Sidewinder Technology — Hydrophilic Heated Glass, Wind Tunnel and Ice Testing | WTI

TECHNOLOGY

Sidewinder technology

The materials, coatings, optics, and tests behind a camera that has been in the field for more than thirty years. Every element is designed, built, and tested in Ventura, California.

Proprietary hydrophilic glass

A proprietary coating on the Sidewinder window sheds water. Rain spreads into a thin film instead of beading, carries dirt off the glass, and dries without spots or streaks. No wiper is needed.

FIELD EXAMPLE · JUNEAU, ALASKA DOT

A dirty window cleared itself in a rain shower between 1:41 PM and 2:01 PM, with no service visit.

Rain sheeting off the Sidewinder hydrophilic window
Sidewinder view of a snow-covered bridge deck through the hydrophilic window, before rain
Same bridge view with water beading and clearing on the hydrophilic window

SIDE BY SIDE · TXDOT EL PASO · 01/03/2013

Same storm, same afternoon, two cameras less than an hour apart.

Competitor traffic camera view of I-10 at Geronimo with snow accumulating on the lensCOMPETITOR CAMERA
I-10 & Geronimo, 14:18Snowflakes stuck to the window and began to accumulate, fogging the image.
WTI Sidewinder view of Loop 375 at Rojas with snow melting to droplets on the windowWTI SIDEWINDER
LP-375 & Rojas, 13:41Snowflakes turned to water droplets on contact with the heated hydrophilic window and cleared.

TEXAS ICE TESTS · TXDOT

Heated window that defrosts from the inside out

A conductive layer inside the window heats the glass itself, not the air around it. A faceplate temperature sensor closes the loop on heater control. In TxDOT's chamber tests the Sidewinder held a clear image to −20°F and recovered from a frozen, powered-off start in about 30 minutes.

Sidewinder ice test at −6°F −6°F

Window visibility as the chamber cools with the camera powered on.

100%window visibility at −6°F

Competing designs that heat only the border of the glass required +30°F to +40°F ambient to clear.

Sidewinder ice test at −12°F −12°F

Window visibility as the chamber cools with the camera powered on.

100%window visibility at −12°F

Competing designs that heat only the border of the glass required +30°F to +40°F ambient to clear.

Sidewinder ice test at −20°F −20°F

Window visibility as the chamber cools with the camera powered on.

100%window visibility at −20°F

Competing designs that heat only the border of the glass required +30°F to +40°F ambient to clear.

Sidewinder ice test at −25°F −25°F

Window visibility as the chamber cools with the camera powered on.

98%window visibility at −25°F

Competing designs that heat only the border of the glass required +30°F to +40°F ambient to clear.

Sidewinder ice test at −30°F −30°F

Window visibility as the chamber cools with the camera powered on.

50%window visibility at −30°F

Competing designs that heat only the border of the glass required +30°F to +40°F ambient to clear.

Camera window (left) and monitor view (right) at each temperature. TxDOT ice chamber.

Sidewinder ice test at −30°F −30°F

Visibility recovered after power-up from a frozen, powered-off camera. Full visibility in about 30 minutes.

Startwindow visibility at −30°F
Sidewinder ice test at −15°F −15°F

Visibility recovered after power-up from a frozen, powered-off camera. Full visibility in about 30 minutes.

80%window visibility at −15°F
Sidewinder ice test at −10°F −10°F

Visibility recovered after power-up from a frozen, powered-off camera. Full visibility in about 30 minutes.

90%+window visibility at −10°F
Sidewinder ice test at 0°F 0°F

Visibility recovered after power-up from a frozen, powered-off camera. Full visibility in about 30 minutes.

100%window visibility at 0°F
Sidewinder PTZ camera mounted in the San Diego Air & Space Technology Center wind tunnel

Wind tunnel tested over 150 mph

Sidewinder was tested at the San Diego Air & Space Technology Center at wind speeds above 150 mph, alongside environmental chamber testing for temperature and humidity.

Continuous pan and tilt with 0.05° preset repeatability, and a proprietary motor drive, hold the image steady in high wind. Electronic image stabilization handles the rest.

Environmental durability

Sealed to IP68, salt-fog tested, and qualified to MIL-E-5400T, with an 11.8-year mean time before failure. Every camera completes a full functional test in Ventura before it ships.

Sidewinder cameras on the assembly and test bench in Ventura
  • IP68Every Sidewinder PTZ camera is submersion tested before it ships. The sealed all-aluminum housing keeps out rain, dust, wash-down spray and standing water on roadside poles, bridges and coastal sites.
  • All-aluminum housingMachined aluminum body with 316 stainless steel hardware. No plastic domes or painted steel to crack, fade or corrode over a 10-plus-year outdoor deployment.
  • ASTM B117 salt fogSalt-fog tested to ASTM B117 and rated NEMA 4X for coastal highways, ports and de-iced roads where road salt and marine air corrode ordinary traffic cameras.
  • MIL-E5400TQualified to military environmental standard MIL-E-5400T for temperature, 100% humidity, shock and vibration, and verified in WTI's own environmental chamber.
  • −40°C to +74°CFull operating range of −40°F to +165°F, tested to NEMA TS2 traffic-signal requirements, so the camera keeps working through Texas heat and Minnesota cold without an enclosure heater or cooler.
  • Dual-stage surge protectionTwo stages of surge suppression on both power and data lines protect the camera from lightning-induced transients and switching surges on roadside power.
  • Internal sensorsBuilt-in humidity and temperature sensors report through the Camera Control Software with on-screen alerts, so a compromised seal or heater fault is caught before video is lost.
  • 11.8-year mean time before failureMean time before failure across the deployed Sidewinder fleet, based on field returns, not lab projections. Fewer bucket-truck visits and lane closures over the life of an ITS camera.

Optics and pan-tilt

  • 30x optical and 12x digital zoom
  • 1080p at up to 60 frames per second
  • H.265 and H.264, up to 50% less bandwidth
  • Wide dynamic range and low-light sensitivity
  • Under 250 ms latency
  • Automatic day/night switchover and defog
  • Continuous 360° pan and tilt, 0.05° preset repeatability
  • Up to 64 presets; 8 tours of up to 32 presets
  • Automatic image invert and flip
  • 8 configurable streams; single-cable PoE++

ZOOM TEST · 30x optical, 12x digital · Sidewinder VS265