Patent Description:
Roads are a common carriageway for many users to travel (e.g. in cars, buses or bicycles). An ability of a road user to travel on a given road is based, at least in part, on weather conditions. For example, during cold weather, roads may become covered in ice and/or snow, which may result in dangerous driving conditions due to the user's vehicle not being able to effectively grip the road surface. Commonly, during weather where the road surface may be, or is, covered in ice, a road treatment material such as a solid material (e.g. rock salt) or a liquid such as a urea based treatment that prevents and reduces the build-up of ice may be applied to the road surface.

Generally, the process of road treatment is performed by a road treatment vehicle, equipped with a supply of a road treatment material. The vehicle is associated with a control system for assisting the driver following a route around a portion of a road network to treat the road sections along the route with the road treatment material. The device stores data indicative of the route to be followed by the vehicle. The stored data may also indicate attributes of the road treatment material to be deployed on each road section of the route. The attributes of the road treatment material may be determined based on a severity of treatment required (e.g. based on an ice coverage of the road section). However, the characteristics (e.g. residual salinity from previous treatments, road type, etc, as will be herein disclosed) of each road section may be different. Therefore, data from a road section may be utilised for determining an optimal amount and/or type of treatment material when the road section is re-treated in the future. <CIT> is directed to enabling a salt concentration measuring process to be executed even in the case where a road surface is dry and determining a scatter amount of an anti-freezing agent on the basis of the measurement value of salt concentration. ITTO20121153A1 relates to a measurement method for determining salinity on a road surface. <CIT> relates to methods, apparatus and control systems for dispensing salt, grit or other substances on surfaces. <CIT> relates to a vehicle having a GPS receiver cooperating with a satellite positioning system in order to determine the position of the vehicle and subsequently to control, on the basis of the position detected, a distribution device and its spreading methods as a function of the positions of the vehicle along a road route.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a control system for a road treatment vehicle in accordance with the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method performed by a control system for a road treatment vehicle in accordance with the appended claims.

Also disclosed herein, there is provided an example method further comprising: deploying, by a deployment means of the road treatment vehicle, the treatment material on the road section according to the one or more road treatment parameters for the road treatment material.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle, comprising the control system defined by the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, are arranged to perform the method defined by the appended claims.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:.

<FIG> shows an example of a control system <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control system <NUM> is a control system <NUM> for a road treatment vehicle <NUM> as will be explained. The road treatment vehicle may be a road treatment vehicle (e.g. a gritting vehicle) that is configured for deploying a treatment material (e.g. salt, sand) during conditions whereby road surfaces are covered in ice. The road treatment vehicle may be configured to leave a vehicle depot/hub and treat a predetermined set of roads within a road network (e.g. a route for treatment). The predetermined route to be followed may be indicated by map data that is preloaded into a control system <NUM> of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>.

Within the map data, the road network may be divided into one or more sequential road sections which may require a different level of treatment. As an example, the road sections may represent one or more of: individual streets, segments of equal length (e.g. <NUM> sections from the predetermined route), and/or segments of similar/the same characteristics (e.g. the same road surface construction).

The control system <NUM> may be one of a plurality of control systems within the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. Each one of the plurality of control systems may be configured to perform respective operations individually and independently, as will be understood by the person skilled in the art. The control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from a salinity sensor <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, salinity data <NUM> comprising an indication of a salinity associated with a surface of a road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. The control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from a storage unit of the control system, historical data <NUM> comprising historical salinity data indicating the salinity associated with the surface of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle is located at a previous time. The control system <NUM> is configured to determine, in dependence on receiving the salinity data and the historical data, one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material.

The control system <NUM> comprises a processor <NUM>, and a storage unit <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may comprise any suitable electronic processor (e.g., a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an ASIC, etc.) that is configured to execute electronic or computer-readable instructions, stored in the storage unit <NUM>. According to the invention, the processor <NUM> accesses the storage unit <NUM> and executes and/ or uses the instructions to carry out or perform some or all of the functionality and methodology describe herein. The storage unit <NUM> may comprise one or more memory devices for storing data therein. The storage unit <NUM> may include a volatile memory and/or a non-volatile memory. The storage unit <NUM> may, for example, store an instruction or data associated with at least the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, the salinity data and/or the historical data. For example, the storage unit <NUM> may store map data, indicating a route that the route treatment vehicle <NUM> should follow while treating a road network. In some examples, the storage unit <NUM> may store a software and/or a program.

The control system <NUM> may be configured to receive data over a wired and/or wireless communication protocol. For example, the control system <NUM> may be configured to communicate with an external device (e.g. a server or the like) over a wired and/or wireless communication protocol to receive the salinity data <NUM>, the historical data <NUM> and/or map data. As another example, the control system <NUM> may receive location information over a wired communication protocol from a location sensor <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, as will be discussed in relation to <FIG>. The control system <NUM> may be connected to and/or comprise one or more transceivers. The transceivers may be configured to transmit and receive information according to a communication protocol, which may be a wireless communication protocol. The wireless communication protocol may utilise radio communication, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, over a wireless cellular network e.g. <NUM>, <NUM> etc, or similar. In some examples, the transceiver may be configured to transmit and receive data using a combination of wired and wireless communication protocols.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be integrated with the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the control system <NUM> may be a unit integrated in or mounted upon a control panel of the road treatment vehicle <NUM> (e.g. a dashboard console). In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be removeable from the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the control system <NUM> may be a portable unit that may be communicatively connected to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, and may be removably connected/integrated into the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, such as, by using a docking station for the control system <NUM>, for example. In some examples, the control system <NUM> may be connected to and/or comprise an interface unit <NUM>. The interface unit <NUM> may be configured to receive a user input; for example the interface unit <NUM> may comprise one or more of a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen and/or similar.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from a salinity sensor <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle, discussed in relation to <FIG>, salinity data <NUM>. The salinity data <NUM> comprises an indication of a salinity associated with a surface of a road section on which the road treatment vehicle is located.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from the storage unit <NUM> of the control system <NUM>, historical data <NUM>. The historical data <NUM> comprises the historical salinity data indicating the salinity associated with the surface of the road section on which road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located at the previous time. The previous time may be a time when a road treatment vehicle <NUM> captured salinity data on the road section. That is, when a control system <NUM> receives data (e.g. salinity data), the received data is stored for use as historical data <NUM>, corresponding to the location it was received. In some examples, the control system <NUM> may be configured to determine the historical data <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle's current location by consulting a historical data <NUM> look-up table, or other data structure, using location information of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. In some examples, the historical data <NUM> may be preloaded into the map data and received by the control system <NUM> while the road treatment vehicle <NUM> travels a route.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material based on the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM>. For example, the control system <NUM> may determine the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> using a look-up table and/or function, using the salinity data and the historical data as input values. The look-up table and/or function may define a relationship reflecting an estimated change over time in the salinity associated with each road section. In some examples, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive environment data, the salinity data <NUM>, and the historical data <NUM> and determine the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> based on the environment data, the salinity data <NUM>, and the historical data <NUM> using the look-up table and/or the function, discussed above. The environment data will be discussed in further detail below.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive historical data <NUM> comprising the historical salinity data and previous treatment information. As an example, the previous treatment information may be received from the storage unit <NUM>, the map data, and/or the server. The previous treatment information may indicate one or more of a previous amount of treatment material used on the road section during a previous treatment of the road section, a previous composition of the treatment material used on the road section during a previous treatment of the road section; and an elapsed time since the previous treatment has taken place. For example, the previous treatment information may indicate that the road section was previously treated <NUM> hours ago with a large amount of treatment material.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from a salinity sensor <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, salinity data <NUM> comprising an indication of a salinity associated with a surface of a road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to receive, from a storage unit of the control system, historical data <NUM> comprising historical salinity data indicating the salinity associated with the surface of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle is located at a previous time.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine a treatment material index <NUM> for the road section indicating a degradation rate of treatment material for the road section based on the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM>. According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine, in dependence on determining the treatment material index <NUM>, the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material.

The treatment material index <NUM> indicates a degradation rate of the treatment material for each of a plurality of road sections on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> may be located, presently or at a future time. That is, the treatment material index <NUM> may indicate a removal rate of the treatment material from the road surface over time. For example, the treatment material may be removed from the road surface by: the treatment material becoming attached to vehicles (e.g. via the vehicle's tyre), due to the weather (e.g. wind blowing the treatment material away, or precipitation flows carrying the treatment material away and/or dissolving the treatment material). In other words, the degradation rate may be indicative of a "stickiness" between the road surface and the road treatment material and provides an indication of a quantity of treatment material which is carried away from the road section per unit time (g s-<NUM>). The treatment material index <NUM> may be represented by one or more values and may be inversely proportional to the "stickiness" of the road surface and the road treatment material. In embodiments, a first value for the treatment material index may indicate that the degradation rate of the treatment material for the road section is high, and therefore degrades at a high rate. In embodiments, a second value for the treatment material index may indicate that the degradation rate of the treatment material for the road section is low, and therefore degrades at a low rate. Values intermediate the first and second values represent intermediate degradation rates. In some embodiments, the value of the treatment material index <NUM> may be a positive value and between a predefined range (e.g. <NUM> and <NUM>, although other values may be used). However, in some embodiments, the value of the treatment material index <NUM> may be positive or negative and between another predefined range (e.g. -<NUM> and <NUM>, whereby a negative treatment material index indicates that there is already too much treatment material present on the road surface). The treatment material index <NUM> may be derived using historical road treatment data, such as measurements. The treatment material index <NUM> may be determined by inputting data into a polynomial equation, derived using historical road treatment data, and/or using a look-up table, derived using historical road treatment data.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine the treatment material index <NUM> based on the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM>. For example, the control system <NUM> may input the received salinity data <NUM> and historical data <NUM> into an equation to determine the treatment material index <NUM>. For example, the salinity data <NUM> may indicate that a current salinity of the road section's surface is <NUM> m-<NUM> and the historical data <NUM> may indicate that the salinity of the road section's surface at the previous time was <NUM> m-<NUM>. Therefore, the control system may input the salinity data <NUM> and historical data <NUM> into the equation and determine a suitable treatment material index <NUM>, given the change in the salinity from the previous time and receiving the current salinity indicated by salinity data <NUM>. However, as discussed later, the control system <NUM> may receive one or more sources of environment data <NUM> as well as the salinity data and the historical data as input into the equation.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may determine the treatment material index <NUM> by consulting the look-up table, or other data structure, using the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM> (based on the location information) to determine the treatment material index <NUM> that is associated with the road treatment vehicle's current location.

In further embodiments, the control system <NUM> may store the treatment material index <NUM> in a treatment material index look-up table. In such embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to update the treatment material index <NUM> stored in the treatment material index look-up table when the determined treatment material index <NUM> is not within a predetermined threshold of the previous treatment material index <NUM>. In some examples, the treatment material index <NUM> may be used for determining an estimate of one or more of the road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material for use on the road section, when a future route for the road treatment is determined. That is, the treatment material index <NUM> for the road section may be taken into account when determining future treatment of the road section.

Advantageously, it may be possible to appropriately treat road sections, such as by reducing chances of over and under treating road sections within a route, by taking account degradation of a treatment material on the respective road sections. By reducing under-treatment of road sections, road user safety may be increased. By reducing over-treatment of road sections, environmental effects, caused by treatment material runoff into water supplies (as one example), may be reduced. Furthermore, costs may be reduced. Advantageously, by taking the treatment material index <NUM> into account when determining future treatment of the road section, the road treatment vehicle <NUM> may only be loaded with an amount of each of the constituents of the road material in the amounts required for a particular route, meaning that scenarios where too little or too much of the constituents of the road material are loaded in to the road treatment material, are avoided. As such, more efficient use of road treatment material may be achieved. Advantageously, by determining the degradation rate of the treatment material for the road section, the control system <NUM> is able to determine a quantity of treatment material required such that an estimated time until the next road treatment is required (i.e. a time when the treatment material has degraded entirely and/or degraded below a threshold presence on the road section).

The control system <NUM> may not be limited to determine the treatment material index <NUM> based on the only the indication of the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the control system <NUM> may be configured to: receive environment data <NUM>, salinity data <NUM>, and historical data <NUM> and determine the treatment material index <NUM> based on the salinity data <NUM>, historical data <NUM> and the environmental data <NUM>. As above, the control system <NUM> may be configured to determine the treatment material index <NUM> based on the environment data <NUM>, salinity data <NUM>, and historical data <NUM> using an equation and/or look-up table.

The environment data <NUM> may comprise one or more of: traffic information relating to the road section, weather information relating to the road section, road information relating to the road section, and road gradient information relating to the road section. In some embodiments, one or more of the traffic information, the weather information, road information, and the road gradient information may be received by the control system <NUM> from the storage unit <NUM> and/or a server, communicatively connected with the control system <NUM>. For example, the environment data <NUM> may be stored and mapped to determined location information such that the control system <NUM> is aware of the environment data <NUM> of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is presently located. As an example, the environment data <NUM> may be received as part of map data for the road treatment vehicle <NUM> to follow during the road treatment. In some embodiments, the environment data <NUM> may be received by the control system <NUM> from a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. For example, the environment data <NUM> may be received from another vehicle on the road section. Further, the environment data <NUM> may be received from one or more associated sensor, associated with a sensor, as will be discussed below.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive the environment data <NUM> comprising the traffic information relating to the road section. As an example, the traffic information may be received from one or more of the storage unit <NUM>, received as part of route data and/or the server; a sensor (e.g. a proximity sensor), detecting an amount of vehicles, surrounding the road treatment vehicle <NUM>; and the V2X communication. The traffic information may indicate a level of traffic on the road section for one or more of: a time period since the previous time (e.g. since the historical data was captured, discussed above); and a forecasted time period. For example, the traffic information may indicate that the level of traffic since the road section was treated was high. When a traffic level is considered high, it may be expected that a high amount and/or frequency of road vehicles drive through the road section, picking up and dispersing any deployed road treatment material from the road section. As such, the control system <NUM> may determine a high treatment material index <NUM>, indicating a high degradation rate for the road section, based on the traffic information indicating a high level of traffic on the road section during the predetermined time period. In some examples, the traffic information may indicate that the level of traffic on the road section is forecast to be low and, as such, the control system <NUM> may determine a low treatment material index <NUM>. In some examples, the control system <NUM> may determine the treatment material index <NUM> based on both the level of traffic for the time period since the previous time and the forecasted traffic level.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive the environment data <NUM> comprising the weather information. As an example, the weather information may be received from one or more of the storage unit <NUM> and/or the server, a sensor (e.g. a weather detecting sensor); and V2X communication. The weather information may indicate weather conditions on the road for one or more of: the time period since the previous time; and the forecasted time period. For example, the weather information may comprise one or more of temperature information, precipitation information, and wind information. The temperature information may indicate one or more of an air temperature and a road surface temperature and may be determined using a temperature sensor associated with the road treatment vehicle. For example, when the road temperature is low the degradation rate of the treatment material for the road section may be also low. The precipitation information may indicate one or more of: a probability that precipitation will occur on the road section; an amount of precipitation estimated to occur on the road section; whether precipitation has occurred on the road section; and an amount of precipitation occurring on the road section. For example, when the precipitation information indicates that the probability of precipitation occurring on the road section is high and in a high amount, the degradation rate of the road treatment material may be high due to the precipitation potentially carrying the road treatment material away from the road section. The wind information may indicate one or more of a forecasted wind speed and a forecasted wind direction. For example, when the wind information indicates that the wind speed is likely to be high, the degradation rate of the road treatment material may be high due to the wind potentially carrying the road treatment material away from the road section.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive the environment data <NUM> comprising the road information. As an example, the road information may be received from one or more of the storage unit <NUM> and/or the server; a sensor (e.g. an image sensor); and the V2X communication. The road information may be determined and/or captured by one or more of an image sensor of the road treatment vehicle <NUM> and map data associated with a route being followed by the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the map data may indicate the road information for each road section included in the associated route. As another example, the image sensor may collect data of the road surface and analyse the collected data to determine the road information of the road section. For example, the image sensor of the road treatment vehicle <NUM> may be a camera and/or a laser scanner operable to emit and/or capture visible light, infra-red light, and/or ultraviolet light data. The image sensor may then determine the road information from the captured data using an image analysis module, which may use visual intelligence, a look-up table, and/or the like. In some examples, the image sensor may determine variations of the road information across the road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. That is, the image sensor may determine a distribution of road information across the road section, and reflect the distribution of the road information across the road section in the treatment material index. In some embodiments, the road treatment vehicle <NUM> may comprise at least two image sensors. The at least two image sensors may be configured to capture the road information. The at least two image sensors may be spaced apart, located in respective image sensor positions around the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the at least two image sensors may be located on the front of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. As another example, the at least two image sensors may be respectively placed along a front bumper of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. In some embodiments, the at least two image sensors may be respectively located around the road treatment vehicle <NUM> so as to provide a <NUM>° range within which road information can be captured by the at least two image sensors.

The road information may relate to a property of the road section. In some embodiments, the road information comprises one or more of an indication of a road type of the road section; an indication of a roughness of the road section; an indication of a porosity of the road section; an indication of a presence of a pothole in the road section; and an indication of a presence of a lane groove in the road section.

For example, the indication of the road type of the road section may indicate whether the road section is an A-road, B-road, country lane, dual-carriageway, and/or the like. In some examples, the indication of the road type of the road section may indicate a width of the road and/or a lane on/in which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. For example, the road information may indicate that the road type of the road section is an A-road and a dual-carriageway and, as such, the road section is likely to have a high volume of traffic. As such, the control system <NUM> may determine a high treatment material index <NUM>, indicating a high degradation rate for the road section.

For example, the indication of the roughness of the road section may indicate a roughness of the surface of the road section and may indicate where particularly rough or smooth sections of the surface of the road section are. For example, the road section may be rough and therefore, the road treatment material may not be easily displaced from the road section. As such, the control system <NUM> may determine a low treatment material index <NUM>, indicating a lower degradation rate for the road section, based on the indication that the road section is rough.

For example, the indication of the porosity of the road section may indicate the porosity of the road surface of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. Road networks may be made with different materials (e.g. tarmac, gravel, etc), each having a different porosity. For example, the road surface of the road section may be formed of a highly porous material and thus allow liquid to travel away from the road surface, carrying road treatment material away with the liquid. Therefore, in such an example, the control system <NUM> may determine a high treatment material index <NUM>, indicating a higher degradation rate for the road section, based on the indication that the road section is highly porous.

For example, the indication of the presence of a pothole may indicate the presence and location of one or more pothole in the road surface of the road section. For example, the road section may comprise one or more pothole and therefore, may cause pooling of the road treatment material. As such, in the presence of potholes, the control system <NUM> may determine a low treatment material index <NUM>, indicating a low degradation rate for the road section, based on the present of potholes. Further, if the presence of the one or more potholes is detected by the control system <NUM>, the control system <NUM> may transmit data indicative of the presence of the one or more potholes to a local authority to alert the local authority of the presence of the one or more potholes.

For example, the indication of the presence of a lane groove may indicate the presence and location of one or more lane groove in the road surface of the road section. For example, the road section may comprise one or more lane groove, a lane groove being a depression in the road surface due to use (e.g. by tires of road vehicles), which may influence the running and/or pooling of any fluids (e.g. rain water, road treatment material and/or the like). As such, when the presence of a lane groove is indicated, the control system <NUM> may determine a low treatment material index <NUM> for the road section indicating a low degradation rate for the road section.

In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> may be configured to receive the environment data <NUM> comprising the road gradient information. As an example, the road gradient information may be received from one or more of the storage unit <NUM> and/or the server, a sensor (discussed below); and the V2X communication. The road gradient information may indicate an inclination of the road section in at least one direction. For example, the road gradient information may indicate the inclination of the road section in a direction of travel of the road treatment vehicle <NUM> and/or may indicate the inclination of the road section in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. The road gradient information may be captured by one or more gradient sensors (e.g. an accelerometer, wheel speed sensors, power train force information and/or the like) and/or may be indicated in the map data, received by the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. As an example, the road gradient information may indicate that the gradient of the road section in the direction of travel of the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is high and positive (e.g. in a scenario that the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is travelling up a hill). As a result, treatment material present on the surface of such a road section may have a high degradation rate (as it may flow down the high gradient) and, as such, the control system <NUM> may determine a high treatment material index <NUM> for the road section.

According to the invention, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine, in dependence on determining the treatment material index, one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material. In some embodiments, the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> of the treatment material may comprise: an amount of the treatment material to be deployed on the road section; a treatment material composition; and a treatment material spread pattern, discussed below in relation to <FIG>. In some embodiments, the control system <NUM> is configured to determine the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> for the road treatment material by calculating the one or more road treatment parameter <NUM> based on the treatment material index. For example, for each value(s) of the treatment material index <NUM>, there may be a specific corresponding set of road treatment parameter <NUM>. That is, there may be a polynomial function and/or a look-up table relating the treatment material index <NUM> to the one or more road treatment parameters <NUM>.

<FIG> schematically shows an example road treatment vehicle <NUM>. The road treatment vehicle <NUM> may comprise one or more of a sensor unit <NUM>, a location sensor unit <NUM>, a treatment material deployment means <NUM>, and the control system <NUM>. The control system <NUM> may be the same as that discussed above in relation to <FIG>.

The sensor unit <NUM> may comprise at least one sensor device configured to acquire the salinity data <NUM> and/or the environment data <NUM>. For example the sensor unit <NUM> may comprise a salinity sensor configured to acquire the indication of the salinity of the surface of the road section. In some embodiments, the indication of the salinity of surface of the road section a real-time salinity measurement. In some examples, illustrated in <FIG>, the sensor unit may comprise two or more salinity sensors 22a, 22b spaced apart, located in respective salinity sensor positions around the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. In some examples, the sensor unit may comprise respective sensors to determine the traffic information, weather information, previous treatment information, road information, and road gradient information, for capturing the environment information <NUM>. In some examples, the sensor unit <NUM> may capture information not included in the salinity data <NUM> and/or environment data <NUM>, indicative of a condition internal to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the sensor unit <NUM> may capture information regarding a condition internal to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. In some embodiments, the sensor unit <NUM> may be connected to a treatment material reservoir (not illustrated) such as a hopper, a liquid storage tank, and/or a mixing apparatus associated with the vehicle <NUM> to measure an amount of treatment material remaining in the treatment material reservoir. That is the sensor unit <NUM> may capture information regarding conditions internal and/or external to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>.

The location sensor <NUM> comprises means to determine the geographic location of the control system <NUM>, such as a location determining means configured to use one or more of GLONASS, GPS, Galileo or similar.

The road treatment material deployment means <NUM> may be configured to control the treatment material deployment by the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. The road treatment material deployment means <NUM> may comprise, in some embodiments, a deployment device for ejecting solid material e.g. road salt or similar, onto the road surface or one or more nozzles for spraying a liquid material onto the road surface. In some embodiments, the road treatment material deployment means <NUM> may be configured to deploy the treatment material based on one or more road treatment parameters <NUM> of the treatment material, determined by the control system <NUM> in dependence on determining the treatment material index <NUM>, as discussed above.

As above, the one or more road treatment parameters <NUM> of the treatment material may comprise: an amount of the treatment material to be deployed on the road section; a treatment material composition; and a treatment material spread pattern. That is, the one or more road treatment parameters <NUM> of the treatment material may indicate the manner of deployment of the road treatment material on the road section by the deployment means <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the amount of treatment material may be defined as a weight or volume of the treatment material per unit area of the road surface. The amount of treatment material may be a spread rate uplift indicating a change in the amount of treatment material relative to a previous amount of treatment material determined at the control system <NUM>. For example, a previous amount of treatment material determined at the control system <NUM> may be <NUM>/m<NUM> and a spread rate uplift may be <NUM>/m<NUM>, thereby indicating that the amount of treatment material determined at the control system <NUM> is to be increased by <NUM>/m<NUM> relative to <NUM>/m<NUM> (i.e. the previous amount of treatment material) to <NUM>/m<NUM>. In some embodiments, the amount of treatment material may be indicative of an absolute amount of treatment material in some examples. For example, the amount of treatment material may be <NUM>/m<NUM>, thereby indicating that the amount of treatment material determined at the control system <NUM> is to be altered to <NUM>/m<NUM>.

The previous amount of treatment material may indicate one or more of a previous spread rate uplift and a default amount of treatment material (i.e. a 'base' amount of treatment material). For example the default amount of treatment material may be understood as an amount of treatment material deployed by the road treatment material if the spread rate uplift is <NUM>/m<NUM> (e.g. <NUM>/m<NUM> in the above example). The default amount of treatment material may be determined for each road section on which the road treatment material travels based on one or more of treatment data received from a server; an input from a user of the control system <NUM>; and a sensor measurement of sensor unit <NUM> comprised within the road treatment vehicle <NUM>.

The treatment material spread pattern may indicate a deployment configuration of the treatment material with respect to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, the treatment material spread pattern may indicate a direction in which the treatment material may be deployed. For example, the direction may be: directly behind the road treatment vehicle <NUM>; towards the right of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>; or towards the left of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, but may not be limited thereto. Advantageously, by directing the road treatment material, the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is able to provide a more targeted treatment material spread pattern. For example, the road treatment vehicle <NUM> may be controlled to deploy treatment material into a lane next to the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. The treatment material spread pattern may be indicative of one or more of a treatment spread width <NUM> and an asymmetry <NUM> of the treatment material deployed treatment material (as seen illustrated in <FIG>, respectively). The treatment spread width <NUM> may be understood to describe the lateral spread of the treatment material, once deployed. For example, the treatment spread width may be <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, but is not limited thereto. Advantageously, adjusting the treatment spread width <NUM> and/or asymmetry <NUM> of the treatment material may allow a road treatment vehicle <NUM> to accurately deploy the treatment material based on the treatment material index <NUM>. For example, narrow lanes, dual carriageways, and residential streets may require different treatment spread widths <NUM> and asymmetries <NUM> in order to be sufficiently treated. Advantageously, by deploying road treatment material with an asymmetry, the road treatment material may prevent unnecessary deployment of treatment material to a specific area in the vicinity of the road treatment vehicle <NUM>. For example, an asymmetric treatment material deployment configuration may prevent deployment of treatment material on to a side walk adjacent to the road that may be being used by pedestrians. Overall, an accurate spread pattern may reduce bounce when the salt hits the road surface, particularly at higher speeds.

The treatment composition may be indicative of a change in an amount of at least one constituent material used in the treatment material. The at least one constituent material used in the treatment material may be one or more of: a solid constituent and a liquid constituent, wherein a composition comprising at least one solid constituent and at least one liquid constituent may be known as a "pre-wet" composition. The solid constituent may comprise one or more of: a rock salt, a solid chloride salt (e.g. NaCl), sand, and/or an acetate salt or similar. The liquid constituent may comprise one or more of: an aqueous chloride salt (e.g. brine), and/or an aqueous acetate salt or similar. In some examples, an aqueous acetate salt may be comprised within the treatment composition to reduce corrosion when using solid and/or aqueous chloride salt. A change in an amount of the at least one constituent material may comprise at least one of: introducing the at least one constituent material to the treatment material; removing the at least one constituent material from the treatment material; and changing the relative amounts of the at least one constituent material in the treatment material. For example, the change in the amount of at least one constituent material used in the treatment material may introduce a liquid constituent into the dry treatment material (i.e. treatment material consisting only solid constituents), forming a "pre-wet" composition. As another example, the change in the amount of at least one constituent material used in the treatment material may change a relative amount of at least one constituent so that the treatment material transitions from being composed of <NUM>% solid constituent and <NUM>% liquid constituent to being composed of <NUM>% solid constituent and <NUM>% liquid constituent. As yet another example, the change in the amount of at least one constituent material used in the treatment material may introduce further liquid constituents to a "pre-wet" composition (e.g. adding acetate to a "pre-wet" composition). Advantageously, by changing the amount of at least one constituent material used in the treatment material, the present invention may ensure the treatment material being deployed is configured for the respective road surface conditions. The change in the composition may be performed in connection the treatment material reservoir (e.g. a hopper, storage tank, and/or a mixing apparatus), discussed in relation to <FIG>.

<FIG> shows an example of a method <NUM> that may be performed by the control system <NUM>. Step <NUM> comprises receiving, from a salinity sensor <NUM> associated with the road treatment vehicle <NUM>, salinity data <NUM> comprising an indication of a salinity of a surface of a road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located. Step <NUM> comprises communicating receiving, from a storage unit <NUM> of the control system <NUM>, historical data <NUM> comprising historical salinity data indicating the salinity associated with the surface of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle <NUM> is located at a previous time. Step <NUM> comprises determining a treatment material index <NUM> for the road section indicating a degradation rate of treatment material for the road section based on the salinity data <NUM> and the historical data <NUM>. Step <NUM> comprises determining, in dependence on determining the treatment material index <NUM>, one or more road treatment parameters <NUM> for the road treatment material. The method may be performed by computer readable instructions which, when executed by the processor <NUM> of the control system <NUM> disclosed herein, are arranged to perform the method <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A control system (<NUM>) for a road treatment vehicle (<NUM>), comprising:
a processor (<NUM>); and
a storage unit (<NUM>) storing computer-readable instructions, wherein, when the computer-readable instructions are accessed and executed by the processor (<NUM>), the processor (<NUM>) of the control system (<NUM>) is configured to:
receive, from a salinity sensor (<NUM>) associated with the road treatment vehicle, salinity data (<NUM>) comprising an indication of a salinity associated with a surface of a road section on which the road treatment vehicle (<NUM>) is located;
receive, from the storage unit (<NUM>), historical data (<NUM>) comprising historical salinity data indicating the salinity associated with the surface of the road section on which the road treatment vehicle (<NUM>) is located at a previous time;
determine a treatment material index (<NUM>) for the road section indicating a degradation rate of the treatment material for the road section based on the salinity data (<NUM>) and the historical data (<NUM>); and
determine, in dependence on determining the treatment material index (<NUM>), one or more road treatment parameters (<NUM>) for the road treatment material.