DESIGN AND TESTING OF A TERRAIN MAPPING SYSTEM FOR MEDIAN SLOPE MEASUREMENT
Open Access
Author:
Vemulapalli, Pramod Krishna
Graduate Program:
Mechanical Engineering
Degree:
Master of Science
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
None
Committee Members:
Sean N Brennan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Sean N Brennan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
road Medians Terrain Mapping cross slope grade
Abstract:
This thesis presents the details of a terrain mapping system that has been used to measure median profiles. Details are presented of the system construction, design, and algorithms to process the data. The capability of the system is gauged by performing tests to compensate for vehicle orientation, tests for repeatability, and tests comparing the system with manual measurement. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using the system for median slope measurement. The advantages of using such a system as compared to traditional manual measurements are also demonstrated in practice as this system has been used to scan over 5000 miles of highways for measuring the slopes of divided rural medians. While the research focuses on median slope measurement, the thesis can be viewed as providing a general direction for the design and testing of terrain mapping systems.
