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Heavy traffic to produce slipperiness data for road users

January 2018 by Patrick LEBRETON

A new Finnish invention for detecting black ice, launched last year, has been
taken into use. A recently started two-year project by EEE Innovations Oy,
Finnish Transport Agency and Trafi is harnessing 1000 heavy traffic vehicles
into a data collecting system for enhancing traffic safety. The number includes
buses and trucks to produce real-time slipperiness data through software
installed in them, for the benefit of drivers, operators and other road users.

The method, developed in cooperation with VTT, allows for slippery road
conditions to be detected accurately and even in real time, far more extensively
than by methods currently in use.

 We offer the slipperiness data collected by the vehicles to be used by all
parties in the project. In addition to that, also other information can be
derived from the vehicles through the system, such as location and temperature
data and information on sudden braking situations, says Jarmo Leino of EEE
Innovations Oy, the company that developed the service. - We welcome all
interested transport operators to join the project, there is room still, Leino
continues.
The patented technology is initially offered for heavy traffic, but the
invention can be applied for private vehicles as well in the future.

 The software that is now being implemented can also guide drivers to drive
more economically. In addition to the driver of the vehicle, a warning of
slipperiness detected can be forwarded in real time to the whole fleet and other
operators, for example through map applications. The data can be be utilized for
other purposes as well, such as targeting road maintenance measures, states
Raine Hautala, principal scientist at VTT.

Joining the system does not in most cases require installing any additional
equipment, as it can be implemented by a software update to read the data from
the CAN-bus of the vehicle’s computer. The driver guidance system can be
installed as part of the software already existing in the vehicle, or it can be
installed as a separate entity, including both the driver guidance and
slipperiness detection systems.

 The project enables slipperiness data to be observed far more extensively than
before. Benefits can be expected for road users as well as for road maintenance
operators, says Otto Kärki, maintenance and digitalization expert at
Liikennevirasto, Finnish Transport Agency.

 Real-time slipperiness data is considered a prerequisite for automatic driving
to become more common in winter conditions in a larger scale. The solution
tested in the project could provide a solution to this problem, says Eetu Pilli
 Sihvola, a leading expert at Trafi.

The invention originates from VTT’s heavy traffic research projects, and it has
been piloted in one EU-level project, as well as in Finland. The pilot projects
indicate considerable savings in fuel costs, in addition to improved traffic
safety.


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