Opportunistic sensing for road pavement monitoring

Road surface state monitoring is of main concern for road infrastructure owners. Hence dedicated measurement campaigns using laser scanning and image analysis are performed on a regular basis. Yet, this type of monitoring comes at a high labor cost and thus it is often limited in coverage and update frequency. This paper proposes opportunistic sensing as an alternative approach. Using sound and vibration sensing in cars that are on the road for other purposes and exploiting the advent of cheap communication, big data, and machine learning, timely information on road state is obtained. Results are compared to laser scanning for spatial frequencies between 0.1 and 100 cycles/m showing the applicability of the method. Results are also used for classification and labeling of road surfaces regarding their effect on rolling noise. Mapping illustrates the coverage of highways and local roads obtained in a few months with as few as seven cars.Road surface state monitoring is of main concern for road infrastructure owners. Hence dedicated measurement campaigns using laser scanning and image analysis are performed on a regular basis. Yet, this type of monitoring comes at a high labor cost and thus it is often limited in coverage and update frequency. This paper proposes opportunistic sensing as an alternative approach. Using sound and vibration sensing in cars that are on the road for other purposes and exploiting the advent of cheap communication, big data, and machine learning, timely information on road state is obtained. Results are compared to laser scanning for spatial frequencies between 0.1 and 100 cycles/m showing the applicability of the method. Results are also used for classification and labeling of road surfaces regarding their effect on rolling noise. Mapping illustrates the coverage of highways and local roads obtained in a few months with as few as seven cars.C