Transcript Allison Hardt-

High Value Research Sweet Sixteen
Maryland State Highway Administration
Allison Hardt
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Lack of available truck parking is a significant safety
concern nationwide.
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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.
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
To develop an inexpensive and scalable wireless sensor
network prototype and establish the architecture for realtime detection of trucks in truck parking facilities.
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
The sensing component: microcontrollers using IEEE 802.15.4
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.
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Deployed and tested at the I-95 North Welcome Center
from January 2013 to May 2013.
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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.
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Completely anonymous so privacy of drivers is not
compromised.

Independent of parking layout.
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Real-time parking availability information and
historical facility usage data can be analyzed to
facilitate efficient operations.
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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.
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Internal buy-in
◦ Sensors are buried in pavement. Some engineers are opposed to
having them installed.
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Contact:
Allison Hardt
Maryland State Highway Administration
410-545-2916
[email protected]
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