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Automatic registration of bumpy roads and potholes

Post by grinvaldsjanis
Hi. I am new at waze, but i noticed that it could be provided with automatic registration of such road conditions as hard bumpiness. Because almost all devices are provided with accelerometers, it could be possible through some tests find out believable patterns of shaking of device in hands or mounts to be sure that vibration of device is caused by road. It would be usable for those who are using gravel roads, wood paths or to spot sudden problems on flat road such as holes, obstacles, garbage.
If there less believable shaking appears, waze could ask user if this was road problem or accidental shake of device by someone.
I repeat - such kind of info could be VERY useful. For example, I live in neighborhood where back-roads are in quite different conditions - then i would suggest avoid such problematic roads if users priority is to save car or not to disturb sleeping child, if route is not longer of couple of minutes/hundred meters.

So What do You - wazers - think?

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Last edited by grinvaldsjanis on Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by dmcconachie
The map in my city would just end up covered in pot-hole reports. And on the cobbled streets the app would be screaming at me!

This has been suggested before but I don't see it as workable, even the best phone accelerometers would struggle let alone the weaker ones. I also don't really see the need. As suggested above, speeds along these roads *should* already account for the road condition.
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Post by dmcconachie
grinvaldsjanis wrote:Screaming? So You don't want to be warned about cobbled surface? Even in foreign city/town?
No, my eyes do a perfectly good job of that.
Application could warn only about highest level problems on road. You see, in turn we would release users from imputing Alerts about situations which phone can notice it self.
potholes that just wobble the car should not be reported. Those that are wheel-breakers you're likely to avoid and report manually so anything automatic wouldn't help.
Also there would be possible to figure out algorithm of registering severe accidents for example if phone feels very hard deceleration, but user is not responding to phones questions after following stopping of car. We could warn local community that PROBABLY accident took place.
There is some merit in this one perhaps, more so on remote roads
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Post by dmcconachie
You see no merit at all in the auto reporting of an accident on a quiet rural where no one else might come across it?
Waze most definitely does not already handle that!
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Post by dmcconachie
palmerit wrote:If someone running waze (for an accelerometer to notice it) has an accident then yes, waze will already detect the traffic flow is running slower than the average, and create a jam.
I'm not talking about a jam. I'm talking about automatic reporting of the accident to someone that can help!
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Post by fotoroel
I think its useless and to hard to implent, I like you idea, but its not going to work.

In the Netherland we have many and I mean many "drempels", that are little bumbs in the road that prevent people to drive to hard. Also it is very depending on how accurate the device is, some device have good accuration and some other thinks that you are falling 10KM without moving you hand.

Its also to hard to implent it, dev must do resource how the device shakes and what typ of road it is. What if you dont have a holder and you going hard right or you let it fall ? Phone flies away and waze makes a hazard or bad road condition. ;-)
Also if you cant drive that good or you have mechanical problems that the car shakes when you give gas? I think its just to complex to intergrate it into waze.

New car's have a system tat when you make a emergencybrake, the alarm light are going on, maybe waze can inplent this with making a 'car stopped', but also then you must avoid the phone is fly in your car or you let them drop.

Sorry for bad english
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Post by fotoroel
Haha, Iam sure not a developer and dont ever become a developer :P

Well in the way you explain it to me, it is possible.
But (sorry) I think they can better invest in better navigation in all the country's before implent this sort of features.
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Post by fotoroel
grinvaldsjanis wrote:Navigation, so far, is decent. Ok - it could be made in next version, but when it will work - waze will be even more genius.
True, If it will work, its a nice addone!
You have my vote ;-)
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Post by fotoroel
If there come's a dialog with a question, it isnt automatic anymore ;)
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Post by grinvaldsjanis
fotoroel wrote:I think its useless and to hard to implent, I like you idea, but its not going to work.

In the Netherland we have many and I mean many "drempels", that are little bumbs in the road that prevent people to drive to hard. Also it is very depending on how accurate the device is, some device have good accuration and some other thinks that you are falling 10KM without moving you hand.

Its also to hard to implent it, dev must do resource how the device shakes and what typ of road it is. What if you dont have a holder and you going hard right or you let it fall ? Phone flies away and waze makes a hazard or bad road condition. ;-)
Also if you cant drive that good or you have mechanical problems that the car shakes when you give gas? I think its just to complex to intergrate it into waze.

New car's have a system tat when you make a emergencybrake, the alarm light are going on, maybe waze can inplent this with making a 'car stopped', but also then you must avoid the phone is fly in your car or you let them drop.

Sorry for bad english
Sorry :) but You could not be developer, because I read only pessimistic opinion.
What was made inside waze is way more difficult then solutions for road surface quality registration. It could be made differently. Lets'take logic and tools available.

- info about bumpiness or any shaking quality of road could be shared only after comparing several user crossings of same section of road. These indices must be compared and filtered out bounces which are not corresponding with most of cases. But if after share appears additional "shake" - user could be asked for explanation like "what was that?"
- waze must be able to detect device type, model, and using this info make these devices more or less trustable. After comparing graphs of shaking, different device models could be sorted by their sensitivity, and precision.
- also 2 different cases must be taken in account: constant shaking, like on country road, pavement, etc; and sudden or rare, permanent and short-term obstacles like holes, "drempels", grabage, transition between road surface materials, etc.

Off course solution is not too simple. Its some work with research, analyzing, testing. But it can be done and I think - quite easy for waze dev team. I am stil sure that this feature could be very useful, and even life saving, because some holes or drempels may be missed in fog or other conditions with limited visibility. And imagine how useful it could be for road provider or clerk to monitor problematic spots form REAL and actual data! Another gain form waze.
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