SIMPAVE : towards building interactive simulations for planning pavement construction

1053559Final research reportPDFResearch Paperhttp://www.transnow.org/publication/final-reports/documents/TNW2007-03.pdfTNW2007-0361-0801DTRS99-G-0010SimulationSoftwarePavementsRoad constructionPlanningTransportation Northwest (Organization)Turkiyyah, GeorgeTransportation Northwest (Organization)United States. Dept. of TransportationWashington (State). Dept. of TransportationNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Pavement Management and PerformanceNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYUS Transportation CollectionThe goal of this project is to produce a software simulation that enables a user to manage a road construction project from the hot mix asphalt plant operation to the finished paved road. Throughout the simulation, the user is provided with the resources needed to complete a specified road construction task. These resources include raw materials for hot mix production, trucks for transportation of the hot mix asphalt from the plant to the site, equipment to lay, roll, and finish the pavement. In addition, the simulation will include a virtual crew that can be directed to execute the road construction tasks. Built into the simulator is a set of models that emulate real-world constraints on hot mix asphalt construction. These include models of mix design properties, temperature-dependent mix characteristics, resource management to balance production and laydown rates, rolling and compaction, and deployment of available man-hour resources. Computer graphics technology will be used to give the user an omniscient, third-person perspective on the virtual world. Interaction with the visually rich world enables the user to zoom in and examine the individual processes and locations in the simulation or pull back and have a macro view in order to manage the inter-process relationships. From the third-person vantage point, the user can start and stop tasks in order to synchronize dependent tasks or to verify the quality of work. Using a game metaphor, feedback mechanisms will be in place to inform the user of the success of the construction task. This simulator will be useful for training students and workers in the road construction industry, highlighting the necessity of quality control, task coordination, and resource management. /Abstract from report summary page