Real-Time Monitoring System

The University of Oklahoma Hazem Refai, Ph.D.

NATMEC

June 5, 2012 Dallas, TX

Outline: • Motivation • Brief Review of FHWA Section 1201

– Real-Time System Management Information Program • State Traffic Data Monitoring and Collection Systems • Project Objectives • AVC/WIM System Development—Extending

Continuous Count Site Capabilities. • Real-Time Backend Server and Applications • Data Validation Software Solution • Conclusion • Acknowledgment

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 3

Motivation: FHWA—Real Time System Management Information Program: To provide the capability to monitor, in real-time, the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that information to improve surface transportation system security, address congestions, improve response to weather events and surface transportation incidents, and to facilitate national and regional highway traveler information.

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 4

FHWA Section 1201: Real-Time System Management Information Program

•Traffic and travel conditions reporting: –Report traffic and travel conditions along the metropolitan

Interstate highways and other routes of significance. –Metropolitan Interstate highways to be completed by

November 8, 2014. –Other routes of significance to be completed by November

8, 2016. •“Full Construction activities” reporting:

–Report close and reopen roads or lanes. –10 minutes or less for highways within metropolitan areas. –20 minutes or less for highways outside of metropolitan

areas

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 5

FHWA Section 1201: Real-Time System Management Information Program cont’d

•Roadway or lane blocking incidents and events reporting

–Report the time when the traffic incident is verified. •Roadway Weather Observations reporting:

–Report confirmed weather conditions that result in hazardous driving conditions or roadway and lane closures.

–20 minutes or less of notice of a changed condition. • Data quality reporting:

–Develop procedures for measuring and ensuring the quality of the information provided under the real-time

system management information program.

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 6

State Traffic Data Monitoring and Collection Systems

•Intelligent Transportation System –Monitors traffic and travel time information

–Uses radars and camera. –Available in major metropolitan Interstate highways

–Real-time •Data Collection System

–Collects traffic volume, speed, and classifications and weigh-in-motion information.

–Uses automatic vehicle classifiers (AVCs) and weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems.

–Available across the State’s roadways and highways. –Non-real-time.

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 7

Project Objectives:

• Extend the capabilities of AVCs and WIM systems by outfitting the sites with inexpensive hardware and software solutions.

• Develop a backend server for data collections and visualization of real-time traffic, weather, and road surface conditions.

• Develop software solutions to validate data quality. • Automate the the system and its processes. • Integrate into the State real-time system

management information program.

8 NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX

But First, is AVC data useful for real-time systems?

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 9

•Improve AVC/WIM Internet connectivity •Deploy embedded computing system

•Interface weather station •Interface road surface temperature probe(s)

Extending AVC/WIM capabilities

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 10

ODOT Data Collection system Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) has approximately 80 Peek ADR 2000 devices and 20 IRD iSINC Lite.

•Maps of state or metro scale. •Color Coded

•Click on icon for more details NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 11

Extending AVC/WIM Capabilities—Wireless Connectivity

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 12

Cellular Network

•Widely, available •Easily provisioned wherever there is a tower

•Highways are a special service target for service providers •High data rate – service providers constantly upgrading

•Low latency •IP enabled – connections can be handled in parallel

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 13

•REECE – Roadside Embeddable Extensible Computing Equipment

Extending AVC/WIM capabilities—Embedded Computing

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 14

REECE Device Capabilities

•Full Linux O/S –IP Addressable

–Direct Device Communication or Server Control Available •Connectivity

–8 RS-232 Serial Ports –4 USB Ports

–16 channel 16-bit 100KHz A/D Converter –Fast Ethernet

–… and more.

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 15

REECE Device Capabilities

•Low Power Consumption –9.4W fully loaded

–Successfully deployed on 80W solar panels and 200Amp/hour battery.

•High Temperature Tolerance –-40˚F to 185˚F •Input Power

–7-25VDC –External Step-Down enables AC or different voltages •Optional Out of Band Management Available

•Wireless Device Auto-Detection of Supported Devices •Flash storage (1 Gbyte)

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 16

Every 15 minutes

Main Server accessible by ODOT

Extending AVC/WIM capabilities—Weather Station

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 17

Weather Station

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 18

Temperature of the ground below the surface of the road

Extending AVC/WIM Capabilities—Road Surface Condition- Temperature Probes

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 19

•ODOTPeekScheduler –Daemon checks SQL database of registered sites

–Schedules downloads –Select devices that have not been monitored in the last N

minute- run download program. –Logs result of download process

•ODOTMonitor –Checks download process log for exceptions

–Generates alerts to configurable email addresses •ODOTRealTimeProcessor

–Implements real-time data processing –Update database

–Presents information

Real-Time Back-End Server and Applications

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 20

Real-Time—Traffic data: Classes

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 21

Real-Time—Traffic data: Speed

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 22

23

Real-Time—Weather Data

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX

Validation Software Solution

•Monitor the wireless network and Internet connectivity.

•Monitor the health of sensors, AVCs, and WIM systems.

•Examine traffic data for unusual traffic patterns: excessive zeros, classes, speed, vehicle rate, etc.

•Examine real-time traffic data with historical data per site, lane, date, and time.

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 24

• General errors: ADR, network, or others • Long-term overview

Validation and Error Visualization

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 25

Validation—Excessive Zeros

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 26

Validation—Excessive Vehicle Rate

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 27

Validation—Excessive Vehicle Rate

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 28

Validation—Excessive Classes

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 29

Validation— Historical Traffic Data

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 30

Conclusions •States have many components to implement FHWA

real-time system management information program. •States need to take advantage of their investment in

traffic data collection systems. •With minimal additional investment, Non-real-time

AVCs and WIM systems could be used to monitor traffic flows, roadway incidents, and road surface conditions.

•Backend server(s) and databases required for real-time traffic data processing and dissemination.

•Data validation is essential to guarantee the quality of the provided information

31 NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX

Acknowledgement

•The work has been funded by the Oklahoma Transportation Center as well as the Department of Transportation.

•In particular, I thank Lester Harragarra (ODOT retiree), Aaron Fridrich (Data Collection Branch Manager), and Brian Thompson (Automatic Traffic Section Supervisor).

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 32

Thank you

hazem@ou.edu

NATMEC 2012- Dallas, TX 33

VPN Network, fault tolerant, and Security