Cars as a Diffuse Network of Road-Environment Monitoring Nodes

Marco Allegretti¹, Silvano Bertoldo²

¹Envisens Technologies s.r.l., Torino, Italy.
²CINFAI (Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Fisica delle Atmosfere e delle Idrosfere), c/o Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/wsn.2014.69018                

Abstract

The present paper aims to describe the conceptual idea to use cars as sensors to measure and acquire data related road environment. The parameters are collected using only standard equipment commonly installed and operative on commercial cars. Real sensors and car sub-systems (e.g. thermometers, accelerometers, ABS, ESP, and GPS) together with other “implicit” sensors (e.g. fog lights, windscreen wipers) acquire and contain information. They are shared inside an in-vehicle communication network using mainly the standard CAN bus and can be collected by a simple central node. This node can also be available on the market without too expensive costs thanks to some companies which business is devoted to car fleet monitoring. All the collected data are then geolocalized using a standard GPS receiver and sent to a remote elaboration unit, exploiting mobile network technologies such as GPRS or UMTS. A large number of cars, connected together in a diffuse Wireless Sensor Network, allow the elaboration unit to realize some info-layers put at the disposal of a car driver. Traffic, state of the road and other information about the weather can be received by car drivers using an ad hoc developed mobile application for smartphone which can give punctual information related to a specific route, previously set on the mobile phone navigator. The description of some experimental activities is presented, some technical points will be addressed and some examples of applications of the network of cars “as sensors” will be given.

Keywords

Cars, Meteorological Sensor, Traffic Sensor, Weather, Wireless Sensor Network, WSN, Cars as a Sensor, Commercial Sensors, Car Sensors, Road Environment Sensors, Environment Monitoring

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Gabella, M., Notarpietro, R., Bertoldo, S., Prato, A., Lucianaz, C., Rorato, O., Allegretti, M. and Perona, G. (2012) A Network of Portable, Low-Cost, X-Band Radars. In: Bech, J., Ed., Doppler Radar Observations—Weather Radar, Wind Profiler, Ionospheric Radar, and Other Advanced Applications, InTech, 175-202.
[2]	Stern, A.D., Shah, V.P., Biesecker, K.J. and Yeung, C. (2007) Vehicle as Mobile Sensing Platforms for Meteorological Observations: A First Look. Proceedings of the 87th AMS Annual Meeting, 23rd Conference on IIPS, San Antonio, 15-18 January 2007. https://ams.confex.com/ams/87ANNUAL/techprogram/paper_118986.htm
[3]	Crawford, D. (2012) Pioneering Sensors Collect Weather Data from Moving Vehicles. ITS International, Swanley. http://www.itsinternational.com/sections/nafta/features/pioneering-sensors-collect-weather-data-from-moving-vehicles
[4]	Drobot, S., Chapman, M., Shuler, E., Wiener, G., Mahoney, W., Pisano, P. and McKeever B. (2009) Improving Road Weather Hazard Products with Vehicle Probe—The Vehicle Probe Data Translator Quality Check Procedures. Transportation Research Record—Journal of Transportation Research Board, 2169/2010, 128-140.
[5]	Fleming, W.J. (2008) New Automotive Sensors—A Review. IEEE Sensors Journal, 8, 1900-1921. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2008.2006452
[6]	D’Orazio, L., Visintainer, F. and Darin, M. (2011) Sensor Networks on the Car: State of the Art and Future Challenges. Proceedings of Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conference & Exhibition (DATE), Grenoble, 14-18 March 2011, 1-6.
[7]	(1994) J2056/1 Class C Application Requirements Classifications. SAE Handbook. Soc. Automotive Eng. (SAE), Warrendale.
[8]	(1994) J2056/2 Survey of Known Protocols. SAE Handbook, Vol. 2, Soc. Automotive Eng. (SAE), Warrendale.
[9]	(1994) Road Vehicle, Low Speed Serial Data Communication—Part 2: Low Speed Controller Area Network. International Standard ISO 11519-2:1994.
[10]	Allegretti, M., Bertoldo, S., Prato, A., Lucianaz, C., Rorato, O., Notarpietro, R. and Gabella, M. (2012) X-Band Mini Radar for Observing and Monitoring Rainfall Events. Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, 2, 290-297. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/acs.2012.23026
[11]	Upton, G.J.G., Holt, A.R., Cummings, R.J., Rahimi, A.R. and Goddard, J.W.F. (2005) Microwave Links: The Future for Urban Rainfall Measurement? Atmospheric Research, 77, 300-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.10.009
[12]	De Jong, S. (2010) Low Cost Disdrometer. Master Thesis Report, TU Delft, Delft.
[13]	Leijnse, H., Uijlenhoet, R. and Stricker, J.N.M. (2007) Rainfall Measurement Using Radio Links from Cellular Communication Networks, Water Resources Research, 43, Article ID: W03201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005631
[14]	Haberland, U. and Sester, M. (2010) Areal Rainfall Estimation Using Moving Cars as Rain Gauges—A Modelling Study. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14, 1139-1151. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1139-2010
[15]	Rabie, E., Haberland, U., Sester, M. and Fitzner, D. (2013) Rainfall Estimation Using Moving Cars as Rain Gauges— Laboratory Experiments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17, 4701-4712. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4701-2013
[16]	Krajewski, W.F. and Smith, J.A. (2002) Radar Hydrology: Rainfall Estimation. Advances in Water Resources, 25, 1387-1394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1708(02)00062-3
[17]	Lengfeld, K., Zacharias, S. and Ament, F. (2013) Using a Small Scale Wireless Sensor Network for Model Validation: Two Case Studies. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 22, 283-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2013/0422