Principal Investigator(s):
Rajesh Rajamani, Professor, Chair, Mechanical Engineering
Project summary:
This project focuses on the use of a previously developed friction measurement and applicator control system for winter road maintenance on low-volume roads. The developed friction measurement system will be deployed on two snowplows in Polk County and will be used for automatic control of the burst mode on the Force America applicators on both snowplows. Use of the deployed systems over one winter by the county's snowplow operators will enable in-field evaluation of the value and reliability of the developed technology, including quantification of the resulting reduction in salt use.
The tasks in this project are: 1) Install friction measurement systems on two snowplows. 2) Implement applicator control based on the measured friction coefficient on the two snowplows. 3) Enable recording of vehicle GPS location, measured friction coefficient, and applicator rate data. 4) Help analyze recorded data and train county operators on use of the developed system. 5) Obtain feedback from county personnel on the reliability and value of the developed technology.