Roadroid to Collect Condition Data for Rural Roads, Current

Development and Progress

Lars Forslof1, Micke Kedback2, Dedy Gunawan3, Affandi Ismail4

1
Founder/CEO, Roadroid AB Sweden
2
Market Representative, Roadroid AB, Bangkok, Thailand
3
Head of Technical Affair Division I, Sub Directorate of Technical Affair for Sub
National Road, Directorate General of Highway, Jakarta, Indonesia
4
Staff, Sub Directorate of Technical Affair for Sub National Road, Directorate General
of Highway, Jakarta, Indonesia

E-mail: lars.forslof@roadroid.com, dedygw@yahoo.co.id, aaffandiismail@yahoo.com

Abstract. As a part of GoI transfer fund, village fund (dana desa) has been increasing quite
significantly since its introduction in 2015. Starting at 20 trillion rupiahs in 2015 dana desa’s
allocation now stands at 60 trillion rupiahs. Despite of its increasing trend, dana desa’s budget
for improving and maintaining rural road condition is still very limited. Considering the budget
constraint, it is very important to make rural road program prioritization based on road condition
which is mainly represented by International Roughness Index (IRI). Capturing IRI is the key
for optimizing road improvement and maintenance programming. Tools with high accuracy
result usually cost more than local government budget for rural road condition survey. Therefore,
an affordable survey tool with optimal result would be needed to create rural road program
prioritization. Roadroid, a smartphone apps that can create a smart and simple road data
collection, would be an ideal tool for rural road condition survey due to its advantage in
simplicity, price, and optimal accuracy compared to other sophisticated and complex tools such
as hawkeye, roughometer, NAASRA, etc. A survey done in Tanjung Sari Village will give an
illustration on how Roadroid collect road condition.
Keywords: Dana Desa, IRI, Roadroid, Rural Road

1. Introduction
Dana desa’s share in transfer fund has been steadily increasing since its introduction in 2015. It stood at
3% share of transfer fund in 2015 and now stands at 10% share of transfer fund. The highest priority of
dana desa’s allocation is in infrastructure sector, which is used in road, irrigation, drainage, etc. It takes
more than 80% share of dana desa’s budget. Even with these figures, rural road improvement and
maintenance is still facing a limited funding due to inefficient method such as visual method.
 Dana Desa Allocation
12.00%
Rp. 60 Trillion

Share of Transfer Fund

10.00%
8.00%
Rp. 47 Trillion
6.00%
4.00% Rp. 20 Trillion

2.00%
0.00%
2015 2016 2017
Percentage 3.23% 6% 10%
Figure 1 Dana Desa Share

Source: www.kemenkeu.go.id/dana-desa

Limited funding requires optimization of budgeting based on accurate data, which is prioritization
on each road segment that will be handled. However, all this time, rural road maintenance is often
performed without any solid basis for planning, without accurate data, and occasionally occur political
intervention. Large size of the budget has yet to guarantee a village to have a good road network as long
as the management of road maintenance is still performed sporadically and without proper planning.

Data that is very important in the planning process is the local road network data and road conditions.
One of the parameters of road conditions that can be used is the IRI (International Roughness Index).
IRI is the flatness of the road surface is expressed by the number of vertical changes in the road surface
for each unit of road length (mm / km). Rule of thumb for IRI is: the greater the value of IRI, the worse
the road conditions. In Indonesia, road with IRI less than 4 (very good condition) should be given routine
maintenance, road with IRI between 4 and 8 (good condition) should be given periodic maintenance,
road with IRI between 8 and 12 (poor condition) should be given rehabilitation treatment, and road with
IRI more than 12 (very poor condition) should be given reconstruction treatment.

Figure 2 IRI Utilization for Road Planning and Programming

 The IRI collecting methods vary from its accuracy, efficiency, and cost. For agency that has
limitation on its budget such as village government, its survey method has to be quite precise, easy to
use, not time consuming, and cost efficient in order to obtain robust road data set.

2. Road Survey Method Classification

Roughness measuring devices is classified in ASTM E 950-94, it is divided into four group based on its
accuracy and the tools used in determining IRI.
A. Class I
Precision profiles with high accuracy (10 – 20 m intervals)
B. Class II
Other profilometric method that consider dynamic measurement to determine elevation profile or
combining statistic calculation from elevation data.
C. Class III
This class estimates IRI from correlation equations.
D. Class IV
Subjective measurement based on ocular inspection.
Table 1 Advantages and Disadvantages of each Road Survey Method Class

Level Method Tool Example Advantages Disadvantages

Class 1 Lasser scanner • Hawkeye • High precision • Expensive (up to
technology • Data obtained vary Rp 25 Billion)
(not only IRI) • It can not work
• Interval 10-20 m when it rains / there
are puddles on the
road
• Unable to pass
through a narrow
street
• Long survey time
Class 2 Complex • NASSRA / • Medium precision • Quite expensive
profilometer Roughmeter (Rp 100 Million-
method 1.5 Billion)
• Long survey time
• Only one ruts

Class 3 Corelation method • Road Roid • Low cost • Sensitive to the age
• Easy to use and speed of
• Cover large areas vehicles
in short time (>100 • Sensitive to GPS
km/day) signal
• Precision 80% of • It should be
laser method combined with a
• Portable GPS system that
• Data in cloud has stronger signal,
server and used especially in remote
anywhere from areas
web browser (no
client needed).
• Interval >20 m
Class 4 Visual method • Long survey time
• Subjective
Source: several sourves
3. Roadroid
Given the limited survey funds on village government, implementation of Roadroid could be preferred
as an alternative that has low cost, produces accurate data, and is easy to operate. Roadroid is a mobile
software developed in Sweden, the first prototype of Roadroid was published in 2002 based on PC. It
has been developed on smartphones since 2011. It measures IRI using smartphone accelerometer that
also can automatically capture photos and videos of road. The types of data that can be acquired using
Roadroid are spatial, visual, and numeric data.

3.1. Preparation
Before using Roadroid to capture IRI, there are several preparations that have to be made.

3.1.1. Device
The main thing that need to be prepared for the operation of Roadroid is smart phones with Android
operating system. Android OS 4 for the classic app (v 1.7.5) and Android OS 5 for the Version 2 PRO
app. The Roadroid application can be downloaded in www.roadroid.com/home/app. Roadroid needs to
register the phone’s IMEI number before any data can be uploaded. Fill in the registration details on:
www.roadroid.com/registration. Every device has one username and password to access the data
uploaded from the device.

3.1.2. Fitting Adjustment

Mount phone in a car rack in the windshield
• horizontally/landscape mode
• standing vertically from road
• it should be easy to reach the display
• make sure camera lens capture road
Choose fitting adjustment menu on the Roadroid apps to calibrate the phone position. Set the devices
until the X,Y,Z’s color changes to green and their values near to 0, and choose OK.

Figure 3 Fitting Adjustment

3.1.3. Initial Settings

There are several parameters that need to be adjusted according to the survey condition, those parameters
are: vehicle type, sensitivity, segment length, and low speed latitude/longitude threshold. Those
parameters should be carefully adjusted to avoid error caused by misuse. This setting is very crucial for
validating IRI generated by Roadroid. Before using Roadroid for road survey, IRI generated by Roadroid
must be calibrated by comparing it with known IRI defined by a reference method class 1 or 2. If the
desired result hasn’t been reached, double check every setting and adjust the sensitivity until the captured
IRI meet the tolerance limit set.
 Figure 4 Initial Settings

3.2. Data Collection

To achieve accurate result, you should:
1) Run the system on a road with known IRI defined by a reference method class 1 or 2
2) Run Roadroid in a certain speed (car and phone)
3) View the result in app survey monitor or excel together with the reference data
4) Adjust sensitivity until desired survey result is reached for both texture and roughness
5) Adjust the presets for different cars, phones and survey speeds

After a proper calibration is made, start the survey from base point of road segment and choose start
sampling button to begin collecting the data. Then give name to the road segment according to the road
code. Then, Roadroid will collect the road data. When it reaches end point of road segment, choose stop
sampling button to stop collecting the data. Data and documentation of the condition of these roads have
been recorded in the devices, and surveyors can begin the survey to other sections and so on. The data
should be immediately uploaded to the internet considering the limited phone memory.

Figure 5 Roadroid Survey Interface

This road condition data will be recorded on roadroid server and it can be seen in Roadroid.com.
Furthermore, log in with username and password to access the database. Data obtained from the survey
is:
 1. KML file and Shape Files that can be generated on a map applications.
2. Data in the text files (* .txt) that can be generated for each road segment with at least every 20m,
50m, and so on. The data contain: the time and date of the survey, Major segments, the position
of the GPS, distance, speed, changes in the road vertical alignment, eIRI, and cIRI.

Based on experience and analysis, eIRI value is more recommended to use as road condition
representation.

4. Rural Road survey Implementation and Result Analysis

A survey has been done in Tanjung Sari Village, Banten Province on 22 August 2017. The survey
covered 6,400 meter of road (around 80% of total rural road length) using motorcycle as the vehicle.
Time needed to complete this survey is only 2 hour using one motorcycle. It costs in average around
Rp.480,000 or USD 35 per day to do surveying using Roadroid with assumption that motorcycle rent
cost Rp. 100,000 per day, surveyor fee cost Rp. 250,000 per day, and Roadroid license cost Rp.130,000
per day (around Rp. 4 million per month).

4.1. Road Condition

Figure 6 Tanjung Sari Rural Road Condition

Source: roadroid.com

Figure 6 shows the road network condition that has been surveyed in a device, the view can be
adjusted based on the survey date. Each link generate its own data that can be uploaded to the server
and then be downloaded to be utilized. The aggregate file uploaded to roadroid.com will give us
information in .txt, beside aggregate file, shape file and KML file can also be generated for mapping
purposes.
 Table 2 Roadroid Aggregate File with 10 m Interval Sample (Jalan Cibogo)

DateTime Latitude Longitude Distance(m) Speed (km/h) Altitude (m) eIRI cIRI
8/22/2017 11:38 -6.3553 106.4241 10 4.32 54.15 3.22 0
8/22/2017 11:38 -6.35533 106.4241 20 7.57 53.94 2.1 0
8/22/2017 11:38 -6.35546 106.4241 30 8.2 53.7 2.8 0.06
8/22/2017 11:38 -6.35556 106.4241 40 7.77 53.49 3.35 0.11
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35563 106.4242 50 7.67 53.46 3.43 0.11
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35566 106.4242 60 7.9 53.81 2.58 0.68
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35578 106.4241 70 7.95 54.24 2.54 0.8
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35588 106.4241 80 7.07 54.29 3.81 0.66
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35593 106.4241 90 6.72 54 4.77 0.63
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35603 106.4241 100 7.48 53.92 1.71 0.63
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35609 106.424 110 8.17 53.94 2.46 0.66
8/22/2017 11:39 -6.35618 106.424 120 8.45 53.97 1.58 0.69

Jalan Cibogo IRI Profile

7
6
5
eIRI

4
3
2
1
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Distance (m) Periodic Maintenance

Figure 7 Jalan Cibogo IRI Profile Sample (10 m Interval)

The aggregate file as in Table 2 give information about the surveyed link such as Latitude,
Longitude, Distance, Vehicle Speed, Altitude, and IRI. This aggregate file can then be used to create
IRI profile for a link with 5/10/20/50/100/160/200 m interval depending on each link’s length, By
creating IRI profile for each links, maintenance and/or improvement planning could be created by
prioritizing links that have high IRI.

Figure 7 illustrate a link IRI profile with 10 m interval. Based on the profile, road on the 80-100
m segment should be given periodic maintenance to lower the IRI because it exceeds the threshold at
value of IRI >4, whereas other segments should just be given routine maintenance to maintain the link
quality. This profile approach is very crucial in identifying which segments that need more serious
treatment and which segments that only need routine maintenance.
 Table 3 Roadroid Aggregate File with 100 m Interval Sample (Poros Desa Tanjung Sari)

DateTime Latitude Longitude Distance(m) Speed (km/h) Altitude (m) eIRI cIRI
8/22/2017 12:07 -6.34849 106.4149 100 14.45 40.72 4.07 2.25
8/22/2017 12:08 -6.34861 106.4158 200 17.17 44 4.56 8.64
8/22/2017 12:08 -6.34844 106.4167 300 18.59 39.83 3.23 5.65
8/22/2017 12:08 -6.3487 106.4175 400 17.2 39 3.94 6.84
8/22/2017 12:09 -6.34928 106.4181 500 21.04 40.68 4.27 11.09
8/22/2017 12:09 -6.34986 106.4187 600 17.08 49.61 3.15 8.91
8/22/2017 12:09 -6.35041 106.4196 700 19.88 56.88 3.07 6.63
8/22/2017 12:10 -6.351 106.4202 800 20.68 50.87 3.05 5.67
8/22/2017 12:10 -6.35145 106.4209 900 19.05 48.27 4.01 7.07
8/22/2017 12:10 -6.3516 106.4219 1000 14.54 52.64 3.74 5.29
8/22/2017 12:10 -6.35195 106.4226 1100 21.76 54.8 3.56 7.99
8/22/2017 12:11 -6.35275 106.4232 1200 17.85 53.1 4.66 9
8/22/2017 12:11 -6.35368 106.4233 1300 19.16 52.96 4.26 12.18
8/22/2017 12:11 -6.35466 106.4233 1400 20.16 52.75 3.25 6.65
8/22/2017 12:12 -6.3552 106.4237 1500 18.54 55.42 3.13 8.8
8/22/2017 12:12 -6.35541 106.4246 1600 16.98 50.75 4.31 5.99
8/22/2017 12:12 -6.35608 106.4252 1700 19.78 44.89 3.74 7.08
8/22/2017 12:13 -6.35678 106.4259 1800 18.29 40.65 3.69 7.41
8/22/2017 12:13 -6.35727 106.4265 1900 20.22 44.2 2.77 4.21
8/22/2017 12:13 -6.35782 106.4272 2000 21.89 46.91 2.09 2.36
8/22/2017 12:13 -6.35846 106.4279 2100 15.31 45.37 4.44 3.87
8/22/2017 12:14 -6.35924 106.4285 2200 15.6 51.78 4.33 5.65
8/22/2017 12:14 -6.35997 106.4288 2300 19.21 48.58 5.21 8.8
8/22/2017 12:14 -6.36082 106.4291 2400 15.76 43.03 2.94 3.53
8/22/2017 12:15 -6.36168 106.4293 2500 25.1 46.02 2.95 8.18
8/22/2017 12:15 -6.36244 106.4296 2600 22.14 43.62 3.07 7.59
8/22/2017 12:15 -6.36334 106.4295 2700 17.62 45.79 2.49 5.51
8/22/2017 12:16 -6.3642 106.4295 2800 19.25 48.46 2.92 6.71
8/22/2017 12:16 -6.36516 106.4297 2900 20.86 46.06 2.92 9.14
8/22/2017 12:16 -6.36598 106.4295 3000 21.76 50 2.6 9
8/22/2017 12:17 -6.36659 106.4289 3100 21.48 49.92 3.11 6.54
8/22/2017 12:17 -6.36748 106.4288 3200 17.77 43.7 2.65 5.1
8/22/2017 12:17 -6.36801 106.4282 3300 16.06 51.86 2.44 7.86
 Jalan Poros Desa Tanjungsari IRI Profile
6

4
eIRI

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
2500
2600
2700
2800
2900
3000
3100
3200
3300
Periodic Maintenance
Distance (m)
Figure 8 Jalan Poros Desa Tanjungsari IRI Profile Sample (100 m Interval)

Figure 8 illustrate a link IRI profile with 100 m interval. On a longer link such as Poros Desa
Tanjungsari, multi treatment contract is plausible to be done. By differentiating treatments based on the
condition of each segments, a more efficient contract could be made. This approach implies a better
value for money infrastructure and a solid basis for road planning and programming.

Average eIRI
6
5 Highest Priority
4
eIRI

3
2
1
0

Link

Figure 9 Average eIRI per link

Figure 9 provides average eIRI for every link that has been surveyed. Prioritization per link can
also be made by giving higher priority to links that have higher average IRI value. Overall IRI in a
village can be monitored and evaluated to maintain and improve rural road performance.
4.2. Road Network Mapping
Shape File and KML file can be utilized to create road network maps automatically using map
application such as google maps or google earth or by processing numeric data using software such as
ArcGIS or QGIS. After converting the coordinate from Roadroid data, the surveyed road network can
be imposed to another existing maps to create road network maps for any mapping purposes.

Figure 10 Mapping Result

4.3. Road Documentation

For every road links that has been surveyed, automatically captured photo per 100 m interval (default)
can be collected through roadroid.com. This will be very beneficial for validating eIRI data by
comparing it to the visual documentation and collecting road inventories such as pavement type,
cracking, road equipment, marking, shoulder, drainage, etc.

Figure 11 Road Documentation

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, Roadroid could be an alternative for Village Government to manage their rural road
conditions. Its advantages are that it has low cost, produces accurate data, and is easy to operate as
shown in this paper and the survey result of Tanjung Sari Village. The data acquired by Roadroid are
IRI, road network maps, and road documentation. These data can be used for road asset management
and road planning and programming. Roadroid would be an optimal tools to do road condition survey
in villages with limited budget, allowing it to focus on another aspect of village development without
ignoring its road infrastructure quality.
References
[1] Dewandaru, S. D., 2016, Penggunaan Data Roadroid untuk Pemetaan Jalan, Jakarta: Puslitbang
Jalan dan Jembatan, Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
[2] Gunawan, D., 2016, Pemanfaatan Data Roadroid untuk Pemrograman Jalan Daerah, Buletin
Infrastruktur Daerah edisi 4/tahun I/2016. Jakarta: Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
[3] Gunawan, D., 2016, Pemanfaatan Teknologi Murah untuk Survey Kondisi Jalan, Buletin
Infrastruktur Daerah edisi 2/tahun I/2016. Jakarta: Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
[4] Gunawan, D., 2017, Implementation of Cheap Techology for Survey of regional Road Condition,
Proceeding of 15th REAAA Conference 2017. Bali: IRF REAAA Seminar.
[5] Widjajanto, A., 2017, Penerapan Teknologi Murah Untuk Survei Kondisi Jalan, University
Network for Indonesia Infrastructure Development. Palembang.
[6] Forslof, L., 2016, Roadroid: Road Survey using Smartphones.
http://www.roadroid.com/Home/About (accessed October 2017).
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%20Version%202%20Pro.pdf (accessed October 2017).