Forsberg and fellow Electech Cluster Member OTAQ, collaborated to provide technology for real-time tracking of rolling roadblocks for the Lancaster Grand Prix, allowing race organisers to minimise disruptions caused by road closures for Lancaster residents.
The Requirement
The Lancaster Grand Prix organisers contacted us 3 weeks ahead of the race with their requirement to track the individual support vehicles to allow them to better implement a controlled rolling road closure that would be managed by a professional traffic management company in conjunction with Police and NEG moto escort for the race convoy.
The Solution
OTAQ provided five Asset Tracking Units (ATUs), which Forsberg integrated with Teleplan’s NORA software solution to enable real-time visual tracking. By placing the trackers on the support and Police vehicles and establishing geofences along the primary cycling route on the city’s outskirts, it allowed the race officials to track and monitor the rolling roadblock and effectively coordinate with Police and race marshals to ensure a smooth and organised event.
This marked the first trial of GPS technology in the Lancaster Grand Prix. We gained useful insight into the real-time race operation on the day, through talking with marshals, police and race control which allowed us to troubleshoot and plan to develop the technology to optimise performance for future similar requirements.
We discovered that the key information required by race control is the regular updates of the time gaps between the various support vehicles. Whilst the geo-fence events provided the time checks, the operator still needed to calculate these time gaps manually but for future events and with more time to prepare, this could be automated and would provide great benefit to the user tasked with managing the race control.
Further details for the race and future British Cycling races can be found on the British Cycling website: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/301131/Lancaster-GP
