The Smart Road: Practice and Concept

Lijun Sun , Hongduo Zhao , Huizhao Tu , Yu Tian

Engineering ›› 2018, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (4) : 436 -437.

PDF (238KB)
Engineering ›› 2018, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (4) :436 -437. DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2018.07.014
News & Highlights
News & Highlights
The Smart Road: Practice and Concept
Author information +
History +
PDF (238KB)

Cite this article

Download citation ▾
Lijun Sun, Hongduo Zhao, Huizhao Tu, Yu Tian. The Smart Road: Practice and Concept. Engineering, 2018, 4(4): 436-437 DOI:10.1016/j.eng.2018.07.014

登录浏览全文

4963

注册一个新账户 忘记密码

1. The smart road: Practice

The concept of a super highway for intelligent connected vehicles and autonomous vehicles has been proposed in China, and pilot projects have been initiated. These projects include: modular pavement instrumented with distributed optical fiber, which has been built in Shanghai; self-healing asphalt pavements and self-snow-melting systems, which have been built in several provinces; and roads with humidity self-regulating subgrade, which have been built in Hunan Province. Most recently, according to a report in The New York Times, in December 2017, the construction of a photovoltaic pavement was completed on the expressway in Jinan, Shandong Province [1]. The section is 1080 m long and has three layers. The surface layer is constructed from a transparent material that allows sunlight to reach the solar panels underneath, which cover two lanes. This layer is also instrumented with power cables and sensors to monitor temperature, traffic flow, and axle load. Although the technology required to charge electrical vehicles (EVs) in motion is not yet ready, the ultimate goal of the photovoltaic pavement is to extend the driving range of EVs by charging them while they drive. The section was constructed by Qilu Transportation Development Group Co., which has been working on this technology for over a decade. Qilu reports that the cost of the test section was around 1100 USD·m−2; this cost can be reduced by mass production to 500 USD·m−2—a cost that is projected to be acceptable for mass adoption.

2. The smart road: Definition and philosophy

A “smart road” can be defined as road infrastructure that is integrated with advanced network and communication technologies. In other words, a smart road is composed of advanced structural materials, perceptive networks, information centers, communication networks, and energy systems, and possesses the capabilities of active perception, automatic discrimination, self-adaptation, dynamic interaction, and continuous energy supply [2]. Compared with a conventional road, a smart road should be able to extend its service life [3], increase its performance, reduce safety risks, and improve service quality.

The philosophy behind a smart road is centered on the realization of intelligent capabilities such as those mentioned above [4]. Various technologies can be used in the development and use of a smart road, including intelligent materials, distributed optical fibers, intelligent film, piezoelectric devices, traditional sensors, and so forth.

A smart road relies on smart materials or sensors to actively monitor its own status, performance, environment, and behavior [5,6]; it then automatically calibrates, integrates, manages, analyzes, diagnoses, and evaluates the collected data. Based on the processed results, the smart road can further self-adapt to changes in temperature, humidity, traffic, and so forth, and can actively regulate and repair any damage. Meanwhile, the smart road can dynamically interact with external factors using perception and discrimination. A smart road should be a self-sustaining system that maintains all the aforementioned functions using self-generated power.

Information organization is a key factor in smart road implementation [7,8]. Within the transportation system, a road-to-everything (R2X) system must be built, with an equivalent vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system; a vehicle-road-to-everything (VR2X) system must also be created to support a vehicle-road integrated system. Information within the vehicle-road integrated system can be effectively organized by relying on a transportation information modeling platform with four components, known as the TIM4 platform. The TIM4 platform is composed of transportation driver information modeling (TDIM), transportation vehicle information modeling (TVIM), transportation building information modeling (TBIM), and transportation environment information modeling (TEIM). Based on the requirements for communication speed and data volume, the information can be classified into four categories: dynamic, quasi-dynamic, quasi-static, and static. Different communication methods can be used to achieve information exchange between the various elements in the transportation system.

The envisioned future transportation system can be characterized as a “five-zero” system, with zero casualties, zero delays, zero maintenance, zero emissions, and zero failure. The realization of such a system requires the interactions between elements and the coordination of each element in the transportation system (i.e., people, vehicles, the road, and the environment) to be considered from a systematic optimization point of view.

References

Publishing order | Descend order by publishing year | Descend order by cited within
[1]

Free Power From Freeways? China is Testing Roads Paved with Solar Panels. The New York Times 2018 Jun 12;Sect. B:1.
[2]

Zhao H, Wu D. Definition, function, and framework construction of a smart road. In: Proceedings of 2015 International Symposium on Frontiers of Road and Airport Engineering; 2015 Oct 26–28; Shanghai, China. Reston: American Society of Civil Engineer; 2015. p. 204–18.
[3]

Lamb MJ, Collis R, Deix S, Krieger B, Hautiere N. The forever open road: defining the next generation road. In: 24th World Road Congress proceedings: roads for a better life: mobility, sustainability and development; 2011 Sep 26–30; Mexico City, Mexico. Paris: Permanent International Association of Road Congresses; 2013.
[4]

Zhao H., Zhu X., Tu H., Yang Z.. Concept and framework of smart pavement. J Tongji Univ (Nat Sci). 2017; 45(8): 1131-1135. Chinese
[5]

Lajnef N, Chatti K, Chakrabartty S, Rhimi M, Sarkar P. Smart pavement monitoring system. McLean: Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center; 2013 May. Report No.: FHWA-HRT-12-072. Contract No.: DTFH61-08-C-00015.
[6]

Hautière N, Bourquin F. Instrumentation and monitoring of the next gen road infrastructure: some results and perspectives from the R5G project [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 19th European Geosciences Union General Assembly; 2017 Apr 23–28; Vienna, Austria; 2017. p. 18874.
[7]

Li Q., Xiong W., Li Y.. System architecture and enabling technologies of intelligent roadway system. J Transp Syst Eng Inf Technol. 2008; 8(1): 40-48. Chinese
[8]

Bender J.G.. An overview of systems studies of automated highway systems. IEEE Trans Vehicular Technol. 1991; 40(1): 82-99.

Funding

()

PDF (238KB)

3267

Accesses

0

Citation

Detail
Sections
Recommended

/

〈 〉