Road Measurement Data Acquisition System
November 2002
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Welcome!

This is our second quarterly e-mail newsletter providing the latest news on our ROMDAS Road Measurement Data Acquisition System. Among our news:

2002 Pavement Evaluation Conference: Data Collection Ltd. (DCL) had a booth at this conference held late October in Roanoke Virginia (USA). DCL's owner, Dr. Christopher R. Bennett, presented a paper on establishing reference transverse profiles.
Laser Profilometer: The field validation of the ROMDAS Laser Profilometer was completed in mid-October and the analysis of the data by Opus Central Laboratories is expected to be complete by mid- November. We also tested the profilometer on the Virginia 'Smart Road' near Roanoke with other systems during the Pavement Evaluation conference.
New Instruments: With our profilometer project nearing completion we will be developing new instruments for street light illumination measurement and dust on unsealed roads. We expect to be offering Samsung's automatic crack detection software with a ROMDAS hardware configuration early in 2003.

ROMDAS Newsletter

October 2002 PDF Newsletter
Our current PDF newsletter giving details on the recent activities with ROMDAS.

Starfire GPS Measurements

The Starfire GPS service is a real-time differential correction service with their own satellites covering virtually the entire world. With Starfire it is possible to get 0.1 m horizontal accuracy anywhere in real-time. DCL has integrated Starfire into ROMDAS for Windows. We will also be conducting research into the accuracy of Starfire compared to other receivers. For further information on Starfire visit their web site at www.navcomtech.com. For a quote on using Starfire with ROMDAS please contact info@romdas.com.

Laser Profilometer

The ROMDAS laser profilometer (LP) has undergone its field validation and we are in the process of integrating it into the ROMDAS for Windows software (ROM-WIN). The full integration will be complete by the end of December.
There are three important differentiators between the ROMDAS LP and similar products offered by other manufacturers:

Integration: The LP can be used with other ROMDAS instruments such as video and GPS to have a total solution for collecting the full range of pavement and road data.
Affordability: The ROMDAS LP is the lowest cost product of its type available. When combined with the ROMDAS profile logger (TPL) users can get true longitudinal and transverse profiles.
Portability: Completely portable, it can be readily mounted on almost any vehicle in only a few hours.

The profilometer consists of a laser with an 8 mm spot size operating at 16 kHz coupled with a fully integrated accelerometer and a standard ethernet interface. It determines the elevation profile of the pavement (in mm) from which the IRI is calculated. The elevation profile is also stored. ROM-WIN will display the IRI in real time, and the elevation profile can be directly analysed using the RoadRuf software for additional information.

For validation we operated the LP on four test sections used by Transit New Zealand for profilometer validation. The data analysis was conducted by Opus Central Laboratories Ltd. who acted as an independent third party. The results of the validation will be available on the ROMDAS web site when they are provided to DCL by Opus. A second validation was done at the 2002 Pavement Evaluation Conference when DCL participated with other vendors in measuring the 'Smart Road'. A staw poll with other participants showed that we had similar roughnesses.

The LP can be used for roughness surveys and also for calibration of the bump integrator. It is possible to use both the bump integrator and the LP simmultaneously; this will allow for surveys to be done at low speeds and on very rough roads where other profilometers cannot measure.

The pricing of the LP will be $USD 25,000 for a single wheelpath profile; $USD 40,000 for two-wheelpath profile. This includes all software, hardware, mounting equipment, etc. There is a discount for existing ROMDAS users. For further information please contact the ROMDAS manager Paul Hunter.

= = = Introductory Special = = =

Until 31 December 2002 there is a special price for a package comprised of a 2 wheelpath laser profilometer with 30 sensor 3-m wide ultrasonic rut bar for $USD 50,000 plus shipping. This includes all software, hardware, mounting equipment, etc.

HDM-4 Information Management System

Road and Bridge Data Management System
In August DCL installed the HDM-4 Information Management System (HIMS) for the Department of Public Works in Samoa. In December we will be providing a system to Cambodia.
The HIMS is a powerful relational database system designed to store and manipulate data on any asset - from roads through bridges to traffic and accident. With fully user definable tables, dynamic segmentation, user definable forms, it can be configured for any application. It also has an embedded GIS, outputs files for analysis with HDM-4, and more. For further information visit www.hdm-ims.com or request an HIMS evaluation CD.

Existing ROMDAS users will receive a 30% discount on the retail price of $USD 3,200 until 31 December 2002.

Automatic Crack Detection

Cracking in pavements is a major issue for highway engineers. Automatic crack detection has long been the 'holy grail' since it would allow engineers to monitor cracking on their roads without having to resort to costly (and dangerous) manual surveys.
To date the automated crack detection systems have been built around dedicated vehicles which use high speed cameras and special lighting to ensure the best results. These systems are very costly but provide excellent results.

Samsung SDS from the USA has released the uniAMS system which includes crack detection software using the UCI approach. DCL will be providing a hardware solution integrated within the ROMDAS environment to record images that can be analysed using Samsung's uniANALYZE software. The system will sample images at approximately 5 m intervals along the road. The images will be post-processed with uniANALYZE which will provide the type, extent and severity of cracking. As shown at the 2002 Pavement Evaluation Conference, uniANALYZE provides fast, accurate and reliable results.

It is anticipated that the system (including Samsung's software) will cost under $USD 12,500, with the pricing depending on the final camera configuration adopted. For further details on uniANALYZE please contact Samsung. For information on our crack detection system hardware Jerry James.

New Instruments

The ROMDAS profilometer project is approaching its end so we are going to be shifting our R&D focus to several new instruments:

Illumination Measurements: A roof mounted instrument will be used to measure the illumination from street lights. Sampling at approximately 40 Hz, it will provide the illumination level (in lux) at 1 m intervals when travelling at 50 km/h. The illumination will be stored along with the location (in m) and the gps co-ordinates if a GPS receiver is used. It can be used to rapidly locate the position of street lights as well as for monitoring their illumination output. While luminance, as opposed to illuminance, is the key determinant of street lighting quality, it will still give a broad indication of the lighting levels. Once completed, the anticipated cost of the illumination meter is $USD 4,000.
Dust on Unsealed Roads: Using light the dust levels on unsealed roads will be measured. The instrument will be mounted near the wheel of the vehicle and as the vehicle is driven it records the level of dustiness generated by the tyres.
Automatic Control for Measurements: A photocell attachment for ROMDAS is under development which will allow for the automatic triggering of starting and stopping data logging. The photocell will be directed at the pavement and when a reflective strip is crossed the system will start/stop. This will be particularly useful for calibration.

Visit www.ROMDAS.com for progress on these developments.

North American Sales and Support

North American ROMDAS sales and support are being handled by Jerry James at Roadmetrics Co. Based in Cambridge Ontario, Jerry has a background in the industry from his time as Technology Vice President with Roadware, manufacturer of the ARAN. Jerry can be reached by phone at 1-519-658-6971 or e-mail at jerry@roadmetrics.com.

Harmonising Automated Rut Depths

We have received funding to extend the results of this study. Among the activities being undertaken is developing techniques to optimise the placement of profilometer sensors to minimise the bias. We are also measuring additional reference profiles at other locations to extend the results. The Phase I report is available for download along with software for the testing of different profilometer configurations.

(c) 2002 Data Collection Ltd.

www.ROMDAS.com

info@ROMDAS.com

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The ROMDAS CD contains full details on our ROMDAS system, user's guides, software, working papers, etc. All of the materials are available for immediate download from www.ROMDAS.com. The HIMS CD contains our HDM-4 Information Management System. To receive a CD please use the above link to send us your mailing address.