CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Computers, GPS, 'Smart' 'Phones

Recording vibrations

(9 posts)
  • Started 9 years ago by Schemieradge
  • Latest reply from wee folding bike

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  1. Schemieradge
    Member

    Was thinking of how I could communicate to the council just how bad the surface of an access path is to my local cycle path.

    Then I realised smartphones could easily record vibration intensity.

    Having had a quick scour, an android vibration meter that records over time wasn't jumping out at me... does anyone know of one? (Would be even better if it integrated with Strava of similar)

    The idea being I can measure the vibration level cycling down the main railway path, then compare that to the cataclysmic vibration levels attempting to navigate the access path (it's a nightmare).

    Any ideas?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. amir
    Member

    There was streetbump but see http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/16/tech/street-bump-app-detects-potholes-tells-city-officials/index.html

    May be difficult to get right

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I use Accelerometer Monitor for that kind of thing.

    The datamongery trick is to have a baseline that represents an ideal or acceptable level of comfort, and a suitable way of calibrating the discomfort, possibly empirical.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. duncans
    Member

    Camera mounted as low as you can by front wheel? On fork or maybe on a lowrider frame.

    Been thinking about that to make a point about tree roots on A8 path by Ingleston.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. dougal
    Member

    @amir Curious that they figured rail tracks were false positives - they're still uneven surfaces which you have to ride over. And in the case of our dearly-beloved tram tracks are probably more immediately dangerous than potholes.

    And if they just want to identify potholes - well surely they know where the railway lines run! It's not like they shift location from day to day...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. amir
    Member

    Accelerometer Monitor sounds interesting.

    Interpreting these signals does sound interesting/tricky though, especially crossed with other map based info. Ideally you need lots of high res/raw data to build/train/test suitable models. I can imagine that building an app that can deal with different software and hardware would make things more tricky.

    You'd expect observations to be biased in the sense that most would actively avoid holes and poor surfaces.

    On the other there are apps/websites like Fill that Hole. But I guess many can't be bothered to report any but the worst cases.

    Of course, the real problem is that there is much lower investment in maintaining roads than there should be.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. Darkerside
    Member

    I wondered about something similar to compare vibration from a pram/car seat/various bike-child carrying contraptions.

    Although I now have a Windows Phone, which means almost every app is dire.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. slowcoach
    Member

    Roadroid is aimed at the professional market, including a cycle path version. Or try the secret batcave guide to measuring bumpyness.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. wee folding bike
    Member

    I've got one on my iPad so it should be easy enough to find.

    Allegedly the early '90s Madness concerts were logged as seismic events.

    End of the article:

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2002/oct/22/naturaldisasters.climatechange1

    Posted 9 years ago #

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