As one of the projects within the European DRIVE Programme, CROW (acronym for Conditions of Road and Weather) deals with the development of a system architecture and improved data acquisition techniques for an integrated road and weather monitoring system. The objectives include the collection of reliable data about present and future road and weather conditions, with distinction between: low-friction (icy, aquaplaning), poor visibility (fog), lateral disturbances (cross-wind) and combinations (such as stormy weather). The CROW approach consists of specification of safe driving limits and the prediction of traffic risk level, where weather, traffic characteristics and the road-configuration are taken into account. This requires new sensor concepts, algorithms for risk assessment (the CROW algorithm), traffic and road databases and a system architecture (special purpose road processor) for the combination of all these aspects. The results, reliable information and risk assessment under bad weather can be used to select appropriate actions yielding a higher safety level and road transport efficiency. (A)
Abstract