A team of professors and an engineer who graduated from UDEP published their research in Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI), a series of books based on studies on science, technology and innovation.
By Fernanda Vegas Sernaqué. May 6, 2024.
The research “Establishment of the conditions for the estimation of IRI in urban roads using a mobile application” by the professors of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Piura, Gerardo Chang, Valeria Quevedo, Jenny Sánchez and Susana Vegas, in joint work with The graduate María Pía Moyano was included in the book by the Springer publishing house TO Pathway to safe, smart and resilient road and mobility networksindexed in Scopus.
The book belongs to the series of volumes Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI), which seeks to analyze advances in science, technology and innovation to secure more resources, allocate smarter solutions and rebalance the relationship between nature and people, in addition to providing insights from in-depth research addressing 17 sustainable development goals (SDG).
About the investigation
The study by the Faculty of Engineering team addresses the measurement of the International Roughness Index (IRI) of urban roads with mobile applications, with the purpose of ensuring the effectiveness of an efficient, fast and economical instrument. This research was funded with competitive funds from the Ingenium program of the Faculty of Engineering
The IRI is the most internationally widespread regularity indicator to evaluate the surface condition of an interurban pavement. The higher it is, the less comfort and safety it will have for the occupants of a vehicle traveling on a road.
Estimates of this index through mobile devices are affected by various variables, such as tire pressure, vehicle type, cell phone position, battery charge, and vehicle speed, among others. Given the variability of the factors, the study analyzes the influence and interaction of variables in the measurement of the IRI to avoid estimation errors.
In the tests carried out, it was proven that mobile applications can provide consistent and reliable measurements to estimate the roughness of urban roads under certain conditions. The results suggested that, for IRI measurement, the use of the mobile application should be performed with reduced tire pressure and a speed close to 35 km/h to obtain consistent results.
The study is a starting point for future research on the control of the variables that influence the determination of road irregularities. Its publication is aimed at professionals in research and teaching, consulting, industry and entities looking for efficient, economical and quick solutions to evaluate the surface condition of an urban road.
