Did you know that Rhythm Engineering recently introduced In|Traffic, our new traffic management software? In|Traffic replaces CentralSync for coordination configuration. Thus, In|Traffic offers a variety of new and exciting cutting edge features for your coordination configuration needs.

Some of these new features include:

• Configuration Management
• Configuration History
• Application Types & Services
• Device & License Management
• User Accounts, Roles, & Permissions
• Coordination & Time-Space Diagram
• Crossing Coordination, Reference Intersections, & Dynamic Period
• Validation

Let’s take a closer look at these various applications by comparing and contrasting In|Traffic versus our older CentralSync software.

Configuration Management: While CentralSync (CS) allowed for individual intersections to have their own configurations; configuration management became increasingly more difficult, particularly with scheduling.

With In|Traffic, all intersections that you intend to be coordinated are part of the same configuration. Individual intersections are not allowed to have their own configurations and still be part of the coordinated group.

Multiple Management Groups are supported with In|Traffic. The most typical case is that a Management Group contains one corridor. With In|Traffic, all of your corridors/management groups can be found in once place. With CS, you had to close down one corridor to view another.

Configuration History: CS was a configuration tool that worked similarly to a document editor. However, CS did not have the ability to undo/redo or to turn on tracked changes and see revision history.

With In|Traffic, you are able to see changes that have been made to configurations, devices that have been added and/or removed, etc. If you would like to go back to a prior version of the configurations in the Management Group, you can select a prior configuration change.

Application Types and Services: CS was a software application that you could install on your computer and it operated in a stand-alone format. A user would open their configuration file or pull from one of the In|Sync devices in the field, make their changes, and then push those changes back out the field. Other users could not see what changes were being made and there was not a central repository for configuration data, etc.

In|Traffic can be installed on any computer, as well. However, it’s real strength is being installed on a central server for multiple users to access. It contains an internal database for configuration and data storage, and it is accessed via a web interface using the latest modern browsers.

Because In|Traffic is installed on a central server, many users can access it simultaneously, and all can enjoy the benefits of seeing other user’s changes.

Device and License Management: In|Traffic is also used to manage your Rhythm Engineering products, something CS could not do. Using In|Traffic, you can see all of your products, from In|Sync, to In|Time, to In|Form, and all of their associated licenses. License management allows you to see what assets you have and where they are applied.

User Accounts, Roles, & Permissions: CS had no user accounts. Any user could use the software and make changes.

With In|Traffic, you can create a specific login for each of your users. In addition, you can restrict the permissions that each of your users is granted. If you’d like to prevent users from taking configuration changes to your In|Sync deployments but you still want to allow them to see the data analytics and run reports, you can do that.

Coordination & Time-Space Diagram: In CS, defining coordinated phases required the user to scroll through the map, zoom into the intersection, and select the phase icon. This was tedious and cumbersome.

In our In|Traffic software, defining coordination is simply a matter of selecting the phases at each intersection in the order of vehicle travel along the corridor.

The user is also able to set travel times and speed limits between intersections. The travel time is used to draw the tunnel as it progresses down the corridor, but the speed limit is used to draw an effective tunnel which represents how vehicles will travel down the corridor. This effective tunnel is something that was not present in CS.

Also, in In|Traffic, the user is able to interact with the time-space diagram view of the tunnel coordination in more ways than was possible with CS. By simply clicking and dragging on part of tunnel, the user is able to alter how the tunnel coordination is defined.

Validation: CS was a document editor, allowing you to configure everything in any which way you wanted. There were some basic checks, but the user was always required to double-check that their solutions wouldn’t result in bad behavior by the In|Sync system.

With In|Traffic, prior to synchronizing the configurations to the intersections, they are run through a validation routine. This validation routine performs the same process of solving the scheduled against the tunnel configuration and the configured sequences and vehicle/ped phases times as the In|Sync System itself. With this level of validation, the user can be sure that the configurations they’ve seen out to their intersections will run properly and that In|Sync will be capable of correctly running the intersection. This was a feature that CS was lacking.

The various features of the new In|Traffic software offer a plethora of features to optimize traffic management and coordination configuration. As such, Rhythm Engineering is proud and excited to unroll the In|Time software and we hope that you are excited, too!

By: James Bley

If you ask 10 different people what ICM is, you’ll get 10 different answers. ICM stands for Integrated Corridor Management.

A quick Google search takes us to the USDOT ITS website and tells us that the spirit of ICM is to integrate existing infrastructure along major corridors and manage the corridor as a multimodal system, making operational decisions for the benefit of the corridor as a whole. 

There are several Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) joint projects underway with proposed and deployed ICM Systems. At their core, the ICM systems contain configuration modules, execution verification, decision engines, simulation, data gathering, data fusion, data storage, system outputs, and public notifications. The idea is that data is constantly gathered and then the system simulates enacting pre-approved/pre-configured response plans and evaluates the effect of those plans. The recommendations are then provided to a system operator. In addition, the system is capable of providing information to variable message signs,  and other public information mediums.

In a nutshell, ICM is the ability for the corridor to take inputs for many different sources, from weather stations, to radar sensors, to bluetooth sensors, to social media, and use that information to recommend proposed changes to the operation of the corridor and surrounding parallel roadways or intersections. The proposed changes can then be simulated with the current traffic conditions and the result analyzed. Additionally, the system operator is able to propose a change and have it simulated and the results analyzed. Even if no change is made, the system is still capable of providing awareness of the traffic situation (travel times, accidents, congestion, etc.) to the public using various means.

For each project the goals are different, but most share common desirable objectives such as improving incident management, enabling intermodal travel decisions, increasing corridor throughput, and improving travel-time reliability.

With the latest release of In|Sync, we’ve implemented what we call ICM Triggers. Triggers allow for specific conditions at intersections to result in either implementing an entirely new configuration for any set of intersections in the Management Group, or having a single intersection omit phases based on the specific conditions at that intersection.

Currently, the conditions needed to start the triggered configuration or phase omit are cabinet-level input signals to In|Sync. ICM Triggers can be started either when the cabinet-level input signal is immediately received by In|Sync or after some configured duration, or they can be started after the cabinet-level signal has ended.

The ICM Trigger can be ended after some configured maximum run time, or after the cabinet-level input signal has been turned off for the specified amount of time.

Priority levels can be configured for any defined ICM Trigger, such that if multiple ICM Triggers have been started, only one will be in effect for each intersection. Additionally, to prevent rapid configuration changes at the intersection, ICM Triggers, once started, can be configured to run for a minimum amount of time.

Some examples of how the In|Sync ICM Triggers could be used:

• Coordinating a Southbound flush of traffic along a North-South corridor between 4 intersections of the 10 intersection corridor after a RR preemption event occurs. In this particular case, each intersection is configured to omit all but the Southbound phases after the end of the RR preemption signal. Each intersection can be configured to run this event for an increasing amount of time to allow for the traffic at the Northern-most intersection to clear the Southern-most intersection.
• Maintaining coordination while a parallel RR preemption event is occurring along the corridor. Each intersection is configured to omit the disallowed phases during the RR preemption event, while In|Sync maintains coordination along the corridor.
• Highway off-ramp flush. A set-back vehicle detection loop on the off-ramp is used as the cabinet-level input signal. If this loop is triggered for 30 sec. or more, it will cause the intersection to initiate a prioritization flush configuration for that ramp and coordinate clearance of that traffic through the next intersection.

These are only some of the more basic uses of the ICM Trigger capability in In|Sync, and we’re only scratching the surface, as the possibilities are endless.

Let us know how you might use ICM Triggers or what capabilities you’re looking to get out of your corridors and intersections that you can’t get currently. We’d love to hear how you’ve setup complex and innovative solutions to managing your more unexpected or inconvenient corridor events.

By: Justin Smith

As the evening sun dips over the horizon, Lady A Pavilion in Evans Towne Center Park hums with excitement. The ‘Rock Fore! Dough’ event has drawn visitors from far and wide. Seven-time Grammy award winning group, Lady Antebellum begins transmitting melodic tunes across the crowd. Onlookers sway back and forth to the trilling notes and pleasing harmonies. It’s a quintessential night teeming with Americana; however, not all is right as it seems. Elsewhere within Columbia County, citizens pray for patience, as they know in a few short hours, the enthusiastic fans will pour onto the roadways causing vast congestion. Nevertheless, what these citizens don’t know, is that there’s a method to help control the madness. Columbia County’s traffic has some help to run smoothly (concert or not) through In|Sync an adaptive traffic control system, crafted by Kansas-city based company Rhythm Engineering. Through traffic signal configuration, monitored performance, and adjustments needed in real-time to optimize traffic flow – the post-concert roads will be as smooth as a Lady Antebellum melody.

Rhythm Engineering’s flagship product, In|Sync, is a real-time adaptive traffic control system that enables traffic signals to immediately adapt to traffic demand. Communities using In|Sync save up to 27 tankers worth of fuel, 33 years of time waiting in traffic, and millions of pounds of harmful emissions that amounts to a total economic benefit of up to $8 million every year. In|Sync solution has been leveraged by more that 1,865 intersections in 128 cities in 31 states – for creating better, safer traffic for American motorists.

Adaptive Traffic Control for a Connected Future

It was the early 1900s when Ford’s Model T became affordable for the average American that the automobile industry transformed into a truly consumer-based revolution. Government agencies at the time faced a gauntlet of tasks – roads to accommodate these vehicles, rules and standards that would control their production and usage, and most importantly, signage and signalized infrastructure that would streamline and regularize traffic. Today, a century later, the future beholds connected vehicles – autonomous entities on the road – that communicate with other vehicles and traffic infrastructure. In a bid to help traffic agencies and engineers take a leap forward to a position where they can handle such immense changes, Rhythm Engineering provides innovative and affordable traffic solutions. Their adaptive traffic control signal system, In|Sync, enables traffic signals to immediately adapt to traffic demand.

The company was founded in a business incubator (Enterprise Center for Johnson County) in a one-room office where its flagship model, In|Sync was developed. Instead of developing incremental improvements to existing traffic control tools and methods, the In|Sync system is set-up to use computers to detect demand in real-time, and then make immediate adjustments in signalization. “Nearly all traffic control systems today use digital hardware but remain but remain constrained by analog thinking such as common cycle lengths, set sequences, fixed offsets and standardized allotment of green time, or splits,” comments Jesse J. Manning, Vice President of Business Development at Rhythm. “The In|Sync Processor is instead a modern-state machine that can dynamically choose which phases to serve and instantly adjust and coordinate service and green time.” The system applies a fundamentally different model with five patents for determining green allocations for movements and moving traffic through the corridor.

Traditional first-generation signal control cabinets are based on archaic binary principles that do not adapt to real-time changes in traffic demand caused by geometric constraints and rush hour fluctuations. Even in second generation systems that take in data from video, radar, and induction loop-based detection systems, responsive technologies rely on pre-programmed timing plans and require a certain amount of time to transmit to a central server which makes decisions based on previous cycles and sends out delayed instructions for dealing with current demand. With third-generation, real-time adaptive technologies, “we are able to make mid-cycle or even mid-sequence decisions based on changing patterns emerging in the traffic. We’re actually responding to how traffic demand looks in that second,” says Jesse. By adapting to actual traffic demand, In|Sync is superior to predetermined signal-timing plans that estimate traffic demands based on a small historical sampling and generalize those results across years of traffic signalization. In|Sync’s ability to constantly see and flexibly serve actual demand in the best way possible is what enables it to produce successful before-and-after results.

Putting ‘Rhythm’ in the Traffic Lights

The volume of vehicles waiting in the queue, the time that each has waited, and the priority of redirection are some of the data points that form the baseline for priority decisions made by In|Sync. As an overlay system, In|Sync’s hardware components plug into existing traffic cabinet hardware. The system is Ethernet and web-based, compatible with all modern controllers, cabinets, and detection devices and does not require removal or upgrade of any hardware or software. Installation of the In|Sync system consists of installing a processor, equipment panel and method to transmit detection calls (such as cabling or detector cards) in each cabinet. If the clients want to use In|Sync’s video detection, then installation also includes installing cameras for each approach. If existing detection methods are preferred, Rhythm Engineering will integrate the installed inputs with the adaptive system. Once cables are pulled from the camera locations to the traffic cabinet, installation of the cameras and in-cabinet hardware typically requires about four hours per intersection. After the hardware is installed, the initial configuration of the system is performed by the engineers at Rhythm Engineering. The time from an agency or contractor ordering the system to full operation is 90 days.

The results are published to traffic agencies via the software, In|Traffic, a web-based intuitive interface that uses a straightforward yet elegant graphical user interface to make the advanced traffic management software easy-to-use for engineers and technicians. In terms of its reporting capabilities, In|Traffic provides visibility into automated traffic signal performance measures that are becoming a norm for traffic agencies in the U.S., as well as other countries. Rather than just reporting the data, “In|Sync’s adaptive algorithms respond to data collection 24-hours-a-day, making a series of miniature alterations to best serve real-time demand,” adds Jesse. This capability went the extra mile in solving predicaments that the City of Farmington faced – varying traffic flows, geometries and distances between intersections, and the frustrating inability to time signals in a way that served bi-directional progression. Apart from building priority orders at each intersection, In|Sync offered the city the unique capability to provide an enriched motorist experience along its corridors.

Empowering Traffic Control

Rhythm is committed to leading the way with groundbreaking traffic signal control solutions that empower traffic professionals to get citizens to their destination safer and faster. The company stands distinct from other adaptive traffic control providers in the way they work: directly with municipal, county and state transportation agency clients through every step of the adaptive traffic control deployment process. Rhythm brings innovation and passion as they work at different levels of the deployment of their solution, from product conception and design to installation and support. It is no surprise that their technology has gained accolades from leading organizations throughout their illustrious journey.

Although Rhythm already addresses multiple use cases in traffic management today, Jesse envisions a future with a much bigger calling for the company’s solutions, “As we have more connected vehicles in the future, we can take in signals from those vehicles to serve as a check-and-balance on the present detection methods. Over a period of time, it will be cars themselves reporting their presence rather than inductance loops or cameras.” The roadmap ahead forks bi-directionally for the company. While they would continue striving to achieve enhanced motorist experiences using sophisticated technology, they also want to bring in an element of education to assist traffic engineers navigate the future.

By Jesse J. Manning, Vice President of Business Development

I’ve always been the kind of person who hates to do domestic chores – folding laundry, doing the dishes, and especially vacuuming the floor. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it’s because I believe there should be a better way of automating these time-consuming tasks while I work on better and more-interesting things. It’s not that I don’t know where the problems are. I can clearly see when the carpets are dirty or when the sink is full of dishes. I don’t have an issue gathering the data. I have an issue taking action to fix the problem – no time, no interest, and I’m just not that good at it.

Recently, we bought a Roomba at home. We’re quite a team, the Roomba and I. I’ve set it to vacuum the floors every other day at 1:00 pm, and if (through my powers of observation) I determine that the carpets need a little bit more attention, I take a few seconds to tweak the Roomba’s schedule or run it in a particular area. Together, we’ve managed to solve the problem of a dirty house. I collect data and adjust the Roomba to meet my needs, and the Roomba does the heavy lifting: the part I really don’t like to do.

Whether we know it or not, the Roomba Principle applies in so many areas of our everyday lives. In nearly every facet of life, tools have been developed to help us solve problems and free up our time to be more productive.

Given that basic reality, I’ve been somewhat surprised by a recent trend in the traffic industry that promotes investment in observation only. Over the last two years, tools that have been designed to automate data analysis and adjustment of traffic signal timing have been eclipsed by a demand for more and better data-collection systems. Don’t misunderstand: high-resolution data is an incredibly powerful ally in the traffic-signal optimization battle. With it, you can observe efficiencies and inefficiencies down to the smallest details and moments in time. Arrivals on red, arrivals on green, the delay of individual movements – all important data when it comes to better understanding how you can improve your signal timing. But data alone is a half-measure that does not provide the solution.

It’d be like observing my carpets with a microscope. If I collected data that showed 18 dirt particles per square inch within a two-and-a-half foot radius around the front door as compared to eight per square inch in front of the couch, I may know where I need to focus my cleaning efforts. But without my Roomba to follow up, I’m armed with a lot of really interesting yet useless data. My house guests would be less than impressed with reams of data about how dirty my floors are if I didn’t actually clean them.

Since becoming a part of the traffic industry, I’ve heard from hundreds of agencies about the lack of time, lack of staff and lack of resources when it comes to actually fixing signal timing challenges. Those challenges continue, and vendors in the traffic industry owe it to our agency partners to provide consulting, products, and services that matter and actually address their challenges. All the data in the world doesn’t make a corridor flow more efficiently. It won’t ease a frustrated motorist’s mind to know that you’ve got detail to the Nth degree on how poorly your signals are timed. An overabundance of information won’t reduce emissions or improve safety. Data in and of itself is a half-measure, and without the time / staff / resources to take action on the data, traffic industry vendors are doing a disservice to our agency partners by promoting the sizzle and forgetting the steak.

Data is important. We shouldn’t forget it. But we have an obligation to also provide you with the best tools in the industry to fix what the data shows is broken. Keep the solution in mind when deploying your next round of technology upgrades, because knowing your floors are dirty alone won’t solve the problem of cleaning them.

By Sawyer Breslow, Sales Engineer

One of my most memorable In|Sync deployments was also the first large scale project I implemented. In October 2014, I flew into the small town of Farmington, NM, about an hour from Four Corners Monument. Our plane was not much bigger than a Volkswagen Beetle. This particular corridor had been selected as a candidate for an In|Sync adaptive system due to its connection to the downtown district, regular traffic influxes from shopping in the eastern section, and heavy weekend traffic generated from nearby Indian reservations.

From an adaptive turn-on standpoint, it went about as smooth as getting through airport security. With the corridor consisting of 11 intersections, me being a bit of a greenhorn and the client only having one technician, the process to free up controllers and turn them adaptive went slower than planned. On our first day of deployment, after about a quarter of the intersections were in adaptive, we broke for lunch at an old-school diner. I had bacon and eggs and we talked about fly fishing – a popular hobby along the San Juan River – and the technician’s interests in rideable miniature model trains.

We were about to get back to it when the skies opened up and it started to pour. This tends to cause a problem with traffic signal cabinets as they consist of mostly electronic components. Luckily the technician had a pop-up tent and we worked undercover for the rest of the deployment. When 4:00 p.m. rolled around, I expected the tech to check-out, mainly because he’d been working since 6:00 a.m. Knowing the importance of the project and being excited for the outcome, the tech opted to stay on until the job was done. So we worked until 8:30 p.m., way past what a normal deployment takes, to finalize the adaptive turn on.

Fast-forward to post deployment when the project is up and running and in support mode.The technician would occasionally call or send an email for support. He always ended each call or email with a show of appreciation for our guidance and for the impact In|Sync had in his community. He’s become a super-fan of In|Sync and witnessed first-hand the dramatic improvement in his corridor, to the point that citizens and city workers call-in to say how easy and stress-free their commutes are.

Ultimately, the working relationship we have with Farmington is what we strive for with all our clients at Rhythm Engineering. When clients experience the benefits first-hand and witness the positive impact In|Sync has on their community, we feel we’ve not just met their expectations, but surpassed them.

To see a third party study on the E. Main St. Corridor in Farmington, NM, navigate to this link and select the independent study by AECOM (Farmington, NM). https://rhythmtraffic.com/resources/library/

Knowing when issues arise at your intersections is an important element in keeping traffic flowing at all times. Our goal in developing In|Sync’s first alarm notification system was to alert our partners of any issues going on at their intersections so they can be corrected quickly.

But we failed to realize two important facts – not all alarms are alike and too many alarms can result in alarm fatigue. Alarm fatigue is a sensory overload where a person is exposed to an excessive number of alarms. It can lead to longer response times, or in the case of the short story “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” it can lead to ignored life-threatening events. The Cry Wolf syndrome was leading to our partners ignoring all alarms or turning off notifications altogether.

So we analyzed our current alarm notifications and removed ones that did not require corrective action. We also added new notifications that do require corrective action, such as a traffic light not responding. We then prioritized each alarm condition based on the impact the condition would have on the operation of In|Sync at the intersection.

Based on this priority, we designed an alarm recurrence frequency that was custom for each alarm type. For instance, selecting a recurring alarm for minor issues such as stuck ped detectors results in receiving a notification upon the detection of the stuck ped detector, twelve hours after the stuck ped detector was flagged and every 24 hours after until the ped issue is resolved. However, an intersection in flash alarm is a condition that needs immediate attention, so the recurrence level set on this alarm type is:

● Once the alarm is detected
● 15 min later
● 1 hour later
● 2 hours later
● 4 hours later
● 8 hours later
● 12 hours later
● 24 hours later, and ongoing at 24 hours until the alarm is resolved

We also recognized that there were users in the system that just wanted to be alerted of an alarm at the start of the condition and once the condition was resolved. For these type of users, we added the non-recurring alarm option.

Through eliminating unnecessary or confusing alarm notifications and defining a smarter recurring frequency notification system based on severity, In|Sync now ensures that our partners will receive the appropriate alerts at the right frequency.