Response of Smartphones to Roadway Surface Irregularities

Abstract

Smartphones are ubiquitous all over the world. As they are carried while travelling, their in-built accelerometers should feel the irregularities of the roadway as they are felt by the passengers. Investigations are carried out for the response of smartphones to roadway surface irregularities when they are carried by the passengers. A range of road vehicles is mathematically modeled as mass, spring, and damper systems. The dynamic response of the phone while passing over a road bump is estimated using the model. The accelerometer of a smartphone is characterized by oscillating them on a shaker in the laboratory and comparing the results with that of high precision accelerometers. The response of the smartphones while travelling in different classes of vehicles is recorded. The recorded acceleration signals have been filtered and compared with the predictions of the theoretical model. There is excellent correlation between the theoretical and experimental results. The theoretical data is compared with the experimental data to ascertain the veracity of smartphone in recording data for road surface monitoring. Thus, smartphones have he potential to automatically monitor the surface quality of roadways obviating costly manual inspections. The methodology has the potential to involve user community in the maintenance of infrastructure.