High Value Research Sweet Sixteen Maryland State Highway Administration Allison Hardt
Lack of available truck parking is a significant safety concern nationwide. The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) has an interactive truck parking website and mobile app, but real-time information on parking availability is not yet provided. 2
To develop an inexpensive and scalable wireless sensor network prototype and establish the architecture for real- time detection of trucks in truck parking facilities. 3
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The sensing component: microcontrollers using IEEE protocol measure the magnetic field at parking spots, powered by two 1.5v AAA batteries. The collecting component: same type of microcontrollers collect the data measured by the sensors and forward the data to remote servers. Powered by solar panels and lithium acid batteries were used as backup. The processing component: a TCP/IP data logger application is designed for receiving the incoming packets from collectors and saving data in the database located at remote stations. The processing application processes the data, and updates the status of each spot in real time. The user interface (UI) component enables remote connection to the servers and parking availability updates in real-time. 5
D eployed and tested at the I-95 North Welcome Center from January 2013 to May Several experiments were conducted and ground truth information was also collected to measure the system performance. The overall error rate during the experiment was 3.75%. ◦ It can potentially be lowered by using more sensors at each spot and adding repeaters to avoid signal blockage. 6
Completely anonymous so privacy of drivers is not compromised. Independent of parking layout. Real-time parking availability information and historical facility usage data can be analyzed to facilitate efficient operations. 7
How to provide information to truck drivers ◦ Mobile app may not be a good choice – the use of cell phones while driving is prohibited in Maryland. ◦ Overhead variable message signs (VMS) could be a better choice, except that a VMS is not always available immediately upstream of a truck parking facility. The gap between a university research prototype to a commercial product ◦ If SHA wants a full deployment, it could take a long time to get the sensors in the ground. Internal buy-in ◦ Sensors are buried in pavement. Some engineers are opposed to having them installed. 8
Contact: Allison Hardt Maryland State Highway Administration