Practical method for estimating road curvatures using onboard GPS and IMU equipment

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental method to determine with high accuracy the curvature of a road segment, the turning radius of a car, and the discomfort level perceived by the passengers in the vehicle cabin when passing through a curve. For these experiments we used professional equipment provided with two GPS active antennas with 13 dB gain featuring non-contact 100 Hz speed and distance measurement, and a ten degree Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with dynamic orientation outputs. The same experimental measurements also usedthe low cost GPS equipment available on smartphones, domestic vehicle GPS devices, as well as an Arduino GPS shield in order to compare the results generated by professional equipment. The purpose of these experiments was also to establish if certain road curve sections were correctly executed in order to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. Another use of the proposed method relates to the road accident reconstruction field, providing experts and forensics with an accurate method of measuring the roadway curvature at accident scenes or traffic events. The research and equipment described in this paper have been acquired and developed under a PhD studyand a European funded project won and elaborated by the authors.