Japanese automaker Honda and Honda Research Institute USA, Inc. are developing a proprietary road condition monitoring system utilizing the existing cameras and sensors from production Honda and Acura vehicles. The system continuously evaluates current road conditions while driving to detect possible hazards in an effort to enhance safety.
“Maintaining good road conditions helps keep everyone sharing the road safe,” said Paritosh Kelkar, scientist and project leader at Honda Research Insitute USA, Inc.
Destination: Ohio
Honda is testing its road condition monitoring system in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation. The pilot program will use 2022 Honda and Acura vehicles equipped with Honda Sensing and Acura Watch and initially monitor lane markings along Ohio’s roadways. “Good pavement markings are important to the drivers of today and the vehicles of tomorrow,” said Jack Marchbanks, Ohio DOT Director. “We’re excited to work with Honda to improve the process.”
Honda and the rest of the team will eventually expand the system’s ability to monitor other road conditions like potholes, surface deterioration, and even ice patches.
How It Works
Honda’s road condition monitoring system uses GPS coordinates, sensors, and cameras to collect real-time road condition data and share it with road operators. The system visually classifies lane markings to the left and right of the car using color codes. Green and yellow indicate good or ideal lane marking conditions. In contrast, grey means no lane markings, while red suggests repairing the lane markings to improve visibility and road safety.
“Real-time, high accuracy roadway data captured from connected vehicles have the potential to improve the process of identifying, reporting, and more quickly repairing hazardous road conditions,” Kelkar added.
All relevant data (including video clips and images) are captured, anonymized, and streamed to a secure platform. Road operators can access the data to obtain video clips and still images of errant lane markings while obtaining the exact location of the repairable area. The Honda Research Institute is also exploring how connected vehicles can access the data and warn other drivers if the lane markings are faded or need repair.
The short video below provides an overview of how Honda’s Road Condition Monitoring System works.
