InZoneAlert vest

Scientists at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the US have developed a new safety-enhancing vest that alerts roadside construction workers of incoming motorists.

Developed since 2013, the InZoneAlert vest features radio sensors that warn motorists of a construction worker’s presence alongside the road through short range radio communication, preventing collision between a vehicle and the worker.

The vest can also warn the workers in a matter of seconds, saving their lives.

Virginia Tech College of Engineering professor Tom Martin said: "There are a lot of roadside workers who are not necessarily on construction sites who could benefit from such a warning.

"We just want to give them a few seconds notice to know that someone is coming toward them and then give them a chance to get out of the way."

"We don’t want to add to their cognitive load. We don’t want to give them false alarms.

"We just want to give them a few seconds notice to know that someone is coming toward them and then give them a chance to get out of the way."

The researchers have made numerous changes in the vest’s design and intended use, which included shrinking the vest portion of the alert system that incorporates GPS tracking from a backpack-sized apparatus to the size of a cellphone in 2014.

New incarnations are likely to shrink the vest to the size of a pack of gum. The team also intends to make it user-friendly, and part of a worker’s established uniform or equipment.

Virginia Tech Bradley department of electrical and computer engineering doctoral student Kristen Hines said the auditory alert could be placed inside of the hearing protection in a work zone, to ensure that it can always be heard over everything.

Hines said: "Another possible way is to include other alerting methods, such as tactile alerts that use a person’s sense of touch. This ranges from vibrations or your clothing suddenly shrinking on you (or) cuffs compressing."

During the early tests, the InZoneAlert system is said to have met predictions for potential vehicle-worker conflicts with a 90% success rate.

The team is testing various alerts to ensure that they are able to work within a loud, tough, dirty and busy construction site. The vest could is likely to be used on highways within five years.

Image: Virginia Tech doctoral student Kristen Hines and Professor Tom Martin discuss the current version of the InZoneAlert system. Photo: © 2015 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.