ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE-BASED OPTIMIZATION OF THE MANAGEMENT OF SNOW REMOVAL ASSETS AND RESOURCES

A geographic information system (GIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques were used to develop an intelligent snow removal asset management system (SRAMS). The system has been evaluated through a case study examining snow removal from the roads in Black Hawk County, Iowa, for which the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is responsible. The SRAMS is comprised of an expert system that contains the logical rules and expertise of the Iowa DOT's snow removal experts in Black Hawk County, and a GIS to access and manage road data. The system is implemented on a mid-range PC by integrating MapObjects 2.1 (a GIS package), Visual Rule Studio 2.2 (an AI shell), and Visual Basic 6.0 (a programming tool). The system could efficiently be used to generate prioritized snowplowing routes in visual format, to optimize the allocation of assets for plowing, and to track materials (e.g., salt and sand). A test of the system reveals an improvement in snowplowing time by 1.9% for moderate snowfall and 9.7% for snowstorm conditions over the current manual system.

  • Record URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program.
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls

    Cedar Falls, IA  United States  50614

    Research and Special Programs Administration

    1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
    Washington, DC  United States  20590
  • Authors:
    • Salim, M D
    • Timmerman, M A
    • Strauss, T
    • Emch, M E
  • Publication Date: 2002-10

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 47 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00935514
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Final Report,, G/C No. Y00-162,, MTC Project 3-A
  • Files: TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Dec 31 2003 12:00AM