ABSTRACT
Smartphones can be used to collect real-world information to address the lack of data on the frequency and magnitude of heavy vehicle braking events which was encountered during project AGB 2011/003 (Updated Braking Forces for Road Bridges). The current research aims to obtain a large database of deceleration profiles and to accurately estimate the frequency of braking events per road type by instrumenting a fleet of heavy vehicles in order to improve the previously developed model. For this purpose, Android applications have been developed to collect acceleration, gyroscope and GPS data. Preliminary tests were conducted to validate the use of smartphones against a high-precision system to ensure the accuracy of both acceleration and GPS measurements. The results of a pilot test, conducted by instrumenting one heavy vehicle before the start of the 22-vehicle test campaign, are presented here. This pilot test demonstrates that the smartphone can provide accurate results, resulting in a significant cost reduction compared to traditional measurement systems.
