Pavement Profile Scanner (PPS)

Pavement Management Systems (PMS) are valuable tools for constantly monitoring road condition and planning repairs or renewals. These systems operate based on highly precise measurement data of the road surface. Our laser-based Pavement Profile Scanner (PPS) collects this data for PMS and can detect small irregularities on pavement surfaces at high speeds.

Unprecedented precision at high speeds

At the core of the PPS is a laser scanner that measures with unprecedented precision, resolution, and speed. Mounted approximately three meters above the road surface on the measuring vehicle, the PPS scans a width of about four meters with submillimeter precision, even at speeds of up to 80 km/h. The scan provides a three-dimensional image of the road surface, enabling assessment of its condition. The PPS's high performance is made possible by phase shift technology. Used in many mobile scanning applications, this technology allows for greater measurement precision than pulsed time-of-flight (TOF) technology. The scanner is integrated into a robust, shockproof IP67 housing, enabling 24/7 operation, even in harsh environments.

800 profiles per second

Precision requirements are high for road surface measurement. For small surface areas, typically 2 cm × 2 cm or 10 cm × 10 cm, an extreme height resolution of a few tenths of a millimeter is necessary. These requirements can only be met by combining high accuracy, high measurement rates, and high scanning speeds. The PPS scans the street surface transversely to the direction of travel using a rotating polygon mirror as it moves forward. This creates 800 transverse profiles per second. The distance to the street surface is measured up to two million times per second, resulting in up to 1,800 measurement points per profile. Even at 80 km/h, a 10 cm × 10 cm surface area contains up to 100 3D measurement points. Using this data, the transverse evenness of the road surface can be evaluated with high accuracy. Since May 2012, the PPS has been certified by the German Federal Highway Institute (BASt) for measuring transverse road evenness. When combined with a positioning solution, PPS data can be used to determine longitudinal evenness in all lanes of the road. We provide the required software for generating this data. 

The Pavement Profile Scanner is eye-safe according to IEC 60825 (laser class 1).