An in-road sensing device for pavement health monitoring using internet of things and signal processing

Abstract

Continuous pavement health monitoring detects the early degradation of pavement structures and extends the lifetime thereof by informing predictive maintenance actions. The high cost of traditional pavement condition monitoring techniques however restricts the frequent use of conventional pavement condition assessment methods. Therefore, a need exists for a method that enables low cost, high coverage, and continuous monitoring of pavement structures. This paper presents the specification, design, development and testing of a low-cost wireless self-powered in-road sensing device that continuously assesses pavement condition and communicates outcomes to a central maintenance system. Unlike traditional systems, the proposed solution combines a suite of different sensors to provide valuable insight into all major factors that affect pavement health. Measurands, including the pavement deflection at the time of vehicular loading, temperature, humidity, and moisture content are captured at different layers of the pavement structure. Low-cost accelerometers accurately measure the acceleration of the pavement material, and an on-board processor converts this information to a compact set of pavement condition outcomes that are communicated to a hub using a LoRa sensor network that combines long read range, low power consumption and sufficient communication speed. A solar cell and battery provide continuous power to the system, allowing 24/7 operation even in dense traffic conditions. Our results demonstrate that the design objectives can be satisfied using affordable off-the-shelf electronic components, justifying practical deployment of this concept.