Contents |
Winter Maintenance
Roadview Reports
Roadview Phase One Final Report
Click here for full report in pdf format: UCD_ARR_99_06_30_03.pdf
Advanced Snowplow Development and Demontration: Phase I: Driver Assistance
Kin S. Yen, Han-Shue Tan, Aaron Steinfeld, Colin H. Thorne, Benedicte Bougler, Eli Cuelho, Paul Kretz, Dan Empey, Ronald R. Kappesser, Hassan Abou Ghaida, Mike Jenkinson, Stephen R. Owen, Wei-Bin Zhang, Ty A. Lasky, and Bahram Ravani, AHMCT Research Report UCD-ARR-99-06-30-03, 119 pp, June 30, 1999.
This final report documents application of Intelligent Vehicle (IV) and Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems (AVCSS) technologies to enhance the safety and efficiency of snow removal. The system developed, known as the Advanced Snowplow (ASP), includes lane position indication and lane departure warning, as well as a forward collision warning system. The technology has been integrated onto a Caltrans 10-wheel 10-yard plow, and tested through the Winter of 1998 - 1999 in the California Advanced Winter Maintenance Testbed on Interstate 80 near Donner Summit. The system was also tested for two weeks at a similar site on US 180 near Flagstaff, Arizona. The report provides an introduction to the problem, and overview of the system hardware and software, a detailed discussion of the human-machine interface, the magnetic sensing system, and the collision warning system, preliminary evaluation and findings, and conclusions and recommendations for future research.
Roadview Phase Two Final Report
Click here for full report in pdf format: UCD-ARR-00-06-30-02
Development of an Advanced Snowplow Driver Assistance System (ASP-II)
Kin S. Yen, Han-Shue Tan, Aaron Steinfeld, Colin H. Thorne, Stephen M. Donecker, Benedicte Bougler, Paul Kretz, Dan Empey, Ronald R. Kappesser, Hassan Abou Ghaida, Mike Jenkinson, Stephen R. Owen, Wei-Bin Zhang, Ty A. Lasky, and Bahram Ravani, Principal Investigator, AHMCT Research Report UCD-ARR-00-06-30-02, 101 pp, June 30, 2000.
This final report documents the Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Center's Phase Two development of the Advanced Snowplow (ASP), titled "Development of an Advanced Snowplow Driver Assistance System (ASP-II)."
This work applies Intelligent Vehicle (IV) and Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems (AVCSS) technologies to enhance the safety and efficiency of snow removal. The system developed includes lane position indication and lane departure warning, as well as a forward collision warning system.
The technology has been integrated onto a Caltrans 10-wheel 10-yard plow, and tested through the Winter of 1999 - 2000 in the California Advanced Winter Maintenance Testbed on Interstate 80 near Donner Summit. The system was also tested for three weeks at a similar site on US 180 near Flagstaff, Arizona.
The report provides motivation including a brief history of the previous phase (ASP-I), system overview, major subsystems, and functions. It also describes the Human-Machine Interface (HMI), the magnetic sensing system, and the radar-based Collision Warning System (CWS) in detail. The report also discusses improvements made based on findings from the Phase I research, as well as evaluation, conclusions, and future research.
Roadview Rural Field Test
Click here for full report in pdf format: UCD_ARR_02_06_30_01.pdf
A Rural Field Test of the Roadview System
Kin S. Yen, Han-Shue Tan, Aart-Jan van Zadelhoff, Joanne Lins, Benedicte Bougler, Ken Hawley, Ahmad Nazari, Aaron Steinfeld, Paul Kretz, Vic Reveles, Robert Battersby, Mike Jenkingson, Stephen R. Owen, Wei-Bin Zhang, Ty A. Lasky, and Bahram Ravani, Principal Investigator, AHMCT Research Report UCD-ARR-02-06-30-01, 156 pp, June 30, 2002.
This report documents the AHMCT field-testing of the Roadview Advanced Snowplow (ASP).
Roadview Research Program
Mobile Information System for Snow Fighter Supervisors
Click here for full report in pdf format: UCD_ARR_06_12_31_07.pdf
Development and Field-Operational Testing of a Mobile Real-Time Information System for Snow Fighter Supervisors
Kin S. Yen, Michael T. Darter, Ha Nguyen, Bahram Ravani, and Ty A. Lasky, Principal Investigator, AHMCT Research Report UCD-ARR-06-12-31-07, 90 pp, December 31, 2006.
This report documents the Mobile Real-Time Information System for Snowplow Supervisors (MRTIS) System, a research project undertaken by the Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Laboratory and funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Research and Innovation (DRI) at the time of the projects completion (December 2006) and before the final project demonstration in June of 2007. The MRTIS project researched, designed, built, and field tested a mobile real-time information system for snow fighter supervisors. The system goal is to provide a prototype hardware and software system that provides crucial information to snowplow supervisors while they are in the field. The availability of crucial information in the field may increase their ability to be physically present in the field while they are assisting and communication with other snow fighters, which may improve efficiency, safety, enhance improve resource allocation decisions, and minimize environmental impact. MRTIS uses commodity hardware, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and open-source software to provide a mobile information system. Google Earth is used as a system visualization client integrating sensor data, vehicle paths, and weather information. Wi-Fi wireless and cellular modems are used for communications between vehicles and the winter maintenance operations center. Results show the system is effective at visually integrating different types of information, collecting real-time vehicle locators and road temperatures, and presenting historical information.
Development and Field-Testing of a GPS-Based Mountain Pass Road Opening Driver Assistance System
Click here for full report in pdf format: AhmctMproFinalReport.pdf
Development and Field-Testing of a GPS-Based Mountain Pass Road Opening
Kin S. Yen, Michael T. Darter, Larry Baumeister, Ty A. Lasky, and Bahram Ravani, Principal Investigator, AHMCT Research Report UCD-ARR-06-12-31-08, 86 pp, December 31, 2006.
This report documents the Mountain Pass Road Opening Driver Assistance System (MPRO). Caltrans has eight mountain passes that are closed in the fall and opened each spring. Opening these passes is a difficult and dangerous job with few visual indicators or landmarks to guide experienced snowplow operators. Existing techniques include probing the snow pack with poles, path staking, and active embedded cable systems, which all have associated drawbacks. MPRO used an infrastructure-free approach that uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide a real-time in-cab mountain pass road opening system for rotary plow driver assistance. The system was developed to be portable, easy to install, and sharable among multiple vehicles. Field-testing was completed under a related project in the spring of 2007 and results indicate the system is ready for widespread use within California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Winter Maintenance Operations. Results also indicate promising benefits for deployment on a wider basis for other functional types of Caltrans vehicles.
