OTIC Maintenance and Construction Vehicles - Maint and Constr Vehicle OBE Functionality

Subsystem Description

The 'Maint and Constr Vehicle OBE' resides in a maintenance, construction, or other specialized service vehicle or equipment and provides the processing, storage, and communications functions necessary to support highway maintenance and construction. All types of maintenance and construction vehicles are covered, including heavy equipment, supervisory vehicles, unmanned remote controlled field maintenance robots, and sensory platforms that may be wheeled or low altitude aerial vehicles (e.g. drones, balloons). The MCV OBE provides two–way communications between drivers/operators and dispatchers and maintains and communicates current location and status information. A wide range of operational status is monitored, measured, and made available, depending on the specific type of vehicle or equipment. A snow plow for example, would monitor whether the plow is up or down and material usage information. The Maint and Constr Vehicle OBE may also contain capabilities to monitor vehicle systems to support maintenance of the vehicle itself. A separate 'Vehicle OBE' physical object supports the general vehicle safety and driver information capabilities that apply to all vehicles, including maintenance and construction vehicles. The Maint and Constr Vehicle OBE supplements these general capabilities with capabilities that are specific to maintenance and construction vehicles.

Functional Object: MCV Environmental Monitoring

'MCV Environmental Monitoring' collects current road and surface weather conditions from sensors on–board the maintenance and construction vehicle or by querying fixed sensors on or near the roadway. Environmental information including road surface temperature, air temperature, and wind speed is measured and spatially located and time stamped, and reported back to a center.

Functional Object: MCV Infrastructure Monitoring

'MCV Infrastructure Monitoring' monitors the condition of pavement, bridges, tunnels, associated hardware, and other transportation–related infrastructure (e.g., culverts). It includes vehicle–based sensors that directly monitor the infrastructure, communications that allow roadway–based infrastructure monitoring sensors to be controlled and read, and data communications that allows collected infrastructure condition information to be reported back to a center.

Functional Object: MCV Roadway Maintenance and Construction

'MCV Roadway Maintenance and Construction' includes the on–board systems that support routine non–winter maintenance on a roadway system or right–of–way. Routine maintenance includes landscape maintenance, hazard removal (roadway debris, dead animals), routine maintenance activities (roadway cleaning, grass cutting), and repair and maintenance of both ITS and non–ITS equipment on the roadway (e.g., signs, traffic controllers, traffic detectors, dynamic message signs, traffic signals, etc.).

Functional Object: MCV Vehicle Location Tracking

'MCV Vehicle Location Tracking' monitors vehicle location and reports the position and timestamp information to the dispatch center.

Functional Object: MCV Vehicle Safety Monitoring

'MCV Vehicle Safety Monitoring' detects vehicle intrusions in the vicinity of the vehicle and warns crew workers and drivers of imminent encroachment. Crew movements are also monitored so that the crew can be warned of movement beyond the designated safe zone. It can be used for stationary work zones or in mobile applications where a safe zone is maintained around the moving vehicle.

Functional Object: MCV Vehicle System Monitoring and Diagnostics

'MCV Vehicle System Monitoring and Diagnostics' includes on–board sensors capable of monitoring the condition of each of the vehicle systems and diagnostics that can be used to support vehicle maintenance. The status of the vehicle and ancillary equipment and diagnostic information is provided to the vehicle operator, repair facility, and dispatch center.

Functional Object: MCV Winter Maintenance

'MCV Winter Maintenance' supports snow plow operations and other roadway treatments (e.g., salt spraying and other material applications). It supports communications with the center to receive information and instructions that are provided to the vehicle operator and also supports remote control of on–board systems. It tracks operational status of snow and ice control operations and provides this information back to the center.

Functional Object: MCV Work Zone Support

'MCV Work Zone Support' provides communications and support for local management of a work zone. It supports communications between field personnel and the managing center to keep the center appraised of current work zone status. It controls vehicle–mounted driver information systems (e.g., dynamic message signs) and uses short range communications to monitor and control other fixed or portable driver information systems in the work zone.