PURPOSES: This study presents the results of the collection rate of various road debris dummies using Automated Road Debris Remover System(ROBOS), which is a newly developed automatic road-debris removal system. In addition, for traffic flow safety, appropriate safe deceleration distances for ROBOS are estimated using VISSIM.
METHODS: A total of 12 kinds of road debris dummies were selected based on the opinions of public agencies, and randomly placed on the road. Repeated tests were performed. The road debris dummies were placed on the center of the lane, the shoulders, and the median. During the test, the ROBOS running speed was maintained at 15 km/h for an approximately 10-km-long roadway, and the collection and loading process was performed five times under the same condition. For the simulations, the road debris was assumed to be placed on Lane 1 under different traffic conditions and grades. Multiple simulations were conducted, and the average values were used to obtain appropriate safe deceleration distances for ROBOS.
RESULTS: The dummies were considerably large and heavy, and the collection rate was very high for the very light dummy. The simulation results indicate that during debris collection using ROBOS, when the traffic volume is relatively low, the degree of change in traffic flow is high, and when the traffic flow rate is high, the risk of an accident is also considerable.
CONCLUSIONS : We demonstrated that the debris collection efficiency of ROBOS is very high when the brush-conveyor and vacuum are used simultaneously. Further, when the exact location of road debris on specific lanes and for specific traffic volumes is known, a safe deceleration distance is recommended.