The objective of this project was to provide a viable alternative to traditional assessment methods by leveraging widely available and affordable mobile technology. This project introduces a smartphone-based curve advisory speed assessment framework that leverages the built-in GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors in low-cost mobile devices. By shifting computational tasks (e.g., superelevation calculation and advisory speed determination) to the smartphone (“edge computing”), the framework delivers immediate advisory speed results upon exiting each curve. This capability will enable the identification of inconsistent advisory speed results during field assessments, allowing engineers to investigate and verify these results immediately. By addressing inconsistencies in the field, this method can eliminate return trips caused by data quality issues, thereby improving efficiency and reducing operational costs. Additionally, cloud-based data synchronization ensures that all collected information, including newly computed advisory speeds and detected discrepancies, is stored and organized for subsequent analysis.

The final report is available here.