Research on Automated Detecting Technology for Road Icing Conditions

Ice on the road surface can cause vehicles to skid, overturn, and tailgate, which can seriously compromise the safety of traffic operations. To avoid traffic accidents, it is necessary to identify the icy state of the road. A piezoelectric sensor was designed for automating the detection of icing. The sensors were calibrated in various icing scenarios, and their accuracy was tested in a variety of operational situations. Eventually, the sensors were trialed on a national road in Qinghai Province. The results show that, under different working conditions, the sensor is capable of detecting the thickness of ice on the road surface with a resolution of 0.1 mm and an accuracy of no less than 95%. The piezoelectric sensors can serve in the natural environment of the road for a long time and provide a technical reference for automatic road detection.