Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PAVE-SCAN (PAVEment SCANning with EGNSS Technology for Accurate Assessment)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30
The project aims at the development to market (TRL8-9) of EGNSS-based integrated low-cost sensor technologies and artificial-intelligence-driven open-architecture software solution (machine learning (ML) and machine vision (MV)), for the detection, classification, and georeferencing of roadway pavement surface anomalies and for the low-cost assessment of roadway pavements using participatory sensing. The proposed system is of practical importance, as it provides continuous information about roadway pavement surface anomalies, which are valuable for efficiently monitoring the transport infrastructure and ensuring public safety. The vision for roadway condition assessment by utilization of smartphone-like technology is set in parallel with the hypothesis that such technology can be used for crowd-sourced data collection and analysis in GIS-based pavement management systems (PMS), and that the developed technology and related transport informatics are disruptive technologies that have the potential to reshape the transport and infrastructure O&M industries through the project objectives discussed in the Grant Agreement (GA).
The project has to date progressed well, with all Midterm deliverables and technical milestones achieved as planned. The project’s key technical and scientific outputs (for M01-M018) are summarized below.
• Hardware development: Hardware specifications have been developed for three different variants of the PAVE-SCAN device, and several hardware components are currently in lab testing. Key among them are the EGNSS-compliant sensor(s), the 3D camera(s), and the processing units. Further to the EGNSS compliance and the accuracy sought, key evaluation parameters are the low cost and the parameterization potential of the modules being evaluated. The first hardware prototypes are expected to be ready for use by M18.
• Software development: A tentative software architecture and data ingestion pipelines have been developed, and the software development phase has begun. Key aspects of the in-development digital platform are the security (single sign-on), modularity, scalability, and integration of the platform’s various software modules. The platform is currently in early-stage development (dockers, database, GIS, DSS/PMS, APIs), with related work ramping up in the first half of 2025 (M12-M18).
• Business development: A market analysis was performed, identifying pros and cons of various pavement-assessment solutions on the market, high-cost and mid-price competitors, market gaps, and PAVE-SCAN’s competitive advantages. The study will assist the PAVE-SCAN consortium in planning its future steps and its pathway to commercialization of the PAVE-SCAN technologies.
• Hardware development: Hardware specifications have been developed for three different variants of the PAVE-SCAN device, and several hardware components are currently in lab testing. Key among them are the EGNSS-compliant sensor(s), the 3D camera(s), and the processing units. Further to the EGNSS compliance and the accuracy sought, key evaluation parameters are the low cost and the parameterization potential of the modules being evaluated. The first hardware prototypes are expected to be ready for use by M18.
• Software development: A tentative software architecture and data ingestion pipelines have been developed, and the software development phase has begun. Key aspects of the in-development digital platform are the security (single sign-on), modularity, scalability, and integration of the platform’s various software modules. The platform is currently in early-stage development (dockers, database, GIS, DSS/PMS, APIs), with related work ramping up in the first half of 2025 (M12-M18).
• Business development: A market analysis was performed, identifying pros and cons of various pavement-assessment solutions on the market, high-cost and mid-price competitors, market gaps, and PAVE-SCAN’s competitive advantages. The study will assist the PAVE-SCAN consortium in planning its future steps and its pathway to commercialization of the PAVE-SCAN technologies.
PAVE-SCAN will rely on the consortium’s technical partners’ R&I in low-cost roadway condition assessment, geospatial mapping, and pavement management systems, the maturity of which is currently at level TRL7 (i.e. system prototype demonstration in operational environment), with its underlying science already documented in several peer-reviewed journals, and its key hardware (sensor device) and software (platform, GIS, algorithms) components field-tested in Cyprus for over a year. The PAVE-SCAN technologies (albeit currently GPS-based and lacking the EGNSS, lidar, and RTK modules) have already been successfully piloted in Nicosia, Cyprus; the software (webGIS, webDSS, AI/ML/MV) is currently in development, and the PMS and AR technologies are in mature R&I levels within the consortium partners and are currently being developed as a complement to the base hardware/software platform. The soon-to-be-released EGNSS-based PAVE-SCAN hardware will increase the accuracy and reliability of sensing and improve the operations and maintenance of roadway networks.