Clear Roads: Plug & Play II

Presented by Thomas Peters, MnDOT

Adapted from Scott Petersen, SRF Consulting

Final Presentation for Clear Roads Project 14-04

Presentation Overview

• Description of Need

• Literature Review

• Agency Survey Results

• Industry Survey Results

• Conclusion/Recommendations

Description of Need

• Agencies need a standardized way to communicate with the plow fleet

• Current software is generally proprietary and limits agency and equipment interoperability

Literature Review

Communication Diagram

Cellular

Radio Link

Wi-Fi

Literature Review

DOTs commonly use AVL/GPS systems for:• Snow Control Efficiency

• Vehicle Routing Efficiency

• Vehicle Tracking in Remote Areas

• Recording Vehicle Usage History

• Obtaining Real-time Road Conditions

• Measuring Bed Weight and Material Usage

• Capturing Roadway Images

Venner, M., GPS/AVL Technologies in Use at State DOTs. 2011.

Literature Review

Example Protocol

Source: Edelstein, J. Message Syntax Summary and Data Dictionary. 2013.

Communications Schematic

Spreader Controller

Communications

Office/Head End System

Other Plug and Play Devices

AVL Positioning

Data Management Controller

On-Vehicle Devices

Non-Plugand Play Devices

Agency Survey ResultsVehicle Data Types

Agency Survey Results Spreader Data Types

Agency Survey Results Other Data Types

Industry Survey

• A survey was sent to freight industry representatives to learn about their methods for communicating information between freight trucks and management systems.

• The freight industry generally uses proprietary “cloud-based” network operations centers to receive data from trucks.

Industry Survey Results

• Freight data is generally more basic than the needs identified by the agencies:

• Vehicle information directly accessible from the CAN bus

• Location data

• Driver and load data

Industry Survey Results

• Primarily two off-the-shelf proprietary vehicle information systems are used by the large freight companies:

• PeopleNet

• Qualcomm’s Omnitracs

• Some large freight companies have custom proprietary systems.

Industry Survey Results

• It is generally been considered to be in the public’s interest to invest in open systems that encourage cooperation between vendors.

• The needs of the winter maintenance community appear to be more extensive than those of the freight industry.

Solutions developed for the freight industry do not currently meet the needs found during the agency survey

Conclusion/Recommendations

Plug and Play should be a family of standards

Snow plows have disparate sources of data that do not interoperate. Future systems and standards are being currently developed and implemented. A new master protocol that carries all data types is not feasible and therefore a family of standards is recommended.

Conclusion/Recommendations

Plug and Play Family of Standards

• Plug and Play Clear Roads Universal In-Cab Performance Specifications: Contains protocols for interconnecting AVL and spreader controller devices

• NTCIP 1204: Contains many environmental conditions as well as location

• J2735 and J2945: Dedicated Short Range Communications

• MDSS protocols: Convey MDSS information to/from the driver interface and the head end system

• Future protocols that meet the needs of the road/weather community

Conclusion/Recommendations

FHWA Role

• As automotive industry communication standards are developed, FHWA will encourage them to go through the systems engineering process including requirements definition and to make sure the road/weather parameters are not overlooked.

State Procurement Role

• As states develop procurement documentation, encourage the industry to meet standards/protocols.

• States need to develop boilerplate procurement language that will facilitate the transition to Plug and Play standards.

Contact

• Plug and Play Phase II –Clear Roads Project 14-04

• Subcommittee Lead:Allen Williams, Virginia DOT

• Clear Roads Projects Manager:Greg Waidley, Clear Roads

• Principal Investigator:Scott Petersen, SRF Consulting Group