Browsing by Subject "Statistical quality control"

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    Implementation of Traffic Data Quality Verification for WIM Sites
    (Center for Transportation Studies University of Minnesota, 2015-05) Liao, Chen-Fu; Chatterjee, Indrajit; Davis, Gary A.
    Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) system tends to go out of calibration from time to time, as a result generate biased and inaccurate measurements. Several external factors such as vehicle speed, weather, pavement conditions, etc. can be attributed to such anomaly. To overcome this problem, a statistical quality control technique is warranted that would provide the WIM operator with some guidelines whenever the system tends to go out of calibration. A mixture modeling technique using Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm was implemented to divide the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) measurements of vehicle class 9 into three components, (unloaded, partially loaded, and fully loaded). Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) statistical process technique was used to identify any abrupt change in mean level of GVW measurements. Special attention was given to the presence of auto-correlation in the data by fitting an auto-regressive time series model and then performing CUSUM analysis on the fitted residuals. A data analysis software tool was developed to perform EM Fitting and CUSUM analyses. The EM analysis takes monthly WIM raw data and estimates the mean and deviations of GVW of class 9 fully loaded trucks. Results of the EM analyses are stored in a file directory for CUSUM analysis. Output from the CUSUM analysis will indicate whether there is any sensor drift during the analysis period. Results from the analysis suggest that the proposed methodology is able to estimate a shift in the WIM sensor accurately and also indicate the time point when the WIM system went out-of-calibration. A data analysis software tool, WIM Data Analyst, was developed using the Microsoft Visual Studio software development package based on the Microsoft Windows .NET framework. An open source software tool called R.NET was integrated into the Microsoft .NET framework to interface with the R software which is another open source software package for statistical computing and analysis.
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    Traffic Data Quality Verification and Sensor Calibration for Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) Systems
    (Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2012-08) Liao, Chen-Fu; Davis, Gary A.
    Many state departments of transportation have been collecting various traffic data through the Automatic Traffic Recorder (ATR) and Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems as outlined in the Traffic Monitoring Guide (TMG) published by USDOT. A pooled fund study led by MnDOT was conducted in 2002 to determine traffic data editing procedures. It is challenging to identify potential problems associated with the collected data and ensure data quality. The WIM system itself presents difficulty in obtaining accurate data due to sensor characteristics, complex vehicle dynamics, and the pavement changes surrounding the sensor over time. To overcome these limitations, calibration procedures and other monitoring activities are essential to data reliability and accuracy. Current practice of WIM calibration procedures varies from organization to organization. This project aims to understand the characteristics of WIM measurements, identify different WIM operational modes, and develop mixture models for each operation period. Several statistical data analysis methodologies were explored to detect measurement drifts and support sensor calibration. A mixture modeling technique using Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm and cumulative sum (CUSUM) methodologies were explored for data quality assurance. An adjusting CUSUM methodology was used to detect data anomaly. The results indicated that the adjusting CUSUM methodology was able to detect the sensor drifts. The CUSUM curves can trigger a potential drifting alert to the WIM manager. Further investigation was performed to compare the CUSUM deviation and the calibration adjustment. However, the analysis results did not indicate any relationship between the computed CUSUM deviation and the calibration adjustment.