Automatic pavement rutting measurement by fusing a high speed-shot camera and a linear laser

This study proposes an inexpensive system using a linear laser and a high speed-shot sports camera to compute the rutting depth in static and dynamic modes with acceptable accuracy. Static and dynamic data collection is performed in a laboratory environment and multiple Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes, respectively. The camera captures the projected laser line on the pavement surface, and this image is processed by applying image quality enhancement filters. A clustering method is used to detect the borders of ruts. Moreover, the effect of light level and the distance from the defect surface are measured. The results illustrate that the system has its best performance in 0.0001 lx light level with a relative error of 4%. Based on the paired sample t-test outputs, the optimal distance between the sensors and the ground should be 1 m. By validating the outputs of the system with the standard measurement method, the results show that this system is capable of computing the rut depth between 0.05 and 5.5 cm with a relative error of 9.31%, which confirms its capability for accurate data collection. Moreover, the replicability tests confirm the capability of using this system as an accurate data collection tool. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.