Situation Awareness

Remote Warning System (RWS) for Situational Awareness in Autonomous & Assisted Driving 

As autonomous and assisted driving technologies advance, situational awareness, especially in complex environments such as unregulated junctions and obstructed roads, remains a critical challenge. To address this, FCTLab has developed a Remote Warning System (RWS) that enhances driver and vehicle safety through real-time risk detection, edge-based video analytics, and low-latency 5G connectivity.

The RWS serves as an additional “digital sense” for drivers and autonomous systems, allowing them to receive warnings about hidden traffic risks that cannot be detected through onboard sensors alone.

System Concept

The Remote Warning System is deployed at roadside locations and consists of:

Unlike traditional solutions that stream high-bandwidth video to the cloud for processing, our RWS design performs all analytics locally at the edge. This significantly reduces latency and ensures the system can operate reliably in real-world, time-critical scenarios.

Only small data messages—the computed risk factor and warning level—are transmitted to the cloud server and in-vehicle units (IVUs), enabling rapid response with minimal bandwidth.

Unregulated Traffic Junction

The RWS was demonstrated using an unregulated junction scenario, where drivers often misinterpret right-of-way, creating high-risk situations.

Example scenario (refer to the figure below):

• An Oragne vehicle travels straight toward the junction.

• The driver may assume they have right-of-way, despite needing to stop at the white line.

• Blue and Green vehicles may be partially hidden from view due to obstacles or angle.

• This results in a high collision risk that is not easily visible to the human driver.

Our system detects:

• Vehicles entering risk zones

• Approaching trajectories

• Potential conflict points

A warning is displayed to the orange driver through the in-vehicle unit, while risk information is simultaneously broadcast to other vehicles or road users via the mobile app.

Watch our demonstration video:

• The RWS detects vehicles approaching the junction

• The system computes the risk factor in real time

• The risk warning panel at the junction activates

• Simultaneously, nearby vehicles receive the same risk alert over the network

• Low latency is essential for timely intervention

This proves that the system can prevent accidents by improving situational awareness beyond the driver’s or vehicle’s line of sight.

Why 5G is Essential 

Real-time road safety applications require end-to-end latency of less than 100 ms to be effective. To evaluate feasibility, FCTLab compared public 4G and 5G networks. 

Summary

The FCTLab Remote Warning System demonstrates how edge computing, intelligent sensing, and 5G connectivity can work together to significantly enhance road safety. Key advantages include:

• Local analytics → ultra-low latency

• Minimal data transmission → scalable deployment

• Real-time risk alerts → improved driver awareness

• 5G-enabled performance → meets stringent safety requirements

• Road-user inclusiveness → warnings available to any vehicle or app user

As autonomous driving continues to evolve, RWS technologies will play an important role in enabling safer, smarter, and more connected transport systems.