System automatically detects black ice on roads in real time

Black-ice detection is based on a method developed by VTT, whereby changes in road conditions are detected in real time, based on data collected by the car’s own sensors.

‘The method entails estimating the difference in the speeds of the drive shaft and freely rotating axles in various driving situations, which enables deduction of the level of friction’, said senior scientist Kimmo Erkkilä in a statement.

The system is capable of determining the iciness of a road on the basis of a drive of a few kilometres.

The information is then passed on to the driver, before changes in road conditions are noticed.

After this, observations collected from all cars and the related co-ordinates are transmitted wirelessly to a background system, which maintains a real-time ice map and generates a log of the road conditions.

For each car that joins the system, the background system produces and transmits an individual data package on road conditions, allowing drivers to prepare in advance for slippery stretches of road.