Abstract
Future smart cities that will exploit the forthcoming fifth-generation (5G) network will strongly contribute to the development of intelligent transport systems, which will be able to effectively manage changing infrastructural conditions, and to timely exchange crucial information with different stakeholders to improve sustainability and safety. To this end, smart wireless sensing nodes can be effectively exploited. Consequently, the objectives of this study are: 1) to describe the setup and the main potentialities of a wireless sensing system designed for monitoring the environmental and structural conditions on road pavements; 2) to provide an overview about the capability of the 5G network to enable the data exchange required by the designed system. Each sensing node includes different sensors, and is able to send the data gathered from the resource-constrained sensors to a web server used for data processing. Vibrational-, acoustical-, and environmental-related data are used to control traffic pollution, road availability and structural status. The paper describes the in-lab tests carried out on asphalt concrete samples to: i) calibrate the sensors; ii) define structural and environmental thresholds. Results show that the tested node is able to provide reliable data that can be used for the above-described purposes.
Highlights
The implementation of intelligent transport systems (ITSs) that are able to exploit the forthcoming fifth-generation (5G) network can be a key factor for the success of future smart cities
Beside the solutions designed to minimize the effects related to the action mentioned above (such as porous/open graded asphalt concrete (Licitra et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2016), rubberized/poroelastic asphalt concretes (Skov et al, 2014), noise barriers (Ow & Ghosh, 2017; Potvin et al 2019), trench barriers (Yao et al, 2019), heavy mass technology (Mhanna et al, 2014), etc.), it is possible to find a multitude of solutions designed to monitor environmental issues (e.g., air pollution (Wong et al, 2019; Zaldei et al, 2017), noise (Praticò et al, 2017), and structural problems (e.g., system based on remote sensing technologies (Schnebele et al, 2015)
Data gathered by wireless sensing nodes and required to efficiently monitor both environmental and structural conditions of road pavements must be promptly communicated, especially in critical road conditions, to a web server located in the edge of the network deputed to data processing
Summary
The implementation of intelligent transport systems (ITSs) that are able to exploit the forthcoming fifth-generation (5G) network can be a key factor for the success of future smart cities. ITSs consisting of smart wireless sensing nodes installed on road infrastructures, which are able to exchange data using the 5G network, can be used to effectively manage changing environmental and structural conditions, and to timely alert different stakeholders, such as authorities and drivers During their service life, road infrastructures are subjected to several actions, such as loads (or, sometimes, overloads), and/or freeze-thaw cycles, etc., which cause annoyances (such as noise, vibration, and air pollution for dwellers near the roads), or permanent distresses (i.e., pavement failures, such as surface and concealed cracks, deformations, etc.) (Moghaddam et al, 2011; Pais et al, 2013; Praticò et al, 2010; Ye et al, 2018). The forthcoming 5G network answers to this demand by promising data
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