GPS Coordinated Pothole Mapping Nick Angelini Jose Brache Matthew Gdula Craig Shevlin Advisors: Prof

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GPS Coordinated Pothole MappingNick Angelini
Jose Brache Matthew Gdula
Craig ShevlinAdvisors Professor Fred Looft,
Professor Fabio Carrera, Professor Mike
CiaraldiDepartment of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Abstract
5. System Integration
The goal of this capstone design project was to
design a fully automated data collection system
that could be installed in any automotive vehicle
to monitor road or highway pavement conditions.
The system is based on recording and analyzing
the output from an accelerometer mounted near a
front wheel shock absorber. The data from the
accelerometer is time and position tagged with
GPS data from a small, low power, OEM GPS unit
and stored to a DOS compatible file on a Compact
Flash card interfaced to the internal embedded
processor system. The prototype system is
powered from a power outlet for up to a week of
data collection. Once data is collected, the
Compact Flash card is downloaded into a desktop
system after which Geographical Information
System (GIS) software is used to remap the GPS
surface roughness data to a physical location on
a user viewable city map. The prototype is
intended to be placed in city vehicles that roam
about the city in order to map these potholes.
This system can aid cities in the efficient
release of road repair crew and lower the costs
to the city due to civilian automobile damages.

• Modules were designed and tested individually.
• After verifying modular functionality, all
  modules were integrated and the system was
  tested.

Antenna
GPS Receiver
LCD Display
RS232
Motherboard
Health Safety
Microcontroller
Pothole Board
Power Source (Cigarette Lighter)
ADC
Compact Flash
1. Background
According to the American Society of Civil
Engineers Report Card for Americas
Infrastructure, poor road conditions cost US
motorists 54 billion in vehicle repairs and
operating costs, 2.3 billion coming from
Massachusetts motorists. The report also states
that, 71 of Massachusetts major roads are in
poor or mediocre condition. Massachusetts has
made strides to repair the infrastructure, i.e.
the Fix-it-First policy which was passed in
2003 that gives priority to the repair of
existing streets, roads and bridges, but still
faces many difficulties in preventing damages.
Accelerometer Sensor
6. Experimental Setup

• GPS receiver, LCD display, and power supplies
  were all assembled with motherboard inside an
  enclosure.
• Accelerometer board was coated in epoxy to avoid
  environmental damage.
• Accelerometer board was placed in the wheel well
  and cables run to data logging system located in
  the inside of the car.
• Test runs were made around Worcester, MA.

2. Project Objectives

• To design a fully automated data collection
  system that can be installed in any automotive
  vehicle to monitor road or highway pavement
  conditions.
• Use Geographical Information System software to
  remap the GPS surface roughness data on a user
  viewable city map.

GPS Receiver
3. Methodology

• Selected and tested multiple accelerometers in
  vehicles.
• Designed and simulated pothole detector circuit
  under software control.
• Implemented and tested design in the field.
• Interfaced microcontroller with GPS, LCD, and
  pothole detection circuitry.
• Used Graphical Information System (GIS) software
  to display our results

LCD Display
System Enclosure
4. Design

• Prototype was designed onto PCB boards so the
  device could be enclosed efficiently.
• Each module has its own function.
• Accelerometer board is the sensor placed near
  the shock absorber of a vehicle. The signal
  from the accelerometer board is transmitted via
  cable to an enclosure containing the pothole
  board and the microcontroller. The
  microcontroller processes the filtered and
  conditioned signal from the pothole board and,
  under software control, stores GPS coordinates
  of potholes on onboard memory.

Accelerometer Board Placement
7. Results

• During the test runs, various points were
  collected in the Worcester, MA area.
• Shown below, points are easily made visible with
  the use of Geographical Information System
  (GIS) software.

10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010
10101010101010101010101010101010101010100101010101
01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
010101010101010101010101010101010
8. Conclusions
Pothole Board
Microcontroller

• Successfully implemented a GPS-GIS pothole
  mapping system.
• System can be easily redesigned to fit smaller
  enclosures.
• User interface can be easily updated for other
  functions and applications.
• Improvements might include
• Wireless accelerometers.
• Use of multiple accelerometers (1 per each
  wheel).
• Should develop constant logging function for
  road smoothness data.
• Algorithms should be developed to better map
  road conditions.
• System could potentially lower the percentage of
  damaged roads by properly allocating road
  repair resources.

Motherboard
Motherboard with Pothole and Microcontroller
daughter boards.