'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System' Wins Lighting Technology Development Award from IEIJ
Iwasaki Electric's 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System' has received the 24th (2026) Lighting Technology Development Award. The system uses AI-based image processing to detect vehicles and pedestrians, enabling significant power savings by dimming lights in tunnels during low-traffic periods.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 00:01
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 15:32
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 01:03 (9h 31m after Collected)
Conceptual Diagram of the 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System'
Iwasaki Electric has won the 24th (2026) Lighting Technology Development Award, organized by the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan (IEIJ), for its 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System' which dims tunnel lighting when no traffic is present.
This marks the company's third time receiving this award, following previous wins for the 'Development of Ceramic Metal Halide Lamps with built-in FEC (Electronic Starter)' (3rd Award) and the 'Laser Projector LAXIS' (18th Award).
The Lighting Technology Development Award honors achievements that involve the development of light sources, fixtures, or control systems with superior functionality, performance, and energy efficiency. It also recognizes significant improvements over conventional methods or designs based on entirely new ideas that are expected to contribute significantly to society.
Key Features of the 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System'
As part of efforts toward a decarbonized society, this system aims to further reduce power consumption beyond the replacement and introduction of high-efficiency LED lighting. It detects the presence of vehicles and pedestrians passing through tunnels using image processing, ensuring required road brightness during traffic and implementing dimming when no traffic is detected.
This system is particularly effective in tunnels with intermittent traffic, contributing to a 'further reduction in power consumption' in addition to the energy-saving effects of LED conversion.
- Automatically increases the brightness of entrance lighting at the entry side upon vehicle detection based on automatic dimming conditions, and maintains basic lighting at rated levels.
- Detects vehicles 200m before the tunnel entrance to account for eye strain during daytime entry.
- Features a fail-safe mechanism that detects bad weather via image processing and transitions to automatic dimming operation.
- Maintains basic lighting at rated levels when pedestrians are present in the tunnel.
- Controls lighting by counting pedestrians, considering long stays such as falls within the tunnel.
- When turning off one side of the basic lighting during non-traffic periods, the fixtures used are switched daily to reduce the load on individual components.
We will continue to contribute to environmental protection through the development and provision of lighting products, optical application products, and systems, and develop sustainable businesses toward the realization of a safe and secure society.
For more details, please visit the Iwasaki Electric website.
Iwasaki Electric has won the 24th (2026) Lighting Technology Development Award, organized by the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan (IEIJ), for its 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System' which dims tunnel lighting when no traffic is present.
This marks the company's third time receiving this award, following previous wins for the 'Development of Ceramic Metal Halide Lamps with built-in FEC (Electronic Starter)' (3rd Award) and the 'Laser Projector LAXIS' (18th Award).
The Lighting Technology Development Award honors achievements that involve the development of light sources, fixtures, or control systems with superior functionality, performance, and energy efficiency. It also recognizes significant improvements over conventional methods or designs based on entirely new ideas that are expected to contribute significantly to society.
Key Features of the 'Minimal Traffic Tunnel Lighting Control System'
As part of efforts toward a decarbonized society, this system aims to further reduce power consumption beyond the replacement and introduction of high-efficiency LED lighting. It detects the presence of vehicles and pedestrians passing through tunnels using image processing, ensuring required road brightness during traffic and implementing dimming when no traffic is detected.
This system is particularly effective in tunnels with intermittent traffic, contributing to a 'further reduction in power consumption' in addition to the energy-saving effects of LED conversion.
- Automatically increases the brightness of entrance lighting at the entry side upon vehicle detection based on automatic dimming conditions, and maintains basic lighting at rated levels.
- Detects vehicles 200m before the tunnel entrance to account for eye strain during daytime entry.
- Features a fail-safe mechanism that detects bad weather via image processing and transitions to automatic dimming operation.
- Maintains basic lighting at rated levels when pedestrians are present in the tunnel.
- Controls lighting by counting pedestrians, considering long stays such as falls within the tunnel.
- When turning off one side of the basic lighting during non-traffic periods, the fixtures used are switched daily to reduce the load on individual components.
We will continue to contribute to environmental protection through the development and provision of lighting products, optical application products, and systems, and develop sustainable businesses toward the realization of a safe and secure society.
For more details, please visit the Iwasaki Electric website.