ROADS THAT HONK

Short List
TitleROADS THAT HONK
BrandHINDUSTAN PETROLEUM
Product / ServiceLUBRICANTS
CategoryA05. Business Transformation
EntrantLEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Dheeraj Sinha Leo Burnett India Chief Strategy Officer & Managing Director
Saurabh Varma Publicis Communications Chief Executive Officer
Dheeraj Sinha Leo Burnett India Chief Strategy Officer & Managing Director
Rakesh Hinduja Leo Burnett India Branch Head - Leo Burnett Mumbai
Gunjan Poddar Leo Burnett India Executive Creative Director
Sidheshwar Sharma Leo Burnett Sr. Vice President
Himanish Ashar Leo Burnett India Creative Strategist
Ashish Gautam Leo Burnett Creative Strategist
Arvindh Lochan Leo Burnett Art Director
Falgun Busa Leo Burnett India Agency Producer
Krishna Shukla Leo Burnett Editor
Ajay Kumar Leo Burnett Editor
Hirosh Mulky Leo Burnett Brand Director
Rumi Behramkamdin Leo Burnett Brand Director
Vandana Watsa Prodigious India Head of Prodigious
Anup Das Prodigious India Producer
Gaurav Bhat Prodigious India Director
Rajeev Jha Leo Burnett Technologist

Execution

Our first prototype was developed in Bangalore, India - where we assembled a team of technologists and engineers for our project. Later, we developed the software trying to understand the best possible solution to solve our problem. We landed on the dopplar effect using radar technology. Our next meeting consisted of choosing the correct lights for our smartlife poles. And our choice of amber LED lights will only reinforce the drivers on both sides to slow down and cross each other safely. We did a dry run to understand the technology in our next meeting in Banglore, and once it was successful, we had it transported to Patnitop, Jammu. On 26th of March 2017, our team at the site took careful understanding to find the right stretch only to find one of the most deadliest turns in the entire country. Our first smartpoles were finally tested, and in working condition. The patents were filed and approved on 23th of May 2017 at 6:30 IST - docket no 19428. INDIA – Patent Application No. 201721014315 Dated – April 21, 2017 Title– “VEHICLE DETECTION AND WARNING SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREOF” Applicant – TLG INDIA PVT. LTD. As per the date, April 2018, our smartlife poles were installed in Nepal and Saudi Arabia. There are orders from Myanmar government to install smart life poles on hairpin bends on their national highways, that installation will take place in the 3rd quarter of 2018. Updated tech - Inductive loops are placed in the smart poles to detect vehicles as they pass through the loop's magnetic field. They simply count the number of vehicles during a unit of time (typically 60 seconds) that pass over the loop, and estimate the speed, length, and class of vehicles and the distance between them. - Video cameras are installed into processors that analyse the changing characteristics of the video image as vehicles pass. The cameras are mounted on poles that detect traffic simultaneously. This detection system provides additional outputs including gap, headway, stopped-vehicle detection, and wrong-way vehicle alarms. - With the audio signal installed, it measures traffic density on a road that consists of the cumulative sound from the tyres noise, engine noise, engine-idling noise, honks and air turbulence noise. The microphone picks up the audio that includes the various vehicle noise and Audio signal processing techniques that estimate the traffic state. This technology also uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. With the additional changes to the technology the poles have been installed in various countries like Nepal and Saudi Arabia, we make the detection system better and help us get helpful data more regularly.

The Campaign

We wanted to save these lives by getting drivers to slow down to avoid accidents and collisions. Our idea is "Roads that Honk" We created smart life poles with radar technology. that communicates with each other on both sides of the hairpin turns and alerts drivers with the sound of a horn. The radar on the smart life poles reads the speed of the vehicles, and then communicates with the smart pole at the other end. These smart life poles then alert the drivers on both sides by honking. Honking lets the drivers know about the approaching vehicle, so now, even if a driver is approaching a turn at 60 km/hr., he would have enough time to slow down. And cross safely. And our choice of amber LED lights will only reinforce the drivers on both sides to slow down and cross each other safely.

Creative Execution

We designed smart life poles with radar technology that reads the speed of the approaching vehicles at both ends, and then communicate with each other to alert drivers on both sides of the blind curve with the sound of a horn. The sound indicates the drivers to slow down and cross each other safely. The smartlife poles are an advanced networked vehicle detection and warning system. The main components are: Vehicle detection and speed sensing radar, warning system that comprises of LED and a horn, power supply, motherboard and software and 865 MHz radio for networking of the poles. These poles are MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather radio for networking of the poles. These poles are MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather condition – rain, snow or fog. Since this product had to reside in extreme weather, we had to look at material which withstands rain, fog, heat, etc. The installation is 7ft tall, making it visible for drivers while they are speeding. The smart life poles are powered solely via clean solar energy, made of MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather condition.

Over 3.8 million views on YouTube within a week. 50 million Media impressions were generated in the first 3 hours of the launch. 105 million media impressions since the release. Over 15 million social media reach. Roads that honk technology received an overwhelming response from the auto media as well as people across various social platforms. The biggest takeaway came when even Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India spoke about the technology innovation. National Highway Association of India is installing this technology across all major hairpin bends that were accident prone and were threat to drivers. Within 2 weeks, data suggested that over 8 out of 10 speeding drivers slowed down at these turns. And accidents were reduced by 45% on these hairpin bends. And as per the date, April 2018, our smartlife poles were installed in Nepal and Saudi Arabia.

We used existing technology to innovate a first of its kind mechanism that helped solve a problem that every driver would face on a blind hairpin bend. The technology involves using radar communication and doppler effect to gauge the traffic and react accordingly in the form of a horn (sound).