We are sorry that Intertraffic has been postponed again for another year, but we understand and support the decision of the organisers, based on the travel disruption created by the coronavirus outbreak.  While we regret that we will miss the opportunity to showcase our solutions and meet with contacts old and new in Amsterdam next month, we are very much open for business and we look forward to talking to our customers about their ITS requirements in the coming weeks and months, and to meeting face-to-face again soon.

Please see Intertraffic’s recent press release for  further details

AGD normally attend the Highways UK show at the NEC each year but this year is slightly different and the event has gone virtual. We’re really looking forward to ‘attending’ and catching as much of the packed schedule as we can, as well as speaking to lots of attendees about the capabilities of our AGD 343 Highways Radar between November 2^nd and 6^th. Links to book your tickets, can be found by clicking here: https://bit.ly/30KaQQK

For information surrounding the current Covid 19 pandemic, and how AGD Systems Ltd are equipping themselves to ensure business continuity whilst supporting our customers, please see the latest update from our MD, Pete Hutchinson.

AGD COVID-19 Announcement

We are sorry that Intertraffic has been postponed to next year, but we understand and support the decision of the organisers, based on the travel disruption created by the coronavirus outbreak.  While we regret that we will miss the opportunity to showcase our solutions and meet with contacts old and new in Amsterdam next month, we are very much open for business and we look forward to talking to our customers about their ITS requirements in the coming weeks and months, and to meeting face-to-face again soon.

There are 350,000 people on the registers of blind and partially sighted people in the UK, but it’s estimated that nearly two million (or one person in thirty) have a sight problem which seriously impacts their daily life.

Road safety is an issue for all of us, but it is a particular challenge for people who are blind or sight-impaired. And while almost every pedestrian crossing has some special technology that can help those who need it, not every sight-impaired person knows it’s there or how to use it.

AGD Systems is one of the main suppliers of pedestrian crossing signal equipment in the UK and, through its subsidiary Radix, is the largest manufacturer of ‘rotating cone’ technology that assists sight-impaired pedestrians at signalised crossings. The tactile indicator, when fitted to the familiar nearside crossing signals, allows a blind or sight-impaired person to hold a cone which protrudes from the signal. When it is safe to cross, the cone starts rotating as the green man appears.

Around 200,000 of these tactile cones are operating on the UK’s crossings and junctions, and AGD works closely with charities and local authorities to help ensure that users are made aware of this equipment and how to use it. AGD recently attended an event hosted by the East of England branch of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in Ipswich, where delegates learnt about this tactile solution and got the chance to try it for themselves.

AGD, which donated one of its crossing units to RNIB for future training and awareness sessions, also wanted to seek users’ opinions on a different style of cone that it believes will be particularly helpful in cold weather, when gloves will almost certainly be worn, and for sight-impaired people who can suffer from loss of sensitivity in their fingers. This option, known as ‘Cone B’, has a different spline shape and feel to the current ‘Cone A’ style, and makes more of an impression on the fingertips when it rotates.

Of the ten volunteers who participated in the comparison, only one had ever used rotating tactile cones at a crossing before, but all were impressed with the facility and most said it was easier to feel ‘Cone B’ through gloves than ‘Cone A’.

Bernie Reddington, RNIB Confidence Building Co-ordinator for the East of England, who delivered the course, said: “Frequently we come across people with significant sight loss who have never been told about the tactile cones, which are a very quick-win way of helping them stay safe while crossing the road. We were happy to help AGD in their research on how tactile cones can help people with diabetic neuropathy, which can impair the feeling in their fingertips, and of course anyone who might be trying to use it while wearing gloves in cold weather. We were very grateful for the donation of a working AGD pedestrian signal fitted with both types of cone, which will be really useful for our courses aimed at reducing the barriers to sight-impaired people getting out and about safely.”

Our latest range of traffic and pedestrian control detectors to include the 306, 326 and 641 series now have the added benefit of quick reference cards which will be included inside our product boxes over the next few months.  Customers can now  point their smart phone app at the QR code for instant access to the online product manual for easy setup and application information. For more information and help please contact our technical support team, T: +44 1452 557404, E: [email protected]

AGD Systems, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of ITS product solutions, will exhibit at this year’s Highways UK, 6-7 November at the NEC, Birmingham.

Highways UK is the flagship event for and about roads for a modern and connected Britain.  It brings together the people involved in planning, designing, operating and future-proofing urban and strategic road networks.

AGD will present its new 343 Highways Monitoring Radar at the event. Developed using the company’s experience and expertise in designing radars for highway speed enforcement, the AGD 343 is an easy-to-integrate traffic flow monitoring solution that provides real-time data on multi-lane highways.

The 343 can be mounted as close as 2m from inner edge of the inside lane of the carriageway and will still provide information for the lane immediately below the radar, as well as the lane on the farthest point of the carriageway – looking across both carriageways to detect vehicle travel in approaching and receding directions. It can be used almost anywhere for better-informed decision-making and optimised traffic flows and combines well with AGD’s enforcement solutions to offer a full product suite for UK smart motorways as well as international highways.

AGD will also showcase its WiFi-enabled, IP-capable 645 Pedestrian Detector – now with 10m x 3m detection zone, and the non-intrusive, loop-replacing 318 Traffic Control Radar. The 645 now has volumetric capability as part of the standard build, which allows monitoring of the level of pedestrian occupancy in the wait zone for safer, smarter pedestrian crossings. The 318 includes an important new function: the ability to detect stationary or queuing traffic. This, together with WiFi AGD Touch-setup technology and an enhanced user setup GUI, will facilitate MOVA installations and other strategic applications.

Ian Hind, AGD’s commercial director, says: “We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest from customers in the UK and overseas in the 343 Highways Monitoring Radar. Units are actively deployed in Australia, Thailand and Malaysia where live radar traffic data is enabling real-time decision-making on the highways to improve traffic flows. Customers really like the ease of 343 radar setup using the AGD Align tool to ensure optimum performance for challenging multi-lane highway environments. The MCH UK approval is proceeding as planned and we anticipate volume deployment on the smart motorway network during 2020.”

He continued: “Our highly successful 645 Pedestrian Detector and 318 Traffic Control Radar have been deployed in hundreds of installations – both together and separately, and customers have told us how much they appreciate the ease, convenience and safety offered by WiFi AGD Touch-setup across the whole range.”

Leading manufacturer of ITS product solutions AGD Systems will exhibit at this year’s ITS World Congress, 21-25 October, at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The 26^th Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress is themed ‘Smart Mobility, Empowering Cities’, with more than 300 exhibitors taking part and over 10,000 delegates expected.

AGD Systems Pty will showcase two of its most successful product solutions at the event – the AGD 645 Pedestrian Detector, now with 10m x 3m detection zone, and the AGD 318 Traffic Control Radar.

The WiFi-enabled, IP-capable 645 Pedestrian Detector now has volumetric capability as part of the standard build, which allows monitoring of the level of pedestrian occupancy in the wait zone for safer, smarter pedestrian crossings. There is also new functionality for the non-intrusive, loop-replacing AGD 318 Traffic Control Radar, which now has the ability to detect stationary or queuing traffic. This, together with WiFi AGD Touch-setup technology and an enhanced user setup GUI, will facilitate a wide range of strategic applications.

AGD will also present its new 343 Highways Monitoring Radar at the show. Developed using the company’s experience and expertise in designing radars for highway speed enforcement, the AGD 343 is an easy-to-integrate traffic flow monitoring solution that provides real-time data on multi-lane highways.

The 343 can be mounted as close as 2m from inner edge of the inside lane of the carriageway and will still provide information for the lane immediately below the radar, as well as the lane on the farthest point of the carriageway – looking across both carriageways to detect vehicle travel in approaching and receding directions. It can be used almost anywhere for better-informed decision-making and optimised traffic flows and combines well with AGD’s enforcement solutions to offer a full product suite for UK smart motorways as well as international highways.

In a podcast ahead of the show, managing director of AGD Systems Pty in Australia, Stuart Douglas, said:  “We are looking to forward to bringing our product range to the Asian market.  Our highways monitoring radar will help improve the efficiency of their motorway systems, while our pedestrian detection solutions can help with the safety of vulnerable road users around their intersections, which is a major issue in the region.”

AGD Systems can be found on stand number B10 at ITS World Congress.

Leading manufacturer of ITS product solutions AGD Systems will exhibit at this year’s JCT Symposium, 17-18 September, at The Nottingham Conference Centre.

Now in its 24^th year, the event focuses on the traffic signals community and encompasses a symposium programme featuring topical presentations and an exhibition offering opportunities for delegates and exhibitors to catch up with industry colleagues and make new contacts.

AGD Systems will showcase its new suite of traffic and pedestrian control solutions for urban crossings and junction control: the 326 on-crossing detector, which optimises the crossing phase to give back more green time to traffic, the 641 detector, which monitors the wait area, providing enhanced night-time detection, and the large-zone 645 detector with volumetric capability.  The entire suite, including the new 306 MVD – the most compact wirelessly configurable FMCW traffic control radar available – benefits from safe, easy remote setup via smart phone or tablet with WiFi AGD Touch-setup.

Ian Hind, AGD’s commercial director, says: “We’re excited to be replacing our entire popular traffic control portfolio in 2019 with a new family of high-performance pedestrian and vehicle detectors for urban crossings and junction control.

“Customers will benefit from the ease, convenience and safety offered by WiFi AGD Touch-setup across the whole range, and a complementary suite of solutions that have been designed using valuable customer feedback for international as well as UK deployments.”

The WiFi-enabled, IP-capable 645 pedestrian detector now has volumetric capability as part of the standard build, which allows monitoring of the level of pedestrian occupancy in the wait zone for safer, smarter pedestrian crossings. There is also new functionality for the non-intrusive, loop-replacing AGD 318 traffic control radar, which now has the ability to detect stationary or queuing traffic. This, together with WiFi AGD Touch-setup technology and an enhanced user setup GUI, will facilitate MOVA installations and other strategic applications.

Visitors to the AGD stand will also be able to see and feel the latest patented Radix tactile solutions, complete with intelligent restart function, fitted to the award-winning 946 nearside signal.

AGD Systems, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of ITS product solutions, has announced new appointments to further expand its commercial team.

Carl Jarvis was promoted to the newly created role of commercial engineering manager from 1^st May.  With a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and nearly twenty years’ experience in related industries, Carl joined AGD in 2014 as commercial engineer. He brought to his new role his extensive knowledge and experience of deploying radars on multi-lane highways, having led a team that delivered the first radar vehicle detection system on an all-lane-running motorway scheme in the UK. Carl is also adept at facilitating overseas deployments and approvals of AGD’s enforcement portfolio, achieving optimum radar detector performance at clients’ sites around the world.

Two new employees have been appointed to the commercial team this spring. Dean Jarvis joined on 29^th April and brings with him extensive experience of radar installation and maintenance on the motorway network with ERH. Dean will support Carl in future MCH1529 UK approval activity for the AGD 343 this year, and provide UK and international customer support for this exciting new highway monitoring radar solution.

Daniel Roote took up his new role on 20^th May. Daniel has valuable technical customer support knowledge in other industries. He will be trained on the AGD 343 but will also contribute additional bandwidth to support AGD’s core traffic and pedestrian control customers as the company enhances the range further this year with the AGD 641 and 326.

Dean and Daniel join current team member Graham Thompson as commercial engineers, reporting to Carl Jarvis.

These new appointments strengthen the already successful AGD commercial team at a time of key worldwide expansion, says commercial director Ian Hind: “Dean and Daniel add to what is a very important customer support team and their appointment helps to underpin our continued emphasis on export in 2019. They are both well equipped to take new AGD product solutions, in particular the AGD 343 Highways Monitoring Radar, to international markets.”