German-Australian Business-News | Q2 2020

About IRMA passenger counters

IRMA, the main product, is a passenger counting system. IRMA was developed for use in urban public transport and it is used in many cities throughout the world, from New York to Singapore.

The data gained by IRMA is used for the business optimization, capacity adjustment and revenue sharing in Public Transport associations. The sensors are mounted above the vehicle doors and transmit the quantity of boarding and alighting persons.

The basis of IRMA counting sensors is a technology working with distance measurement according to the timeof-flight principle (TOF). This ensures reliable detection under all environmental conditions and reliable counting even in crowded situations. Modern interfaces to the on-board computer enable simple integration.

About Time of Flight

Time-of-flight technology (ToF) supplies reliable image data. The sensors can be used in any environment, in bright sunshine in the deserts of Arizona and North Africa or beyond the Polar Circle in the freezing cold of Norilsk. The signals of this sensor type offer an unbeatable advantage. The information for each image frame combines the time of flight of the light emitted and its speed (speed of light). These two physical values are independent of environmental conditions. When the time of flight of the light signal from the sensor to the object and back is known, the distance between sensor and object in each pixel is calculated by multiplying this time by the speed of light. It is stunning that it is, in fact, possible to measure this flight time. Light flying over the distance of one centimetre takes just 33-ps (0.000000000033s). This incredibly short time span can be recorded with fast electronics in the silicon. The so-called robust 3D point cloud is formed. This is the data which algorithms love. Machines know no images, just values in space and time. If these are as uniform as possible for a sequence of situations in the vehicle door area, independently of whether beyond the Polar Circle or in the desert, the system yields reliable results. The sensor data are determined by measuring the time of flight of the light - they are not disrupted by shadows or complete darkness.

About the industry

As in all modern industries, the progressing digitalisation in public transport is based on data.

IRMA MATRIX passenger counting sensor - surface mount version

Principle of operation - Passenger counting sensor above door

The management of small and large fleets has been an important issue in the development of local transport networks. Satellitebased tracking and the implementation of powerful processors have resulted in the widespread use of telematics systems for fleet control and passenger information in real-time in the past 15 years.

The Australian market is no exception. Modern technologies are currently finding their way into Australia's transport systems. The demand for technologies such as automatic passenger counting is growing rapidly. iris was aware of this development early on and decided to establish a local subsidiary. Only in this way is it possible to offer local customers the level of service that distinguishes iris. With the intensive support of the AHK, iris founded a company in 2019 and sent an employee to Melbourne. The experience of the AHK made it possible to make the incorporation and visa process extremely efficient. Thanks to the intensive, personal support, the Australian iris branch is now so well positioned that colleagues on-site can get down to work with the certainty that they are well prepared, knowing that AHK will continue their support advice and assistance.

ABOUT IRIS – INTELLIGENT SENSING

The Berlin-based company irisGmbH has been supplying the global market with reliable technologies for automatic passenger counting for more than 27 years. In 2019 the subsidiary iris Asia-Pacific Pty Ltd has been founded in Melbourne to support its Australian customers, as well as customers from east and south-east Asia. This is iris’ second subsidiary following the Atlanta office, which was founded in 2016. iris is one of the leading manufacturers of passenger counting systems for public transport and develops both hardware and software components for the sensors in its own research departments at its headquarters in Berlin.

The Consulting branch of GACIC assisted iris Asia Pacific Pty Ltd with its incorporation in late 2019. The company has since made use of GACIC's office-in-office business representation services, through which we allow our clients to use the Chamber address as their registered office whilst furthermore conducting business development initiatives where needed. These include ad hoc market and competitor analyses, providing customer support by processing incoming calls on behalf of our clients, providing support with organising corporate events or engaging in customer acquisition.

Contact details: Enrica Mertens, Senior Consultant Market Entry – Consulting Services, Business Representation Lead T:+61 (0)2 8296 0454 E:enrica.mertens@germany.org.au