Our colleague Jaime Antona took part in the contest for young professionals of the Technical Road Association (ATC in Spanish) with the submission: “Tool for Early Anomaly Detection in Data-collection Stations”. The tool is based on the study of available historical data for each loop and its modelling.
These loops are “squares” arranged in line in the surface of the road and are part of the measuring systems that calculate a set of parameters of the road traffic passing through that section.
The designed tool allows us to know if the measurements provided by each loop fall within the expected range, compared to the data in the station records. In this way, most of the preventive maintenance actions and manual operational checks can be dispensed with, since there is no need to check a system if we know in advance that the data provided is correct.
With certain nuances it could be applied to any road, even before the road is open to traffic, since parameters of similar operative sections can be considered. This allows the estimate of road traffic parameters before and after its opening, facilitating the decision making.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the support and help of Manuel Muelas during the development of the work.