HERMES

"Innovative, Highly Efficient Road Surface Measurement and Control System"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'One of the most important aims in today’s transport systems is the security they provide. Even-though in air and rail transports we have managed to have extremely low accident and death rates this is not the case with road transport. The majority of the EU countries are now heading towards “the Vision Zero philosophy” in which road deaths become as unacceptable as they are in a factory, in the air or on a railway. However in order to reach this aim several improvements are needed in numerous area including cars, drivers and roads. The HERMES project aims at improving this last factor, the road, by proposing a novel road quality measurement solution based on a pioneering approach. The proposed system enables, for the first time, measurements of both the longitudinal and transversal profiles of a road to be simultaneously undertaken from a specially equipped vehicle travelling at normal road speeds and at a low infrastructure cost. This approach represents a significant advancement in the state of the art by eliminating the requirement for an inertial reference level whilst, additionally, improving accuracy of measurements by providing a solution for resolving errors otherwise resulting from the dynamics of a moving vehicle, Moreover, within HERMES the road profile measurements will be integrated with their precise geographical location while an innovative toolset for data analysis will be developed so as to allow the efficient processing of the huge amounts of data collected by the HERMES vehicles. In general, HERMES augments the traditional road roughness indices by additionally identifying and pinpointing locations requiring urgent repair to result in improved safety for road users, while those locations can be identified with very high accuracy, low-cost and at normal road speeds.This latter is very important since in large countries the national road network requires the measuring and maintenance of thousands of kilometers per year.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A moving road vehicle equipped with cutting-edge systems will map road issues, highlight repairs, help optimise traffic and help drivers avoid trouble spots. This will make drivers safer than ever.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

As fatal road accidents continue to diminish, the EU is steadily moving towards 'Vision Zero'. The concept revolves around making deaths on the road as unacceptable as they are in a factory or in other transport modes such as air or rail. This, however, requires significant improvements related to road networks, drivers and cars.

The EU-funded project 'Innovative, highly efficient road surface measurement and control system' (http://www.hermesroadmeasurement.eu/ (HERMES)) is working on improving road infrastructure through better measurement of roads to facilitate safety enhancement and maintenance. Through a purpose-built vehicle that circulates at normal speeds, the system can measure both transversal and longitudinal planes simultaneously, detecting road issues (e.g. potholes, roughness) and documenting urgent repairs. It also integrates geographical location simultaneously to facilitate data collection and processing.

Importantly, the new system is not only very precise but also much less costly than other systems currently in use. This is ideal for countries in northern climates where cycles of freezing and thawing generally ruin roads every year. It is also pivotal for reducing fuel consumption and longer journeys that result from sub-optimal road conditions.

In addition, more frequent road surveys can ultimately be inputted into route optimisation applications, providing safer and better choices for travellers. Also on the digital front, the system has the ability to transmit road conditions to drivers so they can pre-empt issues and alter their driving behaviour or route accordingly.

Already, the project team has defined hardware and software specifications for the system, including measurement parameters, power requirements, laser characteristics and data storage formats. It has analysed and selected various components such as cameras, lenses, lasers, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation equipment, computer unit and controller, in addition to defining the complete architecture of the system.

Armed with solid design prototypes, the team is currently making progress on completing the laser, camera, GPS and navigation sub-systems. Once ready, the system will help road authorities achieve good ride quality in their road network, reduce fuel consumption and help maintain vehicles in better shape.