Platform for on-board real-time detection of wet, icy and snowy roads, using tyre/road noise analysis

In this paper, a new approach capable of detecting water, ice and snow on the road surface is shown, focusing on the hardware needed for the practical implementation. Proposed platform uses a simple microphone and a general purpose microcontroller. The system is tightly integrated with vehicle ECUs (Electronic Control Units). A CAN bus allows it to read some of the variable dynamics provided by the sensors already installed in virtually every motor vehicle. Detector results are also published through the CAN bus to be displayed on the vehicle console and to be used by other ECLs. Proposed system is simple, cheap and easy to install. Initial tests for the wet/dry detector classes have shown a very high success rate.