NeuroCar has delivered another unit of its specialized, portable reference clock to the Central Office of Measures – the “NeuroCar Clock – Version 2”. The device displays time with an accuracy of 100 microseconds and is used to test the quality of timestamping, for example in section-speed measurement systems. The clock will be used by the Świętokrzyski Laboratory Campus of the Central Office of Measures of Poland.
NeuroCar Clock – Version 2 (also known as “NeuroClock 2”) is a high-precision device designed to support timestamp testing. The clock displays time on an LED panel in hours, minutes, and seconds, along with four decimal digits, meaning the smallest displayed time increment is 100 microseconds. The time indication is controlled by an internal, highly stable quartz oscillator synchronized with a GPS PPS signal.
In practical applications, a photo of the clock’s display is taken and compared with the timestamp added to the photo by the recording device (e.g., a camera). In this way, the deviation in the electronic timestamp of the tested device can be determined – a key parameter for systems such as average-speed measurement, where timestamp accuracy at the level of a few milliseconds is required. Such tests are carried out in real-world conditions, that is, on the road during normal traffic.
Before being put into operation, each NeuroClock unit undergoes precise calibration at the Time and Frequency Laboratory of the Time and Length Department of the Central Office of Measures. The calibration consists of comparing the NeuroClock’s indications with the PDC-01US official time display system, which provides the reference official time with a resolution of 1 microsecond. The calibration results showed that NeuroClock exhibits an indication error of (-5.7 ± 2.0) µs in GPS-synchronized mode, and from (-6.8 ± 2.0) µs to (-7.7 ± 2.0) µs when the GPS source is disconnected.
