WE 751-4-20 Roughometer III User Manual (01.03.16)

Roughometer III
© ARRB Group Ltd 2009-2016
Issue date: 01/03/2016

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User Manual - Roughometer III iii
Document Change Record

Updated Issue Changes Approved
By Date by PSM
Alan 02/07/2009 Roughometer III release. Paul

Murfett Davidson
Alan 24/11/2009 Inclusion of warning on use of ReadyBoost in Vista. Paul

Murfett Davidson
Craig Addition of ‘ARRB Sunset Policy’ to Notice to Customers, Kim

05/08/2013
Blackburn update of Customer Support Contact Details. Sedgwick
Alana Craig
01/03/2016 Front cover revision
Sutherland Blackburn
Issue Date: 01 March 2016

User Manual - Roughometer III iv
Customer Support Contact Details
Customer Support Group

ARRB Systems
500 Burwood Highway
Vermont South
Victoria 3133
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: + 61 3 9881 1543

Fax: + 61 3 9887 9820
Email: customersupport@arrb.com.au

User Manual - Roughometer III v
!
Important Safety Notice
WARNING: To prevent damage which may result in a fire hazard do not expose the in-vehicle
equipment to rain or moisture.
WARNING: Interfacing to any part of a vehicle’s electronics, in particular engine management

systems must only be done by a qualified automotive electrician.
WARNING: Any unauthorised changes to the ARRB interface hardware or misuse of the hardware
could interfere with the vehicle’s electronic systems. This may result in serious injury, or damage to the
vehicle and equipment. Any unauthorised changes or modifications void the user’s authority to operate.
CAUTION: Test to ensure safe and correct vehicle operation before driving on open roads.
POWER SUPPLY: The hardware supplied is designed to operate on a 12V DC (negative ground)
vehicle supply only.

User Manual - Roughometer III vi
Safety Precautions
Setting Up Ensure that electronic components are kept

dry and well ventilated. Never cover the
equipment.
The equipment must only be installed by
experienced or qualified personnel and Electronic equipment generally requires ventilation
to avoid the risk of overheating, damage to the
must not interfere with any of the vehicle’s equipment, and/or fire. Avoid spills, rain and
systems or operation. moisture and ensure all air outlets are
Improper installation can result in interference with unobstructed.
the vehicle’s management and safety systems or
result in damage to the vehicle. If in doubt, ask a
qualified person to carry out installation work such Do not do anything that might damage the
as permanently wiring into the vehicle’s power or cables or equipment.
engine management systems. Take particular care with mounting cables and
ensure that they cannot become damaged by
closing doors etc. If in doubt return the equipment
The equipment must be installed securely or cables to ARRB for checking or servicing.
and placed where there is no danger to the
operator and driver in the event of a
collision. If Problems Occur During Use
In the event of a collision, poorly installed
equipment can become a dangerous object inside If a problem occurs, for instance if smoke
the vehicle which may result in serious injury or
death. Ideally, all equipment should be properly or an abnormal odour starts to come from
secured with fixed equipment installed behind an the equipment, disconnect the power
approved safety barrier. immediately and inspect the equipment for
damage.
The vehicle must first be tested at low If in doubt, consult a qualified automotive electrician
speed under safe conditions to determine or return the equipment to ARRB.
correct vehicle operation before using on
roads with other vehicles, or at high speed. Do not tamper with the equipment, or
When modifications to a vehicle are made or attempt to repair it yourself.
equipment is installed it must always be tested Tampering, repair or modifications can damage the
under controlled conditions before driving on open equipment and/or the vehicle. This may result in
roads. serious injury.
When In Use
Ensure that the equipment is operated in

such a way that it does not distract or
obstruct the driver.
The full attention of the driver should be focussed
on driving safely. For some surveys this will require
a passenger to operate the equipment. The
equipment should also be installed and stored well
away from the driving position to ensure there is no
interference with the driver.
Please Drive Safely !

User Manual - Roughometer III ii
Notice to Customers
Confidential Warning
This document may only be used for the ARRB Group Ltd makes no warranty that its
purpose for which it was intended and may not software products will work in combination with
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or any hardware or applications software products
transmitted in any form or by any means, provided by third parties, therefore additional
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, microfilm, software packages and/or applications not
recording or otherwise, without written prior related to this data acquisition/processing
permission from ARRB Group Ltd. system MUST not be loaded as they may
interfere with the operation of this product.
Copyright
ARRB Group Ltd does not accept any
responsibility if additional software packages
© ARRB Group Ltd. 2009-2016 and/or applications are installed.
ARRB Group Ltd retains copyright and other Warranty

intellectual property rights including the right to
develop enhancements or updates of the
For commencement of Warranty and Warranty
equipment and software at any time without
Conditions, refer to the Handover Document
notice. All software is copyright and must not
supplied by the ARRB Customer Support
be modified, copied (except for back-up by the
Representative or the Certificate of Warranty
purchaser), or distributed in any form without
supplied with the purchase.
the written permission of ARRB Group Ltd and
the purchaser shall not sell nor re-sell the
Software upgrades do not extend or modify the
software.
warranty on equipment already provided.
Software may only be installed on computers
according to the licence agreement supplied ARRB Sunset Policy
with the software.
ARRB offers a seven (7) year support service;
where by equipment and software versions will
be supported with replacement parts (or
equivalent similar parts) for seven years from
point of sale.
Due to hardware components becoming

obsolete, some parts cannot always be
guaranteed to be replaced and may require an
upgrade to parts of the system as a result.
Where a software platform is more than seven
years old, ARRB will phase out support as
development for current platforms continue.

User Manual - Roughometer III 1
Contents
Page
Document Change Record iii
Customer Support Contact Details iv
Important Safety Notice v
Safety Precautions vi
Notice to Customers ii
Contents 1
1. Introduction 5
2. Hardware Installation 6
2.1 Roughometer III components 6
2.2 The Roughometer III Controller 7
2.3 Roughness sensor installation 8
2.3.1 Vehicle without IRS (independent rear suspension) 9
2.3.2 Vehicle with IRS (independent rear suspension) 10
2.3.3 Routing the Roughness sensor cable 11
2.4 Distance sensor installation 11
2.4.1 Connection to vehicle odometer 11
2.4.2 Installation of optional DMI 12
2.4.3 Modifying the Interface Module for distance sensor type 14
2.5 GPS Receiver installation 14
2.6 Power connection 15
2.7 Power on 15
2.8 Controller menu 15
3. System Calibration 16
3.1 Calibrating the Roughness sensor 16
3.2 Setting the measurement units (metric or imperial) 17
3.3 Distance calibration 18
3.4 Checking and setting the Time and Date 19
3.4.1 Checking and setting Date 19
3.4.2 Checking and setting Time 19
3.5 Survey beep selection 20
4. Performing a roughness survey 21
4.1 Sections, reference points, events and lead-in & lead-out 21
4.1.1 Sections 21
4.1.2 Reference points 21
4.1.3 Events 21
4.1.4 Lead-in and lead-out 22
4.1.5 Distance and Sub Distance 22
4.1.6 Recording reference point and event information during a survey 23
4.2 Checks at the start of each survey day 23
4.2.1 Checking date and time 23
4.2.2 Checking lead-in setting 24
4.2.3 Checking Distance and Roughness inputs 24
4.3 Performing a survey 24
4.4 Cancelling a survey 27
5. Ancillary Functions 28
5.1 Available memory check 28
5.2 Diagnostics and Speed 28
5.3 GPS status indicator 28
5.3.1 Roughometer III without GPS 28
5.3.2 Roughometer III with GPS connected 28
5.4 Normal start up messages 29
5.5 Error messages 30
5.5.1 Calibration errors 30
5.5.2 Memory errors 30
5.5.3 Configuration errors 30
5.5.4 Storage exhausted 31
6. Fault Finding 32
6.1 Controller appears dead 32
6.2 No distance pulses in the Diagnostics display 32
6.3 No output from the Roughness sensor (accelerometer) 32
6.4 Aborting survey message received 33
6.5 Power glitch 33
6.6 Memory available for survey data is only 200 MByte 33
7. Data Processing 35
7.1 Processing hardware 35
7.1.1 Minimum requirements for processing computer 35
7.1.2 Volume label of Roughometer III Controller 35
7.2 Installing the software 36
7.2.1 Installing from Roughometer III Controller 36
7.2.2 Installing the software directly to the PC 38
7.2.3 Installing newer versions of the software 38
7.2.4 Location of Roughometer files on PC 39
7.2.5 Possible problems in loading the software 39
7.3 Starting the software 40
7.4 Help menu items 41
7.4.1 User Manual 41
7.4.2 Roughometer III software version number 41
7.5 Roughometer III toolbar 41
7.6 Retrieving survey data 42
7.6.1 Survey data retrieval 42
7.6.2 Roughometer III data files 43
7.6.3 Deleting data files from the Roughometer III Controller memory 43
7.7 Processing survey data 44
7.7.1 Setting the result output folder 44
7.7.2 Setting Roughness and Distance units 44
7.7.3 Selecting the reporting interval 44
7.7.4 Low speed IRI correction 44
7.7.5 Reporting under speed, over speed and stopped 45
7.7.6 The assessment criteria 45
7.7.7 Processing 46
7.8 Disconnecting the Roughometer III Controller 48
8. Reports 50
8.1 Files and reports generated 50
8.2 Condition Assessment Report 51

8.3 Roughness Report 52

8.4 Roughness Graph 54
8.4.1 Generating the Roughness graph 54
8.4.2 Modifying the Roughness graph 54
8.5 Survey Map 56
8.5.1 Generating the Map 56
8.5.2 Modifying the Map view 57
8.5.3 Measuring distances and direction in Map view 59
8.5.4 Recording the latitude and longitude of a map location 60
8.6 Editing event information 60
8.7 Editing reference point information 61
8.8 Editing header information 61
8.9 Printing reports 62
8.10 Opening an existing report 62
9. Appendix A – Survey field form example 63
10. Appendix B – Quick Start Guide 67

1. Introduction
The ARRB Roughometer III is designed to provide roughness data for both sealed and unsealed
roads, to assess the performance of any road network.
Typical users include Local Government, Forestry and National Parks Management and private
companies, as they have a need for assessment of their roads with a cost effective and portable
system.
The Roughometer III’s outputs can be used to:

 provide objective data for true evaluation of the roughness level of the road
 objectively compare and analyse which roads are in need of remedial repair
 monitor roughness deterioration trends, reviewing successive survey results spaced over several
months
Capable of collecting 13,000 km of data, the Roughometer III kit comes as a complete user package
with data acquisition, processing and reporting software. Optional enhancements are a fully integrated
GPS unit and a wheel-mounted Distance Measurement Instrument (DMI).
The Roughometer III uses a combination of wheel-mounted motion sensor and a distance input to
measure the true longitudinal profile of the road. When driven within the recommended speed range,
this measurement is largely independent of vehicle mass and suspension characteristics. The
longitudinal profile is used to calculate the International Roughness Index (IRI).
All sensor data is stored within the handheld Roughometer III controller and can be subsequently
copied to a computer for processing and display of results.

2. Hardware Installation
2.1 Roughometer III components

The various components of the Roughometer III are shown in Figure 2-1. This Figure also shows how
the various components are connected.
Figure 2-1: Data acquisition hardware components showing their connections
A list of parts and their ARRB Part Numbers is shown in Table 2-1.
A collection of cable ties and cable tie bases are also supplied with the Roughometer III.

Part description ARRB Part Number
Roughometer III Controller assembly BF-11020.C

Roughometer III Accelerometer assembly BF-11040.C
Roughometer III Interface assembly BF-11050.C
Cableform Interface to Controller BF-CAB/11060.A
Cableform Interface to Cigarette Plug BF-CAB/11061.A
Cableform Interface to Battery BF-CAB/11062.A
Cableform Interface to Odometer BF-CAB/11063.A
USB cable Type A to B 2m long BF-CAB/CABUSB42L
Bubble level BR-HTL/LL-42-287
Optional components
KMI Rotational Transducer kit 19mm & 21mm BF-11114.B
GPS Vehicle Fit Out kit for Roughometer III BF-11204.A
Table 2-1: Roughometer III Parts List
2.2 The Roughometer III Controller

The Controller is used by the operator to perform all the set up and survey functions. It provides
operator feedback during the survey, accepts reference point and event inputs from the operator, and
acquires Distance, Time and Roughness data, and also, when the optional GPS receiver is installed,
GPS data. All data is stored in non-volatile internal memory.
The Controller is operated using five buttons (see Figure 2-2).

Figure 2-2: Roughometer III Controller
The actions of the buttons are described in detail throughout this manual but, briefly:
 ESC returns to the main menu
 YES marks reference points during a survey and selects menu items
 Start/Stop starts and stops the collection of survey data
 The scroll buttons  and  mark Events during a survey and scroll through menu items.
The Controller displays information and instructions relating to the various functions of the
Roughometer III on the LCD Display. A typical message is shown in Figure 2-3.
Figure 2-3: Typical display text
Survey data is obtained from the Roughness sensor and a distance input. With the optional GPS
receiver GPS data is included in the survey data.
2.3 Roughness sensor installation

Read the relevant installation instructions through fully before proceeding.
Note: For best results, the Roughness sensor should be calibrated prior to mounting on the vehicle.
The calibration procedure is described in Section 3.1.
In new Roughometer III kits the Roughness sensor has already been calibrated by ARRB.

2.3.1 Vehicle without IRS (independent rear suspension)

It is recommended that the sensor bracket is installed onto the vehicle’s rear axle, as close as possible
to the driver’s side wheel (see Figure 2-4).
Using the bubble level provided, position the sensor so that it is orientated as near to vertical as
possible. Secure the bracket to the vehicle axle using the hose clamp supplied. A small bubble level
can be used to correctly orientate the sensor.
The arrow printed on the sensor face should face downward (see Figure 2-5).
Figure 2-4: Sensor fitted to rear axle
Figure 2-5: Orientation of Roughness sensor

2.3.2 Vehicle with IRS (independent rear suspension)
Figure 2-6: Sensor fitted to vehicle with IRS (Independent Rear Suspension)
1. Attach the sensor to the flat plate of the mounting bracket with the two socket head cap screws.
Use a 3mm Allen key to tighten the screws up to the point where the sensor can still be moved
by hand relative to the bracket.
2. Check that the two parts of the mounting bracket are assembled with a flat M8 washer under
both the screw head and the nut. An M8 star washer should be placed in-between the two parts
of the bracket where they touch. Tighten the screw up to the point where it is firm, but where the
two parts of the bracket can still be moved by hand. A 13mm open ended spanner and 6mm
Allen key should be used for this.
3. Select two appropriately sized hose clamps (supplied). Use a flat bladed screwdriver to fully
unscrew both.
4. Thread the bands of the two hose clamps through the two pairs of slots on the U shaped section
of the mounting bracket. The bands will be tightened later, when the bracket is placed on the
shock absorber.
5. Drive the vehicle up on ramps or place on a hoist, etc, to gain access to the rear wheel where
the kit is to be fitted.
6. Place the hose clamps around the shock absorber (see Figure 2-6).
7. Thread the bands back into the clamps and tighten them loosely with the screwdriver.
8. It is essential that the sensor is mounted so that its sensitive axis is vertical. The arrow marked
on the side of the sensor should point straight down. The bubble level provided can be used to
measure whether the sensor is mounted correctly. The mounting bracket is designed to provide
adequate adjustment in the position of the sensor. The bracket can be rotated around the shock
absorber, as well as tilted in both “north-south” and “east-west” planes.
9. Position the mounting bracket as required and tighten up all screws. After tightening up the
screws, use the bubble level to check that the sensor has not moved.
10. Note that at least 40mm at the end of the shock absorber is required for successful mounting of
the bracket. The installer should check that the bracket will not be hit by the shock absorber
when the vehicle is driven.
Note: The device must be secured to the vehicle in such a way that it does not foul the operation of
the vehicle. It is the responsibility of the installer of the device to ensure that the shock absorber, or
any other part of the vehicle, does not hit the bracket or the Roughness sensor attached to it.

Note: The length of travel for a serviceable shock absorber can be obtained from the vehicle
manufacturer. This can be used to determine whether the device will foul the shock absorber.
A minimum of 40mm at the end of the shock absorber is required for successful mounting of
the device.
2.3.3 Routing the Roughness sensor cable
Note: It is essential that the sensor cable is safely and securely attached to the vehicle.
The following points should be considered:
 Ensure that the cable is routed in such a way that it does not interfere with any vehicle functions
and is not exposed to exhaust heat
 Secure the cable using nylon cable ties (do not tie around hot items such as the exhaust pipe)
 It is recommended that the cable be sheathed in a suitable jacket such as split plastic flexible
conduit supplied with the mounting kit
 For a temporary installation the cable can be routed to enter the vehicle through the rear window in
the case of a sedan or under the tailgate in the case of a station wagon (estate car). Typically the
cable is attached to the vehicle bodywork using adhesive pads and nylon cable ties.
2.4 Distance sensor installation

The distance input can be from either the vehicle’s odometer pulses or from the optional wheel-
mounted Distance Measurement Instrument (DMI).
2.4.1 Connection to vehicle odometer

Figure 2-7 shows the connection to the vehicle’s odometer pulses. The distance interface cable is
supplied with quick connect terminals. The Interface Module will accept pulses with an amplitude of
between 2V and 12V.
Figure 2-7: Vehicle odometer connection
Note: If the signal is from a transistor Open Collector or Open Drain, Link HD1 in the Interface
Module must be inserted in position B.
In a small percentage of vehicles, the available distance pulse is less than 2V in amplitude. For these
installations an in-line pulse amplifier (ARRB Part No. BF-SEN/VDO411096) is available to boost the
signal. The amplifier is supplied with separate installation instructions.

Important Safety Notice: Connection to the vehicle’s odometer system should only be done by a
qualified auto electrician. Incorrect connections to the vehicle’s electronics may affect the vehicle’s
speed measurement and/or engine management system.
If this is a new installation the Roughometer III will have been configured for a vehicle odometer
distance input. However if the Roughometer III was originally supplied for use with a different distance
sensor (eg. DMI) then the Interface Module will need to be modified. See the instructions in
Section 2.4.3.
2.4.2 Installation of optional DMI

The DMI is mounted on the wheel of the vehicle by means of a custom plate, designed specifically for
the vehicle, and collet/sleeve sets which grip the wheel nuts of the vehicle (see Figure 2-8). The DMI is
normally mounted on the driver side of the vehicle on the rear wheel.
The DMI sensor has a support rod which moves through a bearing attached to the body of the vehicle
(see Figure 2-8 and Figure 2-9). The support rod should be as close to vertical as possible.
Figure 2-8: DMI mounted on wheel
The DMI sensor is attached to the wheel as follows:

1. Remove the socket cap head screws and the aluminium disks from the ends of the collet/sleeve
sets provided. Fit collet/sleeve sets to 3 nuts on a wheel with 6 nuts, 5 nuts on a wheel with 5 nuts
or 4 nuts on a wheel with 4 nuts.
2. Offer the red circular plate up to the wheel and re-fit the socket cap head screws through the
aluminium disks and the plate into the collet/sleeve sets. Tighten the socket cap head screws
uniformly whilst holding the assembly tight against the wheel.

Figure 2-9: Attachment of DMI support rod bearing to vehicle
The bearing can be attached to the vehicle by one of two means (see Figure 2-9):
1. a universal fixing bracket/clamp to the top of the vehicle’s wheel arch
The universal clamp can be used as supplied to clamp onto the lip inside the wheel arch or the
backing part of the clamp can be removed and the bracket bolted directly to the vehicle. If holes
are drilled in the vehicle then the paintwork should be treated with a rubber or bitumen based paint
to inhibit rust.
Important Safety Notice: Care must be taken when fitting the bracket or clamp to ensure that
the tyre does not come into contact with the fitting at extremes of suspension movement.
2. a Power Grip vacuum cup which affixes to the body or window of the vehicle
The Power Grip vacuum cup can be attached to any flat, smooth, non-porous surface of the
vehicle. A red line on the pump’s plunger serves as a vacuum indicator. To attach the Power Grip:
(a) clean and dry the contact surface and, if necessary, the face of the vacuum cup
(b) position the cup so that the red line will be visible
(c) pump the plunger until the red line is hidden
Important Safety Notice: The vacuum pump must be operated whenever the red line appears
on the plunger. It is recommended that the Power Grip be checked at the start of each survey
day.
The support rod is inserted through the bearing and screwed tightly down on to the threaded coupling
on top of the DMI sensor. The support rod may be shortened but should be long enough to remain
within the bearing under all extremes of vehicle suspension travel.
The cable from the sensor is then run into the vehicle through a door seal or through a window.
Important Safety Notice: A safety lanyard is provided which should be connected from the bearing
for the support rod to a convenient anchor point on the vehicle. This lanyard is a safety feature
intended to prevent the bearing falling off the vehicle in the event that the attachment to the vehicle
fails.
If this is a new installation the Roughometer III will have been configured for a DMI distance input.
However if the Roughometer III was originally supplied for use with a different distance sensor (eg.
connection to vehicle odometer) then the Interface Module will need to be modified. See the
instructions in Section 2.4.3.

2.4.3 Modifying the Interface Module for distance sensor type

The Distance input of the Interface Module is designed to be able to operate with three different types
of sensors. When a Roughometer III is supplied to a customer it will be configured for the customer’s
distance sensor. This configuration setting is written on a label attached to the Interface Module.
If a different type of distance sensor is to be used at a later date the Interface Module must be
reconfigured.
To change configuration remove the base of the Interface Module by unscrewing the six retaining
screws. Find the plug on the internal cable from the DISTANCE connector and gently pull it off the
header and replace it on the appropriate header. Then replace the base and six retaining screws.
The three distance sensor types and their headers (see Figure 2-10) are:
1. VEHICLE PULSE input is the header (J4) for use with the vehicle’s odometer
2. KMI 15/1 SENSOR input is the header (J3) for use with the wheel-mounted DMI
3. ROTOPULSER input is the header (J2) for use with an Incremental Shaft Encoder
Figure 2-10: Headers on Interface Module PCB for various distance sensors
Note: Please contact the Product Manager at ARRB Group Ltd to obtain consent authorising you to
void the intact security seal (as shipped). This letter will go on to ARRB’s records to ensure any
remaining product warranty will be honoured unless any subsequent product failure is deemed by
ARRB to be a direct result of other than normal operation or fair wear and tear. Please ensure that
these installation instructions are strictly adhered to.
2.5 GPS Receiver installation

The Roughometer III has an optional GPS receiver which plugs into the Roughometer III Interface
Module.
Place the receiver on the roof or dashboard of the vehicle at the commencement of the survey. GPS
data is then logging during the survey.
Note: If a GPS is not connected the Roughometer III detects that there is no GPS data available. A
survey can still be performed but a map cannot be displayed during data processing.
See Section 5.3 for using the GPS status indicator to show correct operation of the GPS.
2.6 Power connection

12V DC power can be obtained from the vehicle cigarette lighter socket via the BF-CAB/11061.A
cable, or from the vehicle battery via the BF-CAB/11062.A cable, or a suitable accessory connection.
Direct wiring via the BF-CAB/11062.A cable is a better option because cigarette lighter connections
can be unreliable.
2.7 Power on
Make all connections to the Interface Module and Controller.
Switch the power on at the Interface Module and check that:
 The green light (LED) on the Interface Module is illuminated
 The display on the Roughometer III Controller has cycled through the startup checks and the
New Survey screen is displayed
 The Roughometer III Controller has emitted an audio signal (2 beeps) indicating that the Controller
is ready to collect Roughness data.
2.8 Controller menu

When the Roughometer III Controller has gone through its startup checks, the screen will display
“New Survey” (see Figure 2-3). The Controller menu has 10 items and the  and  scroll buttons
will take you in opposite directions around the cyclical menu.
The menu items are:
 New Survey (see Section 4.3)
 Memory Available (see Section 5.1)
 Calibrate Accelerometer Sensor (see Section 3.1)
 Calibrate Distance Sensor (see Section 3.3)
 Diagnostics (see Section 4.2.3 and Section 5.2)
 Speed (see Section 4.2.3 and Section 5.2)
 Units – Metric or Imperial (see Section 3.2)
 Lead-in setting (see Section 4.2.2)
 Survey beep (see Section 3.5)
 Date (see Section 3.4.1)
 Time (see Section 3.4.2)
Pressing ESC From anywhere in the menu returns the Controller to the New Survey screen.

3. System Calibration
Before commencing a survey, it is necessary to calibrate the devices that collect the survey data.
Calibration is carried out in the vehicle that will be used for the survey. The quality of the data collected
will depend on these calibrations; therefore the procedures must be followed carefully.
Before the Roughometer III is used for the first time, it is important that the correct date and time is set
in the Controller. When data is subsequently collected, it is stored in folders which are named
according to the survey date and time. Checking and setting the date and time are described in
Sections 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.
On completion of the Distance and Roughness sensor calibrations and checking or setting the date
and time, the Roughometer III is ready to be used in a survey.
3.1 Calibrating the Roughness sensor

The Roughness sensor (an accelerometer) is sensitive to vertical motion. When correctly installed, it
will accurately measure the vertical motion induced by the road surface profile as the vehicle is driven
along the road. Calibration of the accelerometer involves measuring the output from the accelerometer
in both the normal and inverted orientations.
Note: The calibration factor is stored in the Controller. If a new or different Controller is used,
another calibration must be performed.
In new Roughometer III kits the Roughness sensor has already been calibrated by ARRB.
Select the Calibrate Accelerometer Sensor screen using the Scroll buttons.
Cal Accel Sensor

Yes to select
Press YES to select the sensor calibration mode.
Sensor at 0 degs
Esc or Yes
Hold the sensor against a vertical surface with the sensor arrow pointing downward (see Figure 3-1)
and press YES .
Figure 3-1: Roughness sensor (accelerometer) calibration

Sensor = 2.74V
Esc or Yes
The output from the accelerometer is continuously measured and displayed. Adjust the sensor’s
vertical alignment to achieve the maximum output voltage reading, then press YES .
Rotate 180 degs.

Esc or Yes
Rotate the sensor 180 degrees (arrow up, see Figure 3-1), then press YES .
Sensor = 2.26V
Esc or Yes
The displayed voltage in this position will be less than the voltage displayed for the 0 degrees position.
Adjust the sensor’s vertical alignment to achieve the minimum output voltage reading, then press
YES .
Old 4.15 New 4.17

Esc or Yes
The calibration value will vary from unit to unit but should be around 4.17. The unit of the calibration is
g/V (ie. gravity units per Volt).
If the ‘new’ value differs greatly from the ‘old’ value or is greater than 4.27 (ie. +2.5%) or less than 4.06
(ie. -2.5%), press ESC and repeat the procedure.
If the calibration value remains outside the recommended values or is not repeatable, there may be a
fault. Refer to Chapter 6. Fault Finding.
If the ‘new’ value is acceptable, press YES and the Controller will be updated with the new calibration
parameters.
The Controller will update the calibration value. This will take several seconds to complete and then the
Controller will return to the New Survey screen.
3.2 Setting the measurement units (metric or imperial)

The Roughometer III Controller can be set to display survey distances in units of kilometres or miles.
The appropriate units are also used in the calibration routines.
Select the Units screen using the Scroll buttons.
Units – Metric
Yes to change
To change from Metric units to Imperial units (or Imperial to Metric units)
Units – Imperial
Yes to save
To change the units press YES or to keep the current units press ESC . The updating process will
take several seconds to complete and the keypad is locked during this process.

3.3 Distance calibration

Accurate distance measurement is dependent upon the distance calibration. The Distance Calibration
will vary considerably depending on the distance sensor, the vehicle type, wheel diameter and tyre
pressure. A Distance Calibration must be performed whenever the system is installed on a vehicle.
Important: The calibration factor is stored in the Controller. If a new or different Controller is used,
another calibration must be performed. A distance calibration involves driving the survey vehicle
along a marked and measured track. The track can be from 100 metres to 2000 metres in length (in
increments of 100 metres), or, when using imperial units, the calibration distance can be 0.1 mile to
1.0 mile (in increments of 0.1 mile).
A greater length of track will produce a more accurate calibration.
1. Position the vehicle at the start marker of the calibration track and select the distance calibration
screen using the Scroll buttons.
Cal Odo Sensor

Yes to select
Press YES to select the Distance calibration mode.
Cal. Distance
1000m Scroll/Yes
If required, use the Scroll buttons to select the calibration distance and press YES .
At start point
Press start…
Press Start/Stop to start the calibration.
Distance xxx
Stop at end
2. Drive the vehicle along the measured calibration track at a steady speed and ensure that the
vehicle wheels track as straight as is practical. The displayed distance will increment to show the
distance measurement produced by the distance calibration settings.
3. Slow the vehicle as it approaches the end of the track and stop the vehicle precisely at the end
marker. Press Start/Stop .
Old 1002 New 1000

Yes Save or Esc
In this example the calibration distance was 1000 metres and the proposed New calibration value
is, by definition, 1000. Using the Old calibration value the distance travelled has been calculated as
1002 metres.
If the sensor is not been changed the calibration values should be close.
Press YES to save the new calibration or press ESC if the new calibration value is not to be
saved, for example because of inaccurate start or end positioning, or if the vehicle deviated from
the true track.
The updating process will take several seconds to complete and the keypad is locked during this
process.

3.4 Checking and setting the Time and Date

Note: Whenever the date and time are displayed it is a ‘snapshot’ of the date and time and the time
does not increment on the display. The clock in the Controller is however still counting and correct
times are recorded with data.
3.4.1 Checking and setting Date
Select the date screen using the Scroll buttons.
Date: 2009-01-14
Yes to change
Press YES to change the date or ESC if the date does not need changing.
If changing the date proceed as follows.
Year: 2009
Scroll/Yes/Esc
Use the Scroll buttons to select the correct year and press YES .
Month: 1
Scroll/Yes/Esc
Use the Scroll buttons to select the correct month and press YES .
Day: 14
Scroll/Yes/Esc
Use the Scroll buttons to select the correct day and press YES .The date has now been set.
3.4.2 Checking and setting Time
Select the time screen using the Scroll buttons.
Time: 15:38:33
Yes to change
Press YES to change the time or ESC if the time does not need changing.
If changing the time proceed as follows.
Hour: 15
Scroll/Yes/Esc
Use the Scroll buttons to select the correct hour and press YES .
Minute: 38
Scroll/Yes/Esc
Use the Scroll buttons to select the correct minute and press YES . The time has now been set.

3.5 Survey beep selection

The Controller can be set to provide an audible confirmation of the progress of a survey by emitting a
‘beep’ every 100m during the survey. The beep is purely for operator feedback and is not related to the
roughness processing interval.
Select the Survey beep screen using the Scroll buttons. If, for example, the beeps were disabled the
display would be:
Survey beeps: Off

Yes to change
Press YES to change the survey beep mode or ESC if the beep mode does not need changing.
If enabling the survey beep mode the following will be displayed:
Survey beeps: On
Yes to save
Press YES and the survey beep mode will be updated and the screen will return to the New Survey
display.

4. Performing a roughness survey
4.1 Sections, reference points, events and lead-in & lead-out

The following discussion describes the terms “section”, “reference point”, “event”, “lead-in” and
“lead-out” as used by the Roughometer III Controller and the Data Processing software.
4.1.1 Sections
The simplest survey is one section from point to point (with no events noted during the survey) as
shown in Figure 4-1.
Figure 4-1: A single section survey
4.1.2 Reference points

A more complex survey is one where the survey is divided into a number of sections as shown in
Figure 4-2. Each transition between sections is marked by a reference point which is inserted by the
operator during the survey. The reference points may be defined before the survey or selected during
the survey.
Figure 4-2: A three section survey
4.1.3 Events
During the survey, it may be desirable to note the location of events of interest. For example, if the
vehicle needs to cross a railway line or if there are some road works. These events will influence the
roughness of that particular section and it is useful to have the events recorded along with the data to
help explain any unusually high results.
The Controller allows the insertion of two event types “event A” and “event B”. Whether to use event A
or event B is up to the operator. During Data Processing each event can be renamed, for example as
‘Rail crossing’ and ‘Roadworks’. An example of a three section survey with two marked events is
shown in Figure 4-3.

An example of the use of event A and event B would be assigning event A to permanent road-based
features such as railway crossings and drains and event B to non-permanent or variable features such
as diverting, roadworks or overtaking due to heavy traffic.
Note that stopping, under-speed and over-speed is automatically detected by the processing software.
Figure 4-3: A three section survey with two marked events
4.1.4 Lead-in and lead-out

To optimise the accuracy of results, it is recommended that the survey include lead-in and lead-out
sections, see for example Figure 4-4. The data acquired during the lead-in allows the processing
algorithm to prime the numerical filtering with some historical data before the first section of interest.
The lead-out improves data processing at the end of the survey.
Where possible, lead-in and lead-out sections of at least 50m are recommended.
Figure 4-4: A three section survey with lead-in and lead-out sections
4.1.5 Distance and Sub Distance

During a survey Distance and Sub Distance are displayed.
Dist 6.789 km
Sub 0.456 km
Dist (ie. Distance) shows the total distance travelled, and
Sub (ie. Sub Distance) shows the distance travelled from the last reference point.

with a lead-in
Figure 4-5 shows the Distance and Sub Distance readings for the first two sections of a survey with a
lead-in of 75m.
Figure 4-5: Distance and Sub Distance for a survey with a lead-in of 75m
without a lead-in
Figure 4-6 shows the Distance and Sub Distance readings for the first two sections of a survey without
lead-in.
Figure 4-6: Distance and Sub Distance for a survey without lead-in
4.1.6 Recording reference point and event information during a survey

Appendix A – Survey field form example shows an example of a survey field form to be completed
before and during a survey.
4.2 Checks at the start of each survey day
4.2.1 Checking date and time

It is recommended that the Controller date and time be checked at the start of each survey day. This is
described in Sections 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.

4.2.2 Checking lead-in setting
Select the lead-in setting screen using the Scroll buttons. The current setting will be displayed. For
example:
Use lead in: Yes

Yes to save
Press YES to change the lead-in setting.
Use lead in: No

Yes to change
Then press YES to save this new setting.
4.2.3 Checking Distance and Roughness inputs

Before commencing a new day’s surveying it is a good idea to check the distance pulses and the
output from the Roughness sensor (accelerometer).
Use the scroll buttons to show the Diagnostics screen.
Diagnostics
Yes to select
Press YES .
Pulses xxxx
Sensor 2.74V
The distance sensor count (ie. Pulses) should not count when the vehicle is stationary and should
increment when the vehicle is moving.
At rest the Sensor (accelerometer) voltage should be around 2.74V.
When the vehicle is moving, a further check of the distance input can be obtained by scrolling to the
Speed screen. The vehicle’s speed should be accurately displayed.
Speed: 60kph
4.3 Performing a survey

At power on, or after pressing ESC from any menu item, the Controller displays the New Survey
screen.
New Survey
Yes to select

1. Press YES to select the survey mode. The display will briefly show the amount of survey data
memory available (displayed as km or miles of survey),
7662km
Remaining
and then advance to show the date and time.
Date: 2009-01-14
Time: 15:38:33
It is recommended that the time and date (as displayed) are recorded using, for example, the
Survey Field Forms discussed in Appendix A – Survey field form example. The reason for this is
that the data files are named using the date and the survey start time (see Section 7.6.2).
Press YES to move to:
To Start Survey
Press Start
2. Start the survey

Press Start/Stop to start the survey.
If possible press Start/Stop approximately 50 metres (yards) or more before the start of the
section to be surveyed, ie. provide a lead-in section.
If having a Lead-in has been selected (see Section 4.2.2) the following screen will be displayed:
Acquiring LeadIn
xx m Ref/Esc
At the end of the lead-in section, ie. at the start of the section(s) of interest, press YES to mark
reference point 1.
The display will then indicate:
Reference 1
Sub 0.000 km
and soon after:
Dist 0.123 km
Sub 0.123 km
If having a Lead-in has not been selected (see Section 4.2.2) the following screen will be briefly
displayed and the distances increase until reference point 1 is reached:
Dist 0.000 km
Sub 0.000 km
3. During the survey

During the survey enter reference points as required by pressing the YES button.

The display will indicate reference point number and the Sub Distance resets to zero.
Reference 3
Sub 0.023 km
Events are entered by pressing the  scroll button for an Event A or pressing the  scroll
button for an Event B.
The display will indicate the event type (A or B) and the event number. Entering an event does
not affect the Sub Distance.
The following example shows the display after the fifth Event B was recorded.
Event B 5
Sub 1.456km
If required, events and reference point information can be recorded on a survey field form during the
survey. Appendix A – Survey field form example shows an example of a field form.
4. End of survey
At the end of the survey press Start/Stop to stop data acquisition.
If possible end the survey 50 metres (yards) or more after the last section to be surveyed, ie.
provide a lead-out section.
The screen returns to the New Survey display ready to start the next survey.
New Survey
Yes to select
Important Note: To improve accuracy and to ensure repeatability, it is important that wherever
possible, a constant survey speed is maintained. Actual survey speed will depend on the road, but
generally, a speed of 40 – 60 km/h (25 – 37 mph) has been shown to provide good results.
The speed should be above 25 km/h (15 mph). A survey speed below 25 km/h can result in
significantly higher Roughness results.
For sealed roads, a survey speed of up to 70 km/h is generally acceptable.
At the start of a survey the driver should reach the survey speed before pressing Start/Stop and, at
the end of the survey, still be travelling at survey speed when pressing Start/Stop .
Note: There are inevitably situations where the driver will need to slow down to negotiate a turn or to
allow for traffic conditions. The processing software can detect these occurrences and compensate
to ensure the low speed results do not influence the surrounding valid results. See Section 7.7.4 for
more details.
The Controller can be set to emit a ‘beep’ every 100m during the survey. See Section 3.5 for enabling
or disabling the beep.
The survey operations are shown diagrammatically in Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7: Example of survey operations with a lead-in
4.4 Cancelling a survey

A survey can be cancelled at any time by pressing the ESC button. The following screen will be
displayed.
Stop and discard

survey? Yes/Esc
To cancel the survey and return to the New Survey screen, press the YES button.
To continue the survey press the ESC button. The Roughometer III has continued collecting survey
data and the survey resumes without any loss of data.

5. Ancillary Functions
The Roughometer III has a number of other functions which are used to check the functionality of the
unit as well as assist in diagnosing faults. They can be accessed by using the scroll buttons. The
functions are listed below.
5.1 Available memory check
Memory Available
Yes to select
Press YES to see how many kilometres or miles of survey memory are available.
7500 km
Remaining (Esc)
Press ESC to return to the New Survey screen.
Note: The present version of Roughometer III has a 2 GB memory which will store data for
approximately 13,000 km of survey.
5.2 Diagnostics and Speed

The use of the Diagnostics and Speed displays to check the presence of Distance and Roughness
(accelerometer) inputs is described in Section 4.2.3.
The Diagnostics mode can also be used for elementary problem solving. The Pulses count is a ‘raw’
count of the pulses received and Sensor shows the accelerometer voltage as measured by the
Interface Module.
5.3 GPS status indicator
5.3.1 Roughometer III without GPS

The GPS data status indicator is in the upper right hand corner of the New Survey display.
If a GPS is not connected, the upper right hand corner shows no indicator.
5.3.2 Roughometer III with GPS connected

The GPS data status indicator is in the upper right hand corner of the New Survey display. It is also
indicated in some other displays, including the displays during a survey. The input from the GPS
consists of location fixes and a pulse per second (PPS) signal which is used during data acquisition.

When the Roughometer III Controller is receiving GPS fixes and the PPS signal a square in the right
hand corner of the display flashes once a second. This is the desired GPS operating mode during a
survey.
If the Controller is receiving GPS fixes but not the PPS signal a half filled in square flashes once a
second. The cause of this could be, for example, a damaged cable between the GPS and Interface
Module.
If the Controller is not receiving GPS fixes and not receiving the PPS signal an empty square is
displayed. This could be caused by inadequate signals from satellites due to, for example, when
parked in a garage.
If bad data, such as incomplete records, is being received by the Controller an “X” is displayed.
If no GPS data is being received by the Controller the upper right hand corner shows no indicator. This
would be seen if the GPS was not connected. In this case roughness data will still be acquired but
there will be no GPS data in the survey results.
5.4 Normal start up messages

When the Roughometer III system is switched on, a number of setup procedures and tests are carried
out by the internal program in the Controller. An example of the normal startup sequence of screens is
as follows:
ARRB Roughometer
Version 3.0.6
Reading
Configuration
Initialising
disk drive…

Total 1973984 kB
Free 972176 kB
Date: 2009-01-14
Time: 15:38:33
New Survey
Yes to select
5.5 Error messages
5.5.1 Calibration errors

If any problem is found with calibrations one of the following messages will be displayed for
approximately 1 second accompanied be six beeps.
Odometer
not calibrated
Accelerometer
not calibrated
5.5.2 Memory errors

The Controller memory is checked. The following message indicates there was a problem with the
check.
Memory Fault. Pls

Power OFF and ON
Follow the displayed instruction (switch the power to the Controller off and on again). The Controller will
then cycle through the start up checks and messages accordingly.
If the memory fault message persists, please contact ARRB for service.
5.5.3 Configuration errors

If the Controller configuration settings are invalid the following message is displayed for 2 seconds
accompanied by six beeps
Configuration
not valid
and then the following message is displayed for approximately 1 second.
Applying default
settings…

5.5.4 Storage exhausted

If the amount of free memory is less than approximately 500 KByte then the survey will stop. The
survey data is then saved and the following message will be displayed for 5 seconds accompanied by
four beeps.
Storage
Exhausted
It is necessary to free up some of the Controller memory by deleting survey data files, see
Section 7.6.3.

6. Fault Finding
The following section describes a number of fault scenarios which may be encountered by a user,
either at installation or after the unit has been in service for some time.
6.1 Controller appears dead

Problem: Unit plugged in but no sign of life on the Controller:
 Check all connections into the Interface Module and confirm that the power switch is on. If using a
cigarette lighter plug the vehicle ignition may need to be in the Accessory position.
 Check that the Power LED on the Interface Module is illuminated.
 If the Power LED is not illuminated, first check the fuse in the Interface Module, and then in the
vehicle fuse box.
 If the fuse in the Interface Module is blown and a replacement blows as well, contact ARRB.
 If the vehicle fuse is blown, remove the Interface Module power connector from the cigarette lighter
socket and replace the fuse. If it blows again, check with an automotive electrician. If the vehicle
fuse only blows when the Interface Module is plugged in, there may be a fault with the unit or the
power cable. Check the power cable and/or contact ARRB.
6.2 No distance pulses in the Diagnostics display

Problem: Controller appears to be working, but no distance pulses are evident in the Diagnostics
display:
 Check if the Distance LED on the Interface Module flashes as the vehicle rolls forward. With a high
resolution wheel transducer (DMI), the pulses will be very quick and it may appear that the LED is
permanently on, whereas with the vehicle odometer input, they will be much slower.
 If the Distance LED flashes, but there is no distance indication on the Controller’s Diagnostics
display, then the most likely fault is the controller cable. Try a spare or contact ARRB.
 If there are no Distance LED flashes on the Interface Module, then the distance transducer
connection could be faulty. Check the cable.
 If it is suspected the DMI is faulty and a spare DMI is available, then swap the DMI and check the
distance pulses.
6.3 No output from the Roughness sensor (accelerometer)

Problem: Controller appears to be working, but no output evident from the Roughness sensor:
 Check if the Sensor LED flashes on the Interface Module as the vehicle is driven over some
bumps.
 If the Sensor LED flashes, but the Sensor voltage indication on the Controller’s Diagnostics display
is static, then the most likely fault is the controller cable. Try a spare or contact ARRB.
 If there are no Sensor LED flashes on the Interface Module, then the Roughness sensor
connection could be faulty. Check the cable.
 If the distance pulses are from the vehicle’s odometer, it may be possible to check the presence of
the pulses at the connection to the vehicle wiring
 Plug a spare Roughness sensor into the Interface Module and check for a signal. With the sensor
vertical and the arrow pointing down, the Controller should display around 2.74V. With the sensor

inverted it should display around 2.26V. If there is still no signal, there may be a fault with the
Interface Module. Contact ARRB.
6.4 Aborting survey message received

The following message is displayed for 5 seconds accompanied by four beeps.
Error mm.nn
Aborting survey
Problem: The survey is aborted after displaying the above message.
If the problem recurs possible solutions are:
 Delete any survey files on the Controller that are no longer required (see Section 7.6.3.).
 Reformat the Controller’s disk drive using the standard Windows format utility.
Important Note: Reformatting the disk will delete all survey files on the disk and the Roughometer
application file on the Controller.
If the problem persists write down the error numbers (mm.nn in above example) and contact ARRB.
6.5 Power glitch

Problem: In some situations a power spike (or glitch) may occur. The following message will be
displayed for 4 seconds accompanied by four beeps.
Power glitch
Resetting
A possible cause is an unreliable cigarette lighter power connection.
Ensure that the power connection is reliable, see Section 2.6.
6.6 Memory available for survey data is only 200 MByte

Problem: Controller only has approximately 200 MByte of memory (ie. about 660 km) available for
survey data.
This can occur if the Controller was connected to a PC running Vista and Speed up my system was
selected in the AutoPlay window, see Figure 6-1. This enables Windows ReadyBoost which creates a
large cache file on the Controller’s disk to improve the speed of the PC.
The cache has the filename ‘ReadyBoost.sfcache’ and its default size is approximately 1.8 GByte
(leaving only 200 MByte for survey data). This file cannot be deleted using Windows Explorer or
My Computer.
To remove the file:
right click on the Roughometer icon in My Computer to show the Properties window
select the ReadyBoost tab
check the Do not use this device option button, see Figure 6-2
click OK
in My Computer open the Roughometer folder and delete the ‘ReadyBoost.sfcache’ file.

Figure 6-1: AutoPlay window in Vista
Figure 6-2: Roughometer Properties window showing ReadyBoost tab

7. Data Processing
7.1 Processing hardware

Data processing only requires the Roughometer III Controller containing the survey data and a PC (not
supplied).
The survey data and Data Processing software are stored in flash memory accessed via the USB port
on the side of the Roughometer III Controller.
7.1.1 Minimum requirements for processing computer

The minimum recommended computer requirements are:
 IBM1 Compatible PC with USB port (minimum USB1, but USB2 preferred)
 Pentium II 300 MHz CPU
 128 MByte RAM
 1 GByte of free hard disk space (to run software, greater disk space may be required to store
survey data)
 Microsoft Windows2 XP or Vista operating system.
7.1.2 Volume label of Roughometer III Controller

The Data Processing software, Roughometer.exe, recognises the Roughometer III Controller by its
volume label ‘Roughometer’. The Controller is assigned this volume label during manufacturing and
testing. The Controller volume label can be checked using My Computer, see Figure 7-1.
Figure 7-1: Volume label of Roughometer III Controller
If the volume label of the Controller is changed from ‘Roughometer’, or another drive connected to the
PC has the volume label ‘Roughometer’, the Controller will not be recognised by the Data Processing
software.
1 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation

2 Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

7.2 Installing the software
7.2.1 Installing from Roughometer III Controller

The Data Processing software, Roughometer.exe, can be installed simply by connecting the
Roughometer III to the PC with the supplied USB cable.
Windows XP
The Autorun software on the Roughometer III will display the window shown in Figure 7-2. Click OK
to run the Roughometer Data Processing software.
It is recommended that the Always do the selected action box is ticked so that the processing
software starts whenever the Controller is connected the PC.
If the Autorun window is not displayed see Section 7.2.5 for possible reasons and actions.
Figure 7-2: Autorun window in Windows XP
Vista
When the Controller is connected to the PC the window of Figure 7-3 may be displayed. It is
recommended that Scan and fix is selected.
Figure 7-3: Scan and fix window in Vista
The AutoPlay window (see Figure 7-4) will then be displayed. Click Run Roughometer application.
It is recommended that the Always do this for software and games box is ticked so that the
processing software starts whenever the Controller is connected the PC.

If the AutoPlay window is not displayed see Section 7.2.5 for possible reasons and actions.
Figure 7-4: AutoPlay window in Vista
Important Note: In the AutoPlay window (see Figure 7-4) do not select Speed up my system. If
selected, Windows ReadyBoost can claim most of the disk memory on the Roughometer III
Controller thus greatly reducing the memory available for survey data. See Section 6.6 for more
information if ReadyBoost has been enabled.
Windows XP and Vista

If the Data Processing software is not already installed on the PC a window requesting whether to
install it will be displayed (see Figure 7-5). If it is already installed on the PC then the Data Processing
software will just start.
Figure 7-5: Install Data Processing software onto PC?
Click Yes and the software will be installed (see Figure 7-6) and started (see Section 7.3).
Alternatively, clicking No will cause the software to be run without it being installed on the PC.
Figure 7-6: Successful installation information
During installation of the Data Processing software a desktop shortcut will be added to the Windows
screen (see Figure 7-7).

Figure 7-7: Desktop shortcut for Roughometer data processing software
Important Note: To disconnect the Controller from the PC the instructions in Section 7.8 must be
followed to avoid file corruption.
Note: Unlike most other software, the Roughometer does not perform an embedded installation and
does not change any registry settings on the PC.
7.2.2 Installing the software directly to the PC

There may be situations where it is desired to install the Data Processing software directly to the PC,
ie. not from the Roughometer III Controller but from another memory source or downloaded over the
internet.
It is recommended that the default location of files is followed, see Section 7.2.4.
7.2.3 Installing newer versions of the software

When a Roughometer III Controller is connected to a PC and Roughometer.exe is started, during
startup the software versions are checked. If the version of Roughometer.exe on the Roughometer III
Controller is more recent than the version on the PC then the PC version will be upgraded. Alternatively
if the PC has a more recent version then the software on the Controller will be upgraded.
If the Controller has a newer version of the software the prompt in Figure 7-8 will be displayed.
Figure 7-8: Installing newer version from Controller to PC
To upgrade the software on the PC to the newer version click Yes . After installation the window of
Figure 7-9 will be displayed. Click OK .
Figure 7-9: Successful installation of newest version information
If the PC has a newer version of the software than the Controller the prompt in Figure 7-10 will be
displayed.

Figure 7-10: Installing newer version from Controller to PC
To upgrade the software on the Controller to the newer version click Yes . After installation the
window of Figure 7-11 will be displayed. Click OK .
Figure 7-11: Successful installation of newest version information
7.2.4 Location of Roughometer files on PC

During installation of the Data Processing software the necessary folders are automatically created.
The Roughometer III Data Processing software, Roughometer.exe, is copied on to the PC in the folder:
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Roughometer
Vista
C:\Program Data\Roughometer
Roughometer III application settings are stored at:
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Roughometer
Vista
C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Roughometer
Roughometer III survey data and survey results are by default stored at:
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Data
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Results
Vista
C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Data
C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Results
7.2.5 Possible problems in loading the software

Two possible problems are discussed here - (i) the PC does not have the 'Auto Run the application’
option available, and (ii) needing to change the drive letter for the Roughometer III memory.

PC does not have the 'Auto Run the application’ option available
The PC may not have the 'Auto Run the application’ option available and will therefore need to run the
Roughometer.exe software from the flash drive. Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, find
Roughometer.exe and start the software.
need to change the drive letter
The PC will try to assign the next physical drive letter to the Roughometer III memory disk. This will
typically be drive letter E. If the computer already has a drive named E, the Roughometer III memory
disk will not be visible from Windows Explorer and will have to be renamed for this computer. In
Windows XP and Vista the method for doing this is as follows:
right click My Computer

click Manage, then Disk Management
right click the removable disk, then click Change Drive Letter
follow the prompts to change the drive letter to something else (eg. X).
7.3 Starting the software

If a Roughometer III Controller is connected to a PC the software will automatically start (see
Section 7.2.1).
To start the Data Processing software without a Roughometer III, double click on the Roughometer III
desktop shortcut (see Figure 7-7). If the shortcut is not displayed use Windows Explorer or
My Computer to navigate to
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Roughometer
Vista
C:\Program Data\Roughometer
and start Roughometer.exe.
The About Roughometer III window will briefly open (see Figure 7-12) and then the main window (see
Figure 7-13).
Figure 7-12: About Roughometer III window

Figure 7-13: Main window
Important Note: If the software has been started by connecting the Roughometer III Controller to
the PC then the Controller should not be disconnected until the data retrieval and processing
session has been completed. To disconnect the Controller from the PC the instructions in
Section 7.8 must be followed to avoid file corruption.
7.4 Help menu items
7.4.1 User Manual
From the menu select Help | User Manual and the User Manual will be opened.
Note: At present the User Manual is not automatically copied to the PC. If it is desired to open the
User Manual when the Controller is not connected, copy the file ‘Roughometer III User Manual.pdf’
from the Controller memory to the PC folder which contains the file ‘Roughometer.exe’ (see
Section 7.2.4).
7.4.2 Roughometer III software version number
Selecting Help | About… will display the About Roughometer III window (see Figure 7-12) which
shows the version number of the Roughometer III software.
7.5 Roughometer III toolbar

The Roughometer III toolbar (see Figure 7-14) consists of four buttons which provide fast access to the
data retrieval and processing functions. The File menu (see Figure 7-15) contains the same functions
plus file location functions.
Figure 7-14: Toolbar

Figure 7-15: File menu items
The File menu items and desktop buttons are:
 Copy - used to upload survey data from the Roughometer III Controller
 Process - used to process uploaded survey data.
 Explore My Roughometer folder – opens the folder ‘My Roughometer’ on C drive
 Explore surveys on Roughometer device – opens the folder ‘Roughometer’ on the

Roughometer III Controller
 Print - used to print graphs and reports.
 Exit - closes the software.
7.6 Retrieving survey data

After a survey, data must be retrieved from the Roughometer III for archiving and report processing.
7.6.1 Survey data retrieval
Click Copy on the toolbar, select File | Copy from the main menu, or press Ctrl + Y .
Any new files in the Roughometer III Controller memory are copied to the PC.
The default folders for the retrieved data are:
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Data
Vista
C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\My Roughometer\Survey Data
To change the folder select Tools | Processing Options… from the main menu to open the
Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16). Click the Survey data folder Browse button to open
the standard Windows dialog, and select a new folder.

Figure 7-16: Processing Options window
The survey data files on the PC and the Roughometer III Controller can be determined by selecting
File | Explore My Roughometer folder, or
File | Explore surveys on Roughometer device from the main menu.
7.6.2 Roughometer III data files

File names are formatted in the following way:
“YYYY-MM-DD HHhNNmEEs Survey.rgd”
where
YYYY is the year, MM is the month, DD is the day of the survey, and
HH is the hour, NN is the minute, EE is the second of the start of the survey
An example is:
2009-04-22 15h30m34s Survey.rgd
7.6.3 Deleting data files from the Roughometer III Controller memory
Although the Roughometer III can store survey data from 13,000 km and the Copy process only
downloads new data files to the PC, it is recommended that the data files in the Controller memory are
deleted at regular intervals. This would also be necessary after survey data for 13,000 km was
collected.
Ensure that all the data files are stored on the processing PC, a network drive or a dedicated file
backup medium.
Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, navigate to the Roughometer III memory disk. The
Roughometer folder has a folder for each day of survey data. Delete the data folders as required.

7.7 Processing survey data
7.7.1 Setting the result output folder

The default folders for data processing results are:
Windows XP
Vista
To change the folder select Tools | Processing Options… from the main menu to open the
Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16). Click the Results folder Browse button to open the
standard Windows dialog, and select a new folder.
7.7.2 Setting Roughness and Distance units

Roughness data can be processed to produce results and graphs in metric or imperial units.
If Metric units are selected, then Roughness is expressed in units of metres/kilometre correlating to the
International Roughness Index (IRI), or in Roughness Counts/kilometre from a vehicle based
Response Type Road Roughness Measuring System (RTRRMS). In Australia, these RTRRMS counts
are known as NAASRA counts. For both units, the rougher the road, the higher the Roughness result.
The Roughometer III processing software can produce result tables and graphs in either IRI or
NAASRA counts. Distance is displayed in metres or kilometres depending on the length of the survey.
If Imperial units are selected, then Roughness is expressed in units of inches/mile correlating to the
International Roughness Index (IRI). Distance is displayed in miles and Roughness is displayed in
NAASRA counts/mile.
In the Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16) select Metric or Imperial from the Units combo
box.
Click OK to save this option. The selected units will be the default next time the program is started.
Select the desired Roughness measurement units by choosing either IRI or NAASRA from the
Result type combo box.
Note: NAASRA roughness results are only defined for Metric units and if NAASRA results is
selected the distance units are automatically set to Metric.
7.7.3 Selecting the reporting interval

Typically, Roughness of a road section is reported in 100 metre intervals. It may be desirable to vary
this reporting interval, for instance to report a more localised feature (shorter reporting interval) or to
get an overall Roughness number for a whole road section.
If required, in the Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16), enter a new reporting interval into the
Processing interval box.
If a single Roughness result is required for each section, then check the Whole Section box.
Click OK when complete. Survey data can then be reprocessed using this new reporting interval.
7.7.4 Low speed IRI correction

While it is desirable to maintain a constant survey speed above 25 km/h, it is inevitable that the driver
will occasionally need to slow down to negotiate a corner or allow for traffic conditions. This low speed
data can produce unrealistically high IRI results and influence surrounding valid data. By default, the

processing program detects the low speed data and compensates to ensure it does not produce peaks
in the IRI results.
During the survey, the operator should enter an Event to signify where the slow-down occurred. In
examining the report, IRI results around the event of low speed should be treated with caution and
most likely, disregarded.
In the Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16), check or uncheck the Low Speed IRI Correction
box. The default setting is Low Speed IRI Correction on.
7.7.5 Reporting under speed, over speed and stopped

The Processing Options dialog (see Figure 7-16), allows the reporting of under speed and over speed
and when the vehicle is stopped. The speeds for under speed and over speed can also be specified.
7.7.6 The assessment criteria

To assist in the quick assessment of a road survey, a report is available which sorts the Roughness
results into a number of categories or ‘bins’. The table below (Figure 7-17) shows the Roughness
Categories and their corresponding IRI and NAASRA ranges.
Roughness IRI IRI NAASRA

Category (Metric) (Imperial) (Metric)
Very Good 0–2 0 – 157 0 - 52
Good 3–4 158 – 284 78 – 105
Fair 5–6 285 – 411 131 – 158
Poor 7 – 10 412 – 664 184 – 264
Bad 11 + 665 + 290 +
Figure 7-17: Roughness Categories vs IRI and NAASRA
The criteria will vary from user to user. A logging track carrying low speed trucks through a state forest
would be assessed as fair with a Roughness of, say 6, but an unsealed road in a rural shire carrying
relatively high volumes of traffic at speeds of around 80 km/h would regard the same road as poor or
bad.
The criteria can be varied to suit the location and road type. Note that the actual IRI values calculated
will not vary, only the assessment ‘bins’ into which they are sorted.
These criteria are used in the generation of the Road Condition Assessment report (see Section 8.1)
and the survey route map (see Section 8.5).
To edit the assessment criteria, select Tools | Assessment Criteria… from the main menu and enter
the desired upper limits for each category. The default values, as shown in Figure 7-18, can be
selected at any time by clicking Defaults .

Figure 7-18: Assessment Criteria window
The colours for each category are used in the Map view (see Section 8.5). The colour for a particular
category can be varied by clicking its coloured box in the right of the Assessment Criteria window. The
Color selection options window shown in Figure 7-19 is opened.
Figure 7-19: Colour selection options window
7.7.7 Processing
Click Process on the toolbar, select File | Process from the menu, or press Ctrl + P .
When the Select one or more Surveys to Process dialog opens (see Figure 7-20) navigate to the
desired folder and select the survey to be processed. Click Open or double-click on the file to start
processing.
Multiple surveys can be processed (batch processing) by selecting all the required survey files. To
select multiple files use the mouse with the Ctrl and Shift keys.

Figure 7-20: Selecting surveys to process
A Report Header dialog will open, into which details of the survey can be entered (see Figure 7-21).
Appendix A – Survey field form example shows an example of a form for manually recording this
information before or during a survey.
Press Tab or use the mouse to move between fields. Click OK when the desired report header
details have been inserted. Data processing will commence, with progress being displayed on the
progress bar at the bottom of the screen.

Figure 7-21: Report Header without information entered
Note: Filling in the Report Header fields is optional. Processing will continue if OK is pressed to
bypass this step. The Report Header information can be entered at any time during or after
processing, see Section 8.8.
7.8 Disconnecting the Roughometer III Controller

When connected to a PC via the USB interface the Roughometer III Controller is seen by the PC as a
removable memory device.
Once the Controller has been connected to the PC it should not be disconnected until the data retrieval
and processing session has been completed.
To disconnect the Controller click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the taskbar notification
area, see Figure 7-22.
Figure 7-22: Disconnecting the Controller from the PC
Click on the drive letter assigned to the Controller. In Figure 7-23 the Controller is drive X. (See
Section 7.2.5 about assigning drive letters.)
Figure 7-23: Selecting removable drive to disconnect
If the notification shown in Figure 7-24 is displayed, the Controller can be disconnected.

Figure 7-24: Notification that USB drive (Controller) can be disconnected

8. Reports
8.1 Files and reports generated

Processing generates a number of files and reports that can be viewed and printed directly from the
Data Processing program, or they can be accessed using programs such as Microsoft Word and
Excel.
The default folders for data processing results are:
Windows XP
Vista
The default folder can be changed by selecting Tools | Processing Options... (see Section 7.7.1).
Roughness reports can be produced in either IRI (metric or imperial) or NAASRA (metric only) format
(see Section 7.7.2).
The files produced all have ‘YYYY-MM-DD HHhNNmEEs’ at the start of their name as described in
Section 7.6.2 . In the following list this is shortened to ‘date&time’ for readability. The files are:
 date&time Survey.csv - IRI roughness and vehicle speed data in a comma separated variable
(CSV) file suitable for importing into Microsoft Excel. If NAASRA reporting is enabled NAASRA
results will be reported.
 date&time Survey IRI.rtf - Formatted IRI results file. Includes all header, section and events
information. The file is in rich text format (RTF) suitable for text editing programs such as Microsoft
Word. It shows the same information as seen in the Roughness Report (see Section 8.3).
 date&time Survey NAASRA.rtf - Formatted NAASRA roughness counts (NRC). Includes all
header, section and events Information. The file is in rich text format (RTF) suitable for text editing
programs such as Microsoft Word.
 date&time Survey Road Condition.rtf - Assessment file containing IRI results sorted into
‘Assessment Bins’ (see Section 7.7.4 for details of the assessment criteria used). The file is in rich
text format (RTF) suitable for text editing programs such as Microsoft Word. It shows the same
information as seen in the Condition Assessment Report (see Section 8.2).
 date&time Survey .hdr – Contains all header information after processing. This information is
passed to the reports.
Multiple surveys can be processed (batch processing) by selecting all the required survey files, see
Section 7.7.7.
The on-screen reports produced are:
 Road Condition Assessment Report
 Roughness Report
 Graph of Roughness vs Distance
 Map of the survey route showing road condition assessment
(Note: the Map is only available if an optional GPS receiver was connected during the survey)
These reports can be viewed and printed directly from the Roughometer III program. The report
displayed on the main screen is selected by clicking the relevant tab in the bottom left corner of the
screen, see Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1: Tabs for selecting reports, graphs and maps
8.2 Condition Assessment Report

The Condition Assessment view is a table showing Roughness levels according to the set assessment
criteria levels (see Section 7.7.6).
Full header details are shown at the top of the report, see Figure 8-2.
The fields in the table are:
 Section - the section number of the record
 SubDist - cumulative distance within the section
 TotDist - cumulative distance of the survey
 Excell – Good – Fair – Poor - Bad – the condition assessment is marked with an X. The
assessment criteria are set as shown in Section 7.7.6.
 Events - the number of times stopped, under speed and over speed for each processing interval is
shown. Whether these are displayed, and the threshold speeds for under speed and over speed, is
set in the Processing Options window.(see Figure 7-16).
The road condition for each processing interval is shown. The example in Figure 8-3 also shows
Underspeed, Stopped and Event A1.
At the base of the table is the Average Value of the condition assessment of the full survey (see
Figure 8-4).
Figure 8-2: Condition Assessment report showing header information

Figure 8-3: Condition Assessment report showing road condition for each processing interval
Figure 8-4: Average Condition Assessment for whole survey
8.3 Roughness Report

The Roughness Report view (see Figure 8-5) is a table showing the calculated Roughness levels in the
selected units.
Full header details are shown at the top of the report, as per for the Condition Assessment report, see
Figure 8-2.
The fields in the table are:
 Section - the section number of the record
 SubDist – cumulative distance within the section

 TotDist – cumulative distance of the survey

 IRI or NAASRA – the roughness (in the selected units)
 Speed - the vehicle speed at that point
 Event - the number of times stopped, under speed and over speed for each processing interval is
shown. Whether these are displayed, and the threshold speeds for under speed and over speed, is
set in the Processing Options window.(see Figure 7-16).
The Roughness value for each processing interval is shown. The example in Figure 8-5 also shows
Underspeed, Stopped and Events A1 and B1.
At the base of the table is the Average Value of the Roughness for the full survey (see Figure 8-6).
Figure 8-5: Roughness Report view showing Roughness value for each processing interval

Figure 8-6: Average Roughness value for whole survey
8.4 Roughness Graph
8.4.1 Generating the Roughness graph

The Roughness Graph view is a plot of Roughness (IRI or NAASRA, as selected) versus Distance.
Events, reference points, and assessment criteria levels are also shown. An example is shown in
Figure 8-7.
Figure 8-7: Roughness Graph view
8.4.2 Modifying the Roughness graph

zooming
The graph can be zoomed-in by left clicking and dragging to the right to create a box. The zoomed
view, as selected by the box, is rescaled appropriately. To return to the original view, click

Restore chart in the top right corner (only available when the view has been panned or zoomed) or
left click and drag to the left.
panning
The graph can be panned by right clicking and dragging the mouse in any direction. Axis scaling is
automatically adjusted as appropriate. To return to the original view, click Restore chart in the top
right corner (only available when the view has been panned or zoomed).
Zooming and panning can be combined. A graph that has been panned can subsequently be zoomed
and vice versa.
scaling
The Roughness graph has right click menus which depend on whether the vertical scaling is automatic
or manual, see Figure 8-8.
Figure 8-8: Roughness Graph right click menus
The scaling option is selected by Change to manual scaling or Change to auto scaling.
If the scaling is manual, selecting Set vertical axis maximum opens the dialog of Figure 8-9 and
allows customising of the vertical axis of the graph. Enter the desired maximum and click OK .
Figure 8-9: Setting the graph vertical axis maximum
changing the assessment criteria

Selecting Assessment Criteria from the right click menu allows the assessment criteria to be
customised (see Section 7.7.6 and Figure 7-18). If the limits are changed, then clicking Apply or OK
causes the changed assessment criteria line(s) on the graph to move.
expanding graph over several pages
The graph may be split to cover a number of pages. In the case where a long survey has been
performed, it may be useful to expand the graph to display smaller sections in more detail.
Select Tools | Application Options from the main menu to open the dialog of Figure 8-10. Select the
number of pages for the graph and click OK . The graph will be redrawn and the first page will be
displayed.
Figure 8-10: Selecting the Roughness graph pages option

To view other pages, use the slider control in the bottom right corner of the dialog (see Figure 8-11).
Figure 8-11: Viewing multiple page graphs
8.5 Survey Map

Note: A survey Map is only available if an optional GPS receiver was connected during the survey.
8.5.1 Generating the Map

A Map view example is shown in Figure 8-12.
Figure 8-12: Map view
The default map shows the route line colour coded to show the roughness according to the set
assessment criteria (see Section 7.7.6), the Start and End points, the marked events and the Section
start points (reference points).
It can also show when the vehicle was stopped, under speed (too slow) or over speed (too fast).
Whether these results are processed and the speeds for under speed and speed are determined in the
Processing Options window, see Section 7.7.5 and Figure 7-16. Whether they are displayed on the
Map is determined in the Map Attributes window, see Figure 8-15.

Figure 8-13 shows under speed around the “Stud Rd” reference point and Reference 9 and the vehicle
stopped (red squares) both sides of Reference 9.
Figure 8-13: Map view showing under speed and stopped examples
The Distance shown near the horizontal and vertical axes is the full distance across that axis.
8.5.2 Modifying the Map view

zooming
The map can be zoomed in by left clicking and dragging to the right to create a box. The zoomed view
is rescaled appropriately. To return to the original view, click Restore chart in the top right corner
(only available when the view has been panned or zoomed) or left click and drag to the left.
panning
The map can be panned by right clicking and dragging the mouse in any direction. To return to the
original view, click Restore chart in the top right corner (only available when the view has been
panned or zoomed).
scaling
The right click menu for the Map view is shown in Figure 8-14.
Figure 8-14: Right click menu in Map view
The options are:

 Apply auto scaling
 Apply X=Y scaling – applies equal scaling to X and Y axes
 Apply XY scaling – applies one of five scales to both vertical and horizontal axes (the same scale
to both). Before selecting one of the five scales, you must double click on a point in the map to set
the point that the XY scaled map will be centred around.

In metric units, the five scales are 10m, 100m, 1km, 10km and 100km.
In imperial units, the five scales are 10ft, 100ft, 1 mile, 10 mile and 100 mile.
 Map title – allows a title to be added to the top of the map. The title can be edited or deleted by
reselecting Map title.
 Map attributes – opens the Map Attributes window shown in Figure 8-15.
 Clear marker – removes the marker (see Section 8.5.3)
 Assessment Criteria – allows the assessment criteria to be customised (see Section 7.7.6 and
Figure 7-18). If the limits are changed, then clicking Apply or OK causes the plot colours and
Legend to change.
changing map attributes
The Map Attributes window, see Figure 8-15, allows changing whether and how features are displayed
on the map. Figure 8-15 shows the default settings which can be selected at anytime by clicking
Default .
Figure 8-15: Map Attributes options window
Select which features are to be displayed by ticking or unticking the box. The size of some features can
be varied. The colour of each feature type can be changed by clicking on the coloured box. The colour
can then be selected from the options shown in Figure 8-16. Similarly the colour of the Label Boxes
can be changed by clicking on the coloured box.
Figure 8-16: Colour selection options window

8.5.3 Measuring distances and direction in Map view

To measure distance and direction on the map, double click on the first location which places a marker
on the map. In Figure 8-17 a marker (the blue X) has been placed just below the Stud Rd Reference.
Figure 8-17: Marker in Map view
The line of sight distance and direction of the cursor to the reference point is then shown on the bottom
line of Map view. When the cursor is on the survey route the cursor becomes a cross. Figure 8-18
shows a marker on the Stud Rd Reference and the cursor on Reference 9.
Figure 8-18: Marker and cursor point in Map view
Figure 8-19 shows the information displayed across the bottom of the Map view screen.
Figure 8-19: Distance, direction and location information across bottom of Map view screen
 Line of sight distance – is the distance from the marker to cursor

 Distance from start – is the survey route distance from the start of survey to the cursor (only seen
when cursor on route survey)
 IRI – the IRI and speed at the cursor point are shown (only seen when cursor on route survey)
 Azimuth – is the direction in degrees of the cursor from the marker
 Lat and Lon – are the latitude and longitude of the cursor point

The marker can be moved to another location by double clicking at the new location.
The marker can be removed by a single left click anywhere on Map view or by selecting Clear marker
from the Map view right click menu, see Figure 8-14.
8.5.4 Recording the latitude and longitude of a map location

When a location is double clicked there is a marker placed on the map (see Figure 8-17) and the
latitude and longitude of the location are copied to the Windows Clipboard.
8.6 Editing event information

The events displayed in an open report file can be edited to provide more information about the event.
For example, an event may be a rail crossing, a cattle grid or slowing down for traffic. This information
cannot be entered into the Controller during the survey, but must be noted and edited into the report at
processing time. Appendix A – Survey field form example shows an example of a form for manually
recording Event information during a survey.
To edit the events, select Edit Events from the Tools menu, see Figure 8-20, or press Ctrl + E .
Figure 8-20: Tools menu items
The Events Editor dialog will open, see Figure 8-21.
Figure 8-21: Editing events
The first event will be highlighted. Enter a description of the event. In Figure 8-21 “Roundabout” has
been entered for Event A1. Tab to each of the other events and enter a description. Click OK to
complete the editing. The event description will be updated in the reports, graphs and maps.

Event labels can also be edited by clicking on the event label in Graph and Map views.
8.7 Editing reference point information

Editing reference point information is performed in the same way as editing event information. The
keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + R . Figure 8-22 shows an example of a References Editor dialog that
was entered by clicking reference 8 in Map view.
Figure 8-22: Editing reference point information
8.8 Editing header information

Header information such as Road Name, Travel Direction and Operator Name is typically entered
before processing, but can also be edited during or after processing.
To edit the header information, select Edit Events from the Tools menu, see Figure 8-20, or press
Ctrl + H .
The Report Header dialog will open (see Figure 8-23).
Figure 8-23: Editing header information

Tab to the fields to be edited (or click in the fields) and enter the new information. Click OK to
complete editing. The header information will be updated in the reports.
8.9 Printing reports

Click Print on the toolbar or select File | Print from the menu to print the page currently on the
screen.
8.10 Opening an existing report

Reports created during a previous processing session can be opened for viewing, printing and editing.
Select File | Explore My Roughometer folder from the menu. Select the folder Survey Results (see
Figure 8-24) then the date of the survey and then the required survey file. The report files stored are
described in Section 8.1.
Figure 8-24: Opening an existing report file
Graphs and Maps are not stored in Survey Results but can be generated by re-processing the survey
data.

9. Appendix A – Survey field form example

An example of a survey field form to record survey information, reference points and events is shown
on the following pages.
The operator is advised to develop a form to suit their requirement and style of survey.
The attached field form example has the following features.
 survey information listed as per the Report Header (see Figure 8-23)
 distance data recorded
 a list of event abbreviations to allow fast recording of events
The operator may not have time to enter distances in the distance columns for events and reference
points during a survey (and, in any case, the distances are stored with the data and displayed during
data processing) the distance columns may be useful where reference points are determined before a
survey. In this case the distances help the operator identify and record the reference points.
A soft copy of the example is included on the root directory of the Roughometer III Controller memory
disk. The files are:
‘Survey Field Form Example.doc’
‘Survey Field Form Example.rtf’
If desired, the example form can be downloaded, edited and printed for survey use.

Reference Point Field Form
Survey Date Time
Road Name
Road section From
Road section To
Travel
Direction
Reference
Vehicle Operator
Comments
Reference
Distance Sub Dist Reference Point Description Check
Point
10

Event Field Form
Survey: Date: Time:
Event A Distance Description Event B Distance Description
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
10 10
11 11
12 12
13 13
14 14
15 15

Events Abbreviations
Event A Event B
BA Bridge Abutment DS Deviation Start
RC Railway Crossing DE Deviation End
C Culvert RWS Road Work Start
SD Spoon Drain RWE Road Work End
SH Speed Hump PH Pot Holes
RA Roundabout C Corrugations
I Intersection ED Edges Deteriorated

10. Appendix B – Quick Start Guide

A printed copy of the Quick Start Guide is supplied with the Roughometer III and a copy of the file
‘Roughometer III Quick Start Guide.pdf’ is stored on the Controller memory.
A reduced copy is also reproduced here.

----------------------- END of USER MANUAL -------------------------

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Roughometer III

© ARRB Group Ltd 2009-2016

Issue date: 01/03/2016

Document Change Record

Alan 02/07/2009 Roughometer III release. Paul

Alan 24/11/2009 Inclusion of warning on use of ReadyBoost in Vista. Paul

Craig Addition of ‘ARRB Sunset Policy’ to Notice to Customers, Kim

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Customer Support Contact Details

Customer Support Group

Telephone: + 61 3 9881 1543

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

WARNING: Interfacing to any part of a vehicle’s electronics, in particular engine management

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Setting Up Ensure that electronic components are kept

Ensure that the equipment is operated in

Please Drive Safely !

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

ARRB Group Ltd retains copyright and other Warranty

Due to hardware components becoming

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

8.3 Roughness Report 52

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

The Roughometer III’s outputs can be used to:

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.1 Roughometer III components

Figure 2-1: Data acquisition hardware components showing their connections

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Part description ARRB Part Number

Roughometer III Controller assembly BF-11020.C

Table 2-1: Roughometer III Parts List

2.2 The Roughometer III Controller

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Figure 2-2: Roughometer III Controller

Figure 2-3: Typical display text

2.3 Roughness sensor installation

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.3.1 Vehicle without IRS (independent rear suspension)

Figure 2-4: Sensor fitted to rear axle

Figure 2-5: Orientation of Roughness sensor

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.3.2 Vehicle with IRS (independent rear suspension)

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.3.3 Routing the Roughness sensor cable

2.4 Distance sensor installation

2.4.1 Connection to vehicle odometer

Figure 2-7: Vehicle odometer connection

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.4.2 Installation of optional DMI

Figure 2-8: DMI mounted on wheel

The DMI sensor is attached to the wheel as follows:

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

Figure 2-9: Attachment of DMI support rod bearing to vehicle

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

2.4.3 Modifying the Interface Module for distance sensor type

2.5 GPS Receiver installation

2.6 Power connection

2.8 Controller menu

Issue Date: 01 March 2016

3.1 Calibrating the Roughness sensor

Cal Accel Sensor

Figure 3-1: Roughness sensor (accelerometer) calibration

Issue Date: 01 March 2016