In Field Application of an Innovative Sensor for Monitoring Road and Runway Surfaces

Water and ice detection over road and runway surfaces is important to improve traffic safety and to reduce maintenance costs. An innovative low cost capacitive sensor was endowed with an algorithm based on the time derivative of the measured capacitance to indicate the transitions between dry, wet, or icy state of road and runway surfaces. The sensor was investigated theoretically and validated with experiments on field

Experimental Validation of a Sensor Monitoring Ice Formation over a Road Surface

The reliable detection of ice over road surfaces is an important issue for reducing maintenance costs and improving traffic safety. An innovative capacitive sensor was developed to detect the presence of ice on its surface, and its repeatability, stability and reliability were assessed in simulations and experiments described in previous papers. The indications of the sensor are compared in this paper with the objective identification of ice formation or melting over a road surface in laboratory, under dynamic or stationary conditions, using tap water or a solution with 5 % of salt concentration. The sensor provides indications which are in line with the condition of the road surface, with a mean error in the identification of the time instants of ice-wet and wet-ice transitions lower than about 10 and 40 minutes in the case of tap water and salt water, respectively, both under different temperature gradients or in stationary conditions. Moreover, the indication provided by the sensor always anticipates the formation of ice over the road surface

Smartphone and Bluetooth Smart Sensor Usage in IoT Applications

Bluetooth Low Energy is an interesting short-range radio technology that could be used for connecting tiny devices into the Internet of Things (IoT) through gateways or cellular networks. For example, they are widely used in various contexts, from building and home automation to wearables. This paper proposes a method to improve the use of smartphones with a smart wireless sensor network acquisition system through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). A new BLE Smart Sensor, which acquires environmental data, was designed and calibration methods were performed. A detailed deviation is calculated between reference sensor and sensor node. The data obtained from laboratory experiments were used to evaluate battery life of the node. An Android application for devices such as Smartphones and Tablets can be used to collect data from a smart sensor, which becomes more accurate