Road Condition Detection Using Vehicle Vertical Acceleration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for monitoring road conditions in haul roads used by load hauling machines do not adequately account for the human factor, particularly when drivers avoid obstacles, leading to undetected and unrepaired road defects since no event is triggered when the vehicle evades a defect, and they often rely on additional sensors or are costly.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize existing vehicle sensors, such as vertical and horizontal acceleration sensors, to determine road conditions by monitoring calibration parameters and detecting evasion events, providing event data to receivers for maintenance planning or warning other vehicles, without requiring additional sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If drivers manually avoid obstacles on the road, then damage to the vehicle and load is prevented, but road defects remain undetected and unrepaired
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors vertical acceleration data from existing sensors and provides feedback about road conditions to a processing system. When abnormal acceleration patterns indicating road defects are detected, the system generates alerts to maintenance personnel, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that ensures road defects are detected and reported even when drivers avoid them
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's existing sensors and operational data to automatically detect and report road defects without requiring additional specialized sensors or manual inspection. The vehicle's normal operation serves dual purposes: transporting load and monitoring road conditions, eliminating the need for separate detection systems
2Measurement precision
If additional sensors are installed to detect road conditions, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system repurposes existing vehicle sensors (accelerometers, suspension sensors, wheel sensors) that were originally designed for other functions such as ride comfort and vehicle stability. By analyzing these sensors' data for road defect detection, the system achieves multi-functionality without adding specialized detection sensors, thereby maintaining measurement precision while avoiding increased device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle's existing sensor infrastructure serves dual purposes: monitoring vehicle performance and detecting road conditions. This self-service approach eliminates the need for additional dedicated road detection sensors, reducing system complexity and cost while maintaining adequate measurement precision through clever data analysis
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional road monitoring methods are used, then implementation cost is reduced, but productivity of road maintenance is lowered due to undetected defects
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes continuous feedback loops that monitor road conditions during vehicle operation and automatically report defects to maintenance personnel. This real-time feedback enables proactive maintenance scheduling, significantly improving road maintenance productivity by ensuring defects are detected and addressed before they worsen, all while using cost-effective existing sensor technology
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the vehicle's existing operational data and sensors to automatically perform road condition monitoring, eliminating the need for expensive dedicated road inspection systems. This self-service approach maintains low implementation costs while dramatically improving maintenance productivity through continuous, automatic defect detection and reporting
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively detects road defects even when drivers avoid them, enabling timely maintenance and warning other vehicles, while utilizing existing sensors to reduce costs and improve road condition monitoring efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
continuously sensing a vertical acceleration of the vehicle
Implementation Method 2
continuously sensing a horizontal acceleration of the vehicle
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2a~3
AI summary
The invention pertains to a road condition determining system (40) and a method for determining a condition of a road traversed by at least one vehicle. The road condition determining system (40) comprises a vehicle position determination means (55) for determining a position of the vehicle, a calibration parameter detection unit adapted to determine at least one calibration parameter of a part of the vehicle, a vertical acceleration sensor (35) adapted to continuously sense a vertical acceleration of the vehicle, a calculation unit adapted to calculate a road condition value based on the vertical acceleration and on the calibration parameter, and to continuously monitor whether the road condition value exceeds a predefined schedule, and a data transmission unit (75) adapted to provide maintenance data to at least one receiver, the maintenance data comprising at least an information about the vehicle position.