Prototype:

A partial prototype of Carmanah's crosswalk traffic beacon.  The
prototype is attached to a PC running a device simulator written in
Python.  The device simulator made it possible to create a close
approximation to the final system at a very early stage, when minimal
hardware was available.  This significantly accelerated development,
while also allowing meaningful demonstrations of the product long
before the first full prototype could be built.


Full view of installed system:

Two crosswalk traffic beacons (one on each side of the road)
communicate with each other via a wireless network link.  You can see
the similarity with the prototype system, where the Python-based
device simulator substitutes for one of the traffic beacons.


Closeup of installed system:

Closeup of one crosswalk traffic beacon.  The enclosure at the top of
the pole is oriented towards the sun, to better expose the solar
panels that it carries on the front.  The antenna for the wireless
link to the other side of the street is visible on the left side of
the enclosure.