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Roadkill Observation Collection System (ROCS)

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1. Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 2 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Introduction Phase II Robust Broad Geographic Deployment Future This stage is slated to deploy the ROCS across large geographical regions for wide spread data collection and collation 1 e for district state wide regional or national applications The intent is to develop server capabilities to store collected data on a single platform for systematic state wide regional or national applications this may include developing a single server for uploading all data or developing server software that can be downloaded by users Ultimately the goal of this project is to standardize systematize and integrate disparate datasets in one location with confidence in the methodology and the quality of data The development of national animal vehicle collision data collection standards would help federal and state agencies with quality assurance and quality control for broader applicability Further phase III would develop a means of bundling the ROCS software with other programs to collect other important spatial data i e maintenance or infrastructure information At the end of Phase III the PDA GPS units and supporting server software could be used by individual entities organizations or agencies to operate and maintain a standardized animal vehicle collision data collection analyses and reporting system If your or
2. iccicciccsicccicsccssccsicsscssccsscsscssasaaas 3 3 2 Phase II Current ROCS Development and StatUS cccccccccciccciicciiiceiicciceceeee 4 3 3 Phase III Robust Broad Geographic Deployment Future ccciiiceeicciicciiie 4 4 ROCS Technical DEVelOpmients sis h 3 ca nusaserdyearauwshgenadensuesaaivesedesccdaradeeks er eiio gete bers 5 4 1 Personal Digital Assistant PDA sccccccocccccceccccssocssesoscossoosossosasessososeonosaaoanesves 6 42 Global Positioning System GPS sieren es ne a aa A 66 EN aa 6 4 3 PDA GPS Program DEVEIOPMEN oes dee cous nets SoseseysuhesTeavsuaveied ehes ade leauabaggrasdueetcavadeeates kasd 6 4 4 Desktop Application Development eecsceessecesseceseeceeaceceeaeecseneeceeeeceeeeeenteeeeneers 6 Die Field Tests Rai Rit etot 10 Jilz User s Gd BAA A ee CR Gaede es 10 5 2 Fleld Test SIescscnnnnaconconsonadnsdnsnnicaignmunnnnmania nnr 10 5 3 Field Test Survey and Feedback cccccccicciicccicccccccccccciccccicccccccccccescecrcseesaaaes 11 6 Deliv rableS1ns2G RRR R CA RN Gis he E 14 Tas 0 6 i 61151011 aieri aE aE E alse E E R E Oh te AE A ea aaa 15 8 1 Recommendations esasen ert et eo G Anec cae E cae ial A Tan acor neen 16 9 2 2 r e 2222222 P ESEAS 17 10 Appendix A ROCS User S Guide V 222 02 eest d sie ela Rat GG ddd d Bie da 18 11 Appendix B ROCS Field User s SUIVCY cccciiicciicciccciciccciccccicccccccsccc
3. gt 2 weeks 4 2 Global Positioning System GPS The GPS is also a commercially available unit that was developed to readily plug in to the RECON and other PDAs It is a Global Sat SIRF 3 compact flash GPS The ROCS application communicates with the GPS using standard serial RS 232 communications Following are the operating capabilities for the GPS unit e Requires locating 3 satellites 2 d fix e Accuracy lat long 5 10 meters and e Accuracy elevation not as accurate 4 3 PDA GPS Program Development The ROCS application was developed for the Windows Mobile 5 0 platform using Microsoft s C programming language and the NET runtime The program monitors and logs GPS location information and geo locates road kill observations as they are entered The trail followed during a monitoring session is recorded entirely Comma separated value CSV files are used to store data and Microsoft ActiveSync is used to transfer data from the PDA to a desktop computer Data is backed up to storage on a secure digital SD memory card to provide redundant storage in the event of a device s memory failure This provides the necessary safety feature to ensure data is not lost 4 4 Desktop Application Development Data can be readily imported into Excel ArcGIS and other analysis tools using ActiveSync and the CSV files recorded by the ROCS application Figure 4 shows data from a data collection session in MapPoint Western Transport
4. Figure 1 Deer Warning Sign Photo Marcel Huijser WTI Western Transportation Institute Page 1 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Background 2 BACKGROUND Animal vehicle collisions affect human safety cause property loss and kill or injure wildlife The number of animal vehicle collisions has substantially increased across much of North America in the past two decades and are becoming a larger component of overall crashes in the United States Huijser et al 2007a Systematically collected animal vehicle collision AVC data help quantify the magnitude of the problem and help record potential changes in AVCs over time Such data allows for the identification and prioritization of locations that may require mitigation Furthermore systematically collected animal vehicle collision data allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of mitigation measures in reducing the number of animal vehicle collisions A survey of U S states and Canadian provinces departments of transportation DOTs and departments of natural resources DNRs indicates that most of the responding DOTs 65 and some DNRs 36 collect AVC data Huijser et al 2007b A survey of the U S National Park Service indicates that of those management units that have public roads only one half of the respondents indicated they collect some sort of data on wildlife mortality caused by vehicles Ament et al 2007 Huijser and others National Cooperative High
5. during a session The file name begins with GPSLog A GPS Log file in the above directory would be named GPSLog_2006 09 22T4_ 49 24 csv Each line of the file contains date time latitude longitude elevation speed heading and fix values e Observer Session Information this contains information describing the session such as when the session started and ended and all information filled in by the user in the GPS Observation Information screen An observer information file in the above directory would be named ObserverInfo_2006 09 22T4_49 24 csv The file generally contains only one line of values start date start time state organization district observer search effort road name sides inspected notes end date and end time Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 19 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Outputs e Observation this contains information regarding all observations recorded during the session An observation file in the above directory would be named 2006 09 22T4 49 24 csv Each line of the file contains date time latitude longitude elevation speed heading fix species sex carcass removed human death human injury property damage reported and notes Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 20 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer Data Transfer Once data is collected
6. State University 12 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage Observation No G Til 5 44 ok Figure 9 ROCS Notes Screen Users can press the Cancel button to return to the main application screen No session is initiated Once all observer information is correct users can press the Save button to return to the main application screen A session has been initiated 4 After successfully filling out all information in the Monitoring Information Screen a session has been initiated Some or all fields in the main application screen are now filled with GPS data Figure 10 Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 13 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage Roadkill Data Cc K Yj 4 lt 5 44 GPS Com Last Message 5 44 54 PM Latitude 45 65596 Longitude 111 04688 Elevation ft 4983 27 Speed mph O0 Heading 0 Fix Quality Fix Status Fix Obtained Start GPS Record Obs File About Figure 10 ROCS Main Application Screen during an active session 5 An explanation of the data fields follows GPS Com This indicates if the PDA is currently communicating with the GPS unit Open indicates that the PDA has established communications with the GPS unit and should appear during an active session A GPS fix may or may not be obtained Closed indicates that the PDA has not established communica
7. and stored on the PDA it can be transferred to a PC using the supplied USB cable and Microsoft ActiveSync software freely available from the following website http www microsoft com windowsmobile activesync default mspx ActiveSync is required to transfer data between the PC and PDA and vice versa Transfer is accomplished through two types of partnerships standard and guest A standard partnership establishes a shared folder on the PC s desktop and the My Documents folder of the PDA A standard partnership attempts to synchronize data in the shared folder For example changes to the My Documents folder of the PDA will be reflected in the shared folder on the PC upon synchronization and vice versa However since the synchronization process is mainly automatic the user looses some control over which data is transferred leading to inconsistency and undesired results In addition only two partnerships per PDA are allowed A PDA wishing to transfer data to more than two PCs cannot due so with a standard partnerships alone and must use guest partnerships for additional PCs Also care should be taken in establishing a standard partnership not to allow synchronization of email contacts and other personal information from the PC to the PDA This information is not necessary for ROCS and may result in undesirable effects We highly recommend the consistent use of guest partnerships for all PDA PC data transfers While guest partnerships are no
8. efficient to gather and the hand held units had the ability to collect additional information e g the track of the route followed in recording data Next steps were identified to prepare the Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS for pilot testing in the field by prospective users The most urgent need was to identify rugged hardware that could withstand field use Another identified need was software to assist in downloading and managing data on desktop computers and servers as well as utilities to prepare data for analysis in Geographic Information Systems GIS or statistical packages Phase 2 Current Project Development and Status In Process The Virginia Department of Transportation DOT and Washington DOT have partnered with WTI MSU to further develop this tool for practical use by highway maintenance crews agency biologists or researchers Two other potential partners the US Forest Service and Montana DOT are currently considering supporting Phase II of development WTI MSU is obtaining rugged PDA units with integrated GPS Commercially produced by Trimble Corporation the units can be fully submersed in water and are shock resistant Additionally the data collection software is being modified and expanded to Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 1 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Introduction allow for easy data management and analyses The newer version of the PDA
9. estimated to cause over 200 human fatalities and over one billion dollars in property damage a year These numbers are likely to have increased even further over the last decade In a growing number of states wildlife vehicle collisions are one of the top safety issues that generate interest and concern with the public Yet today most data collected on wildlife vehicle collisions has been the result of sporadic efforts primarily using a pen and paper with limited standardization and inconsistent or often poor spatial resolution A need for consistent spatially accurate data collection has been articulated by many transportation departments across the US and Canada The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University WTI MSU is developing a tool to help standardize accurate data collection of wildlife vehicle collision occurrences This tool integrates a handheld computer or personal data assistant PDA with a global positioning system GPS that is supported by customized software to aid in easy spatially accurate and consistent wildlife vehicle collision data collection Phase 1 Proof of Concept Completed WTI MSU using University Transportation Center funding developed software for an off the shelf PDA combined with a GPS PDA GPS This software makes wildlife vehicle collision data collection easy spatially accurate and consistent The initial proof of concept software was sound and the data collected was accurate
10. factors If the application has recently been used in a nearby location and the GPS unit has a clear view of the sky you can expect to get a fix quickly within a few seconds If the application has not been used recently or was last used in a distant location you can expect to wait for over one minute A red light on the side of the GPS receiver allows users to see the status of the receiver Note that the red light may be hard to see under the endcap The GPS receiver light is either off solid red or blinking red If the light is off the GPS receiver is also off If the light is solid red the GPS receiver is attempting to get a GPS fix If the light is blinking red the GPS receiver currently has a fix Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 28 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Users may encounter errors or abnormal behavior when using ROCS When an error message or improper operation arises please take time to write down details of the problem on paper Recording details immediately allows users to convey this information to WTI for effective problem resolution Important details to record include the following e What is the problem Write down the error message or behavior details of the system e What were you doing when the problem occurred Starting Ending a new session Recording an observation Starting ending ROCS e Were you able to reproduce th
11. transfer from the PDA to the hard drive of a personal computer using ActiveSync YES NO o If NO please explain e Do you think that a desktop application to automate the data transfer process i e when the PDA is connected to a computer the data is previewed and automatically transferred to the correct folders on the computer is needed to ease data transfer YES NO o If YES please elaborate Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 6 e Did you find the organization of the data 1 directory per session with up to three separate data files intuitive YES NO o If NO can you recommend another approach for organizing data outputs e What commercial software applications do you use for data analysis mapping o Were these applications able to easily import the data files YES NO o If NO please describe the difficulties in importing the data files e Did you encounter any missing observations or unexpected gaps in the data YES NO o If YES please describe ROCS Hardware e Did you find the Trimble Recon PDA to be reliable YES NO o If NO please explain e Was the PDA subjected to harsh conditions such as extreme cold hot drops or moisture Please check all that apply _ Extreme heat _ Extreme cold ___Moisture ___ Unit was dropped Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Pha
12. units YES NO e Does your institution use PDAs or GPS units for other purposes YES NO NOT SURE o If YES please describe briefly ROCS Usage e When approximate date did you your institution begin to use the ROCS unit e How often did you use the hand held ROCS unit Once ___2 5 sessions 5 9 sessions Over 10 times e In general how comfortable are you collecting roadkill and or animal vehicle collision data using the hand held ROCS unit on a scale of 1 10 with 1 Not comfortable and 10 Very comfortable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not comfortable Very comfortable e In general how comfortable are you downloading data from the ROCS unit to a desktop computer on a scale of 1 10 with 1 Not comfortable and 10 Very comfortable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not comfortable Very comfortable ROCS Training e Did you participate in a WTI training session YES NO o If YES please indicate to what degree you felt the training was helpful on a scale of 1 10 with 1 Not helpful and 10 Very helpful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not helpful Very helpful o If NO how did you learn how to use the ROCS unit and or download data Please describe briefly Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 3 User Manual amp Quick Guide e Did you refer to the user s manual and quick guide YES NO o If YES please indicate to what
13. with an integrated GPS for use in the field This allows the hand held units to withstand reasonable wear and the GPS unit isn t prone to damage or breakage Additionally the data collection software was modified and expanded to allow for easy data management and analyses Lastly the newer version of the PDA GPS software developed by WTI allows data to be downloaded from the hand held units to a personal computer and then made readily available for use in commercially available spreadsheet statistics and GIS software programs Once stored on a computer users are able to easily analyze and interpret the data for better highway management and wildlife mitigation planning Figure 3 PDA GPS Hand held Data Collector Photo Amanda Hardy WTI Western Transportation Institute Page 5 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS ROCS Technical Developments 4 1 Personal Digital Assistant PDA Commercially produced by Trimble Corporation the PDA units called RECON can be fully submersed in water and are shock resistant The PDAs run the Windows Mobile 5 0 operating system Following are the manufacturer s operating capabilities for the PDAs e Accidental Drops up to 4 feet e Accidental Immersion 1 meter 30 minutes e Sealed from dust and sand e Operation Temperatures 22 to 140 degrees F e Battery Life per Charge 12 15 hours e 2 Data Storage Locations flash memory card and internal memory and e Potential Data Collection
14. As Start G E 5 39 Today y ActiveSync EX Calendar LE Contacts Internet Explorer Messaging Phone File Explorer ig Roadkill Data Collection Figure 4 PDA Start Menu showing the Roadkill Data Collection Application 4 Click the Roadkill PDA application entry in the drop down list the application should then start with the opening screen containing information about WTI as seen in Figure 5 Click the OK button in the upper right portion of the screen to get to the main application screen Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 7 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage REC if Pt Co About Roadkillt E Yj 4 lt 5 39 Roadkill Data Collection System Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Western Transportation Institute Western Transportation Institute Montana State University Bozeman Advancing Rural Transportation Through Research and Soucation http www coe montana edu wti Montana WOMEN State STATE UNIVERSITY University Figure 5 ROCS Information Screen Main Application Screen The Main Application Screen Figure 6 is the launching point for all application functions Users can start new sessions stop existing sessions record observations and delete log files from this screen The screen contains function buttons system status information fields and GPS fix information fields Information sh
15. Before doing so the user should see warning messages informing the user that the batteries are low When this happens charge the unit immediately If the unit shuts off during an active session it will stop collecting data causing undesired results It is recommended that users charge the units regularly to avoid low power complications If the user presses the Power key during an active session the unit is put into standby mode In this mode the GPS receiver is turned off and ROCS cannot keep collecting data Pressing the Power key again should bring the unit out of standby ROCS will try to restart the GPS and continue the active session Wait several minutes to determine if the GPS restart was successful If not perform a soft reset of the system and start a new session It is recommended that users do not press the Power key during an active session Pressing the Power key when no session is active should not produce any undesired results The unit is configured to turn itself off go into standby mode if not used in three minutes Turn the unit back on by pressing the Power key During an active session ROCS overrides the auto standby function Therefore the unit remains on for the duration of an active session Users can change the power setting of the unit by clicking the Start Menu then Settings the System tab then the Power icon Modified power settings will not affect the unit during an active session Data A typical eight h
16. GPS software will allow data to be downloaded to commercially available spreadsheet statistics and GIS software programs By the end of summer 2006 the PDA GPS units will be ready for field tests in Virginia Washington Montana and Banff National Park in Canada The purpose of the current phase of this project is to test the PDA GPS data recorders in the field by the people for which the system is being developed and then further refine the system based on feedback from these users before during and after field testing The field test will lead to practical modifications and customization of the software In addition we are interested in improving the user friendliness of the handheld units to allow for simpler data collection this is important to ensure that road maintenance crews or others that collect animal vehicle collision data are able to easily operate the system which will ultimately lead to a decreased workload Once the PDA GPS data recorders are found to perform well WTI MSU aims to develop procedures and software that allow for easy data integration data analyses and interpretation We envision that the data stored in the individual PDA GPS units will be periodically downloaded to a central location Once stored on a computer users will be able to easily analyze and interpret the data for better highway management and wildlife mitigation planning The ROCS will result in standardized and spatially precise data that can be readi
17. ROCS application and volatile memory based data are erased permanently However the application and data can be easily restored using the PDA alone Restoring from Backup A hard reset of the system will erase all volatile memory from the PDA restoring the system to the original factory setup As a result system configurations ROCS and all roadkill observation files in the MyDocuments Roadkill Files folder are deleted However the PDA is equipped with a backup application Sprite Backup Before you were given the PDA a backup of all system configurations and ROCS was made Therefore users can restore the PDA to a working state using the PDA alone All roadkill data files are backed up by ROCS to the compact flash storage card non volatile memory and can be accessed after a hard reset The following steps guide the user through the recovery process 1 Power up the unit Adjust the time and date of the PDA 2 Click on the Start Menu and press the Programs list item Click on the File Explorer icon 3 Navigate to the Storage Card directory using File Explorer 4 To restore the PDA to run ROCS click on the file named Backup_YYYY_MM_DD where YY YY_MM_DD corresponds to the date when the unit was backed up If multiple backup files exist choose the most recent file 5 The Sprite Backup program is run prompting the user for a password The password supplied by WTI upon deployment is ROCSBACKUP Remember to capitalize the passw
18. ROCS operation YES NO o If YES please elaborate on the following Describe the reasons for the reset Did the reset fix the problem YES NO Were any data lost YES NO Global Positioning System GPS e Did the GPS consistently obtain a fix i e a 2D or 3D latitude amp longitude location after starting an active session YES NO o If NO please describe circumstances when the unit did not obtain a fix e g unable to get fix when in steep canyon unable to get fix from inside vehicle etc Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 5 e Once a fix was obtained did the unit consistently maintain its fix during an active session YES NO o If NO please describe circumstances where the GPS fix was lost e g lost fix when in steep canyon lost fix from inside vehicle etc e In general did the GPS readings on the screen concerning location and elevation appear to be accurate YES NO o If NO please describe circumstances where the GPS locations seemed to be off from actual locations Data Transfer e How often did you upload data from the hand held ROCS unit to another computer _ Never __ Once _ 2 5 times ___5 9 times __ Over 10 times e If you uploaded data from ROCS to another computer please circle what type of partnership you used GUEST PARTNERSHIP STANDARD PARTNERSHIP e Were you able to effectively
19. Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Development of an Integrated Personal Digital Assistant PDA with a Global Positioning System GPS to Gather Standardized Digital Information By Rob Ament Road Ecology Program Manager Doug Galarus Program Manager Systems Engineering Development and Integration Hugh Richardson Research Associate Amanda Hardy Research Ecologist Western Transportation Institute College of Engineering Montana State University A report prepared for the Virginia Transportation Research Council And the Washington State Department of Transportation August 2 2007 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Disclaimer DISCLAIMER The opinions findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Montana State University Alternative accessible formats of this document will be provided upon request Persons with disabilities who need an alternative accessible format of this information or who require some other reasonable accommodation to participate should contact Kate Heidkamp Assistant Director for Communications and Information Systems Western Transportation Institute Montana State University Bozeman PO Box 174250 Bozeman MT 59717 4250 telephone number 406 994 7018 e mail Katel coe montana edu Western Transportation Institute ii Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This
20. and has not been pilot tested Such testing would occur in a subsequent phase of the project It is not seen as feature complete either since only informal user input has been solicited in terms of specifying functionality and uses of desktop applications The current proof of concept desktop application provides database storage for observation data It is capable of exporting simple data and map images The desktop application consists of a Microsoft Access database and a graphical user interface The application allows the user to conveniently bulk load field observation data from the hand held PDA GPS unit into the database The user can then query the database and export the results in Keyhole Markup Language KML or Comma Separated Value CSV format KML format is used by Google Earth see Figure 5 and other mapping software applications Western Transportation Institute Page 7 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Google Earth Pro File Edit View Tools Add Help ROCS Technical Developments Ee v Search d SSS Fly To Find Businesses Directions Kill Observation g 37 25 818 N 122 05 36 VY v SITEID 636002 kad NAME Spring Garden Sightseeing Select this folder and click on the Play button below to sta default Temporary Places E TestFolder bE 7 Layers View Core v z 2 Primary Database E Terrain Geographic Web Fea
21. aphic Deployment Future This stage is slated to deploy the ROCS across large geographical regions for wide spread data collection collation and storage i e for district state wide regional or national applications The intent is to develop server capabilities to store collected data on a single platform for systematic state wide regional or national applications this may include developing a single server for uploading all data or developing server software that can be downloaded by different users Ultimately the goal of this project is to standardize systematize and integrate disparate datasets in one location with confidence in the methodology and the quality of data Additionally the development of national animal vehicle collision data collection standards would help federal and state agencies with quality assurance and quality control for broader applicability Further Phase III would develop a means of bundling the ROCS software with other programs to collect other important spatial data i e highway maintenance or infrastructure information At the end of Phase III the PDA GPS units and supporting server software could be used by individual entities organizations or agencies to operate and maintain a standardized animal vehicle collision data collection analyses and reporting system The same units could also be used to systematically collect information on highway infrastructure needs and assessments or other spatial data ne
22. ate Organization District Observer Seach Effort Notes Add Note Figure 7 ROCS Monitoring Information Screen Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 10 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage 2 The Monitoring Information Screen appears Figure 7 This screen is used to enter information describing the session All fields except notes are automatically filled with data from the last session if available If this is the first time a session has been initiated using the PDA all fields will appear blank Users can either modify existing values or enter new values by clicking in the field box with the stylus and using the integrated keypad screen to enter data Figure 8 The keypad can be expanded and collapsed by pressing the keyboard icon in the lower right of the screen Organization District Observer Seach Effort DOCS 5 123 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 s8 9j0o Tabla wie r tly julijo pi tid Carla s alfialh j k i shift z x c v b n ml 7 Figure 8 ROCS Monitoring Information Screen showing the expanded keypad 3 An explanation of Monitoring Information Screen fields appears below o State a drop down list of all state abbreviations indicating which state the session occurred o Organization the organization with which the session user is associated Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 11 Roadkill Ob
23. ation Institute Page 6 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS ROCS Technical Developments 3 NRITS Big Sky Demo Map Microsoft MapPoint North America Z laj xj File Edit View Data Route Tools Help Deman amp E gt EA S F e D alr gt Type place or address B nd lt st eee Road and Data Map eoa rth America United States Montana Cities E Animal Type by Latitude amp Longitude H Badger H Deer Mule E Ek E Moose eS Pushpins 8 GPSLog_2006 08 10T13_04_22 gt 45 35698 111 171 2 et H 45 35698 111 171 S f Date 8 10 2006 N 7 i PM ZN T Animal Type Badger f Sex Unknown 45 28605 111 3702 Carcass Removed 45 26605 111 3702 Unspecified Date 8 10 2006 Human Death Unknown Human Injury Unknown DEVE ae 4 Vo lt A Se z Carcass Removed Yes p A Human Death No M A j N Human Injury No Property Damage No gt t el N r P as A j d jg y 39 Je H we Y x y ww 8 4 4 xr GOOSCHS amp 4 A 8 Figure 4 Example of Output on a Map from an Approximate 45 mile Data Collection Session Along US Highway 191 in Montana with 4 Roadkills Recorded Further work has been conducted to develop a desktop management and visualization application for ROCS data This application is considered proof of concept at this time
24. ctive users and then further refine the system based on feedback from these users before during and after field testing The field test has led to practical modifications and customization of the software In addition WTI researchers were able to improve the user friendliness of the handheld units to allow for simpler data collection this was important to ensure that road maintenance crews or others that collect animal vehicle collision data are able to easily operate the system which ultimately leads to a decreased workload 5 1 User s Guide In preparation for field testing a User s Guide was developed for participants The 31 page document provides information on the features of the hand held data collector and provides a step wise progression of instructions to record data Appendix A In addition to the User s Guide a Quick Guide was developed as a handy one page reference for explanations of more common operations of the ROCS device 5 2 Field Test Sites WTI had the PDA GPS units tested in the field by a variety of users throughout North America WTI staff conducted field training sessions for users in Washington Virginia and Montana Following is a list of locations and users of the Phase II prototype LOCATION USER Virginia I 64 and I 81 Rockbridge Co Virginia DOT Maintenance Washington I 90 Washington DOT Maintenance Northern California US Forest Service Alberta TransCanada Highway Western Transportation Institut
25. degree you felt these documents were helpful on a scale of 1 10 with 1 Not helpful and 10 Very helpful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not helpful Very helpful o If you ranked the helpfulness of the manual at 4 or less please elaborate and provide suggestions to improve the manual feel free to use additional space paper e To what degree do you think a help section within the ROCS application is needed on scale of 1 10 with 1 Not necessary and 10 Necessary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not necessary Necessary ROCS Software Application e To what degree did you find the ROCS unit to be user friendly on a scale of 1 10 with Not user friendly and 10 Very user friendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not user friendly Very user friendly o Ifyou ranked user friendliness at 4 or less please elaborate on your experiences and provide suggestions to improve the user friendliness feel free to use additional space paper Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 4 e Did you receive error messages or warnings when using ROCS YES NO o If YES please elaborate on the following What were you doing when the error messages appeared What were the error messages Were you able to recreate the error s YES NO e Did you ever have to perform a soft hard reset due to improper
26. e Parks Canada Montana I 90 Craighead Environmental Research Institute Idaho State Highway 75 Western Transportation Institute Western Transportation Institute Page 10 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Field Tests Figure 7 Virginia Training Session Photo Amanda Hardy WTI 5 3 Field Test Survey and Feedback WTI developed a short survey that was distributed to users of the prototype from Phase II Seven responses were received providing feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the PDA GPS device and its programs Appendix B Comments were made on problems that arose as the units were being used The results are summarized as follows NOTE the averages in parentheses are from the survey asking respondents to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 Strengths e Except for one respondent most users were very comfortable using the ROCs device average 9 4 e Training was considered very helpful by the 3 respondents who received field training by WTI average 10 e Most respondents appreciated the user s guide and quick guide finding them helpful average 8 5 however one respondent commented that the User s Guide wasn t very friendly and the Quick Guide was too brief e Of the four that responded three thought a help section within the ROCS application was necessary average 7 5 while one respondent felt it was not necessary Western Transportation Institute Page 11 Roadkill Observation Collection S
27. e problem If so what were the exact steps taken If not does the program and unit appear to be working correctly Error Messages A number of error messages may be encountered while using ROCS Some of the error messages appear below e Failed to Open Com Port Please check GPS This message appears when starting a session If the message is displayed there is a problem with the PDA communicating with the GPS receiver Try starting a session again If the problem persists after several tries try a soft reset If the problem still exists after a softw reset a hard reset may be necessary e The data logger process is shutting down Please wait several seconds to exit the program This error may be encountered while stopping an active session If the message appears wait several seconds and try to stop the session again until no error message is shown If the problem persists for several minutes a soft reset of the PDA may be necessary e Configuration Error This error may be encountered while starting ROCS The message occurs when there is a corrupt configuration file Try to start ROCS again If the problem persists contact WTI about to receive a new valid configuration file There may be other non custom error files encountered during the course of normal operation Please note the contents of the message and contact WTI for further troubleshooting GPS Difficulty If after several minutes a fix has yet to be obtained ch
28. eck to see if the GPS unit has a clear view of the sky In most cases in a vehicle or in the field the GPS unit should be able to obtain a fix If after moving to get a clear view the unit still fails to get a fix try a soft reset of the PDA If this still does not solve the problem try a hard reset Note the status of the light on the side of the GPS receiver if possible Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 29 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Troubleshooting Soft Reset If the application or PDA appears to freeze does not respond for a significant amount of time a soft reset may fix the problem A soft reset does not erase volatile memory so software and data should not need to be restored However the problem requiring the soft reset may have caused undesirable consequences such as missing data To perform a soft reset press and hold the Power key for several seconds until either the screen reads Booting or a menu appears One of the items on the menu is Reset Select this option and wait for the PDA to reboot Hard Reset If you are unable to perform a soft reset a hard reset may be necessary To perform a hard reset press and hold the Power key until the unit beeps twice Then Press the Start and OK keys simultaneously and follow the directions on the screen to restore the unit to its factory settings CAUTION A hard reset returns the PDA to the factory settings The
29. eds such as highway accident reporting Western Transportation Institute Page 4 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS ROCS Technical Developments 4 ROCS TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS Development was conducted using an iterative process using rapid prototyping to demonstrate and test functionality with end users and to determine technical feasibility of hardware and software The first proof of concept version of the system used non rugged off the shelf components to facilitate rapid development and to demonstrate the prospective use of the system This proof of concept system was developed using WTI internal funds from the University Transportation Center UTC program Given what was learned in the Proof of Concept project the Phase H development of ROCS had several objectives e Identify and test a rugged integrated PDA GPS in various locations e Further develop software for the PDA GPS unit to collect the necessary road kill information important for departments of transportation and natural resource agencies e Assure data storage and back up capabilities in the hand held data collector are adequate so that information has a low probability of being lost and e Develop software in the hand held data collector so that the data that is stored can be readily transferred to a personal computer and can be used in commercially available software programs for display analysis and interpretation WTI obtained rugged PDA units
30. er no data was lost as a result All respondents agreed it would be favorable to be able to change species list or other drop down lists Several respondents noted that ROCS is best used with 2 people that driving and recording data is difficult Other Pertinent Information from the Survey The following software programs were used to upload and manipulate the ROCS device data MS Access Arc Map Arc GIS Excel DNR Garmin Garmin Mapsource GarTrip Arc Explorer and Arc View Most of these programs had no difficulties with importing the ROCS data however one respondent noted that in Excel it is required to manipulate two separate files the GPS log and the carcass observations Western Transportation Institute Page 12 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Field Tests Respondents commented that broader geographical applications and integrating ROCS with other spatial data collection i e accidents infrastructure are potential desirable future applications Figure 8 Washington Training Session Photo Amanda Hardy WTD Western Transportation Institute Page 13 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Deliverables 6 DELIVERABLES WTI was able to provide the project s sponsors the following resources e Field training sessions for transportation maintenance personnel in Virginia and Washington e 2 hand held PDA GPS units that have been field tested are rugged have been programmed to c
31. ganization is interested in joining in the Development of Phase III please contact Amanda Hardy or Doug Galarus at WTI MSU Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 3 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Hardware ROCS Hardware ROCS is installed on a fully functional Windows Mobile PDA device the Trimble Recon Figure 1 Users are encouraged to read through the supplied Trimble Recon handheld Getting Started Guide to familiarize themselves with the features of the PDA This section serves to highlight some of the important features of the device Figure 1 Trimble Recon Features The Trimble Recon is a rugged PDA designed to operate in hostile conditions The Recon is rated to operate in temperatures from 22 F to 140 F The sealed casing of the unit protects it from accidental liquid submersion 1 meter for up to 30 minutes as well as contamination from dust and sand The top of the Recon contains two Compact Flash slots Both are used by ROCS One slot contains a GPS receiver and the other contains a compact flash storage card for roadkill data archiving and system backup files The slots are enclosed in a plastic endcap and sealed to prevent contamination The endcap may be removed by the user by unscrewing either side with the non writing end of the stylus However it is recommended that the endcap remains tightly fastened to the unit for normal operation Western Transportation I
32. ion Institute at Montana State University 22 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer Microsoft ActiveSync BEE File View Tools Help Sye Schedule 5 Explore Guest Connected Hide Details Information Type Status Figure 15 Guest partnership screen 5 Navigate to the MyDocuments Roadkill Files Figure 16 directory and copy and paste all desired sub directories onto the PC Note that due to the nature of ActiveSync you cannot open files on your PDA directly and must first copy them to your PC Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 23 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer My Documents Roadkill Files File Edit View Favorites Tools Help peck r F pe Search E gt Folders EK Address Roadkill Fies gt dge Folders x 2006 09 22T14_51_12 D 2006 09 22T15_21_27 D 2006 09 22T15_24_15 D 2006 09 22T15_50_40 D 2006 09 22T16_13_51 D 2006 09 22T16_49_24 E Mobile Device g My Windows Mobile E B Business B My Music C My Pictures O Personal E 9 Roadkill Files 2006 09 22T14_ 2006 09 22715_ 2006 09 22T15_ X 2006 09 22T15_ 2006 09 22T16_ O 2006 09 22T16_ O Templates Figure 16 Roadkill Files Directory 6 Ensure that all files have been transferred by examining the newly copied files on the PC 7 If a standard partnership is desired and no standard partner
33. is blank o Fix Status the current status of the GPS fix If no fix is obtained Obtaining Fix appears If a fix is obtained Fix Obtained appears If there is currently no active session this field is blank Recording an Observation Once a session has been successfully initiated and a GPS fix has been obtained users can record roadkill observations Observations are automatically associated with the location of the user when the observation was made 1 In the main application screen assuming a GPS fix is obtained press the Record Obs button 2 The Record Observation Screen appears Figure 11 Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 15 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage Record Observa G Yj 4 5 47 ok sex Carcass Removed Human Death Human Injuries Property Damage Accident Reported Notes Add Note Figure 11 ROCS Record Observation Screen 3 Fill in the fields with appropriate values The animal type field is required for each observation while all other fields are optional all default to Unknown or Unspecified The location information associated with the observation is automatically recorded by the application 4 Users wishing to add additional information can do so by pressing the Add Notes button and following the same instructions as with the Monitoring Information Screen 5 Users can press the Ca
34. l Files for session archives 14 Copy and past session directories as necessary DOO LON Soft Reset 1 Hold down the Power key until a countdown appears 2 Keep pressing the Power key to reset the unit when the countdown expires 3 Let go of the Power key during the countdown to display a menu Select Reset to perform a soft reset Hard Reset 1 Hold down the Power key until you see a countdown 2 Wait until the countdown expires and the unit beeps twice 3 Press the Start and OK keys simultaneously 4 Follow the directions on the screen to reset the unit to factory settings 5 Once rebooted restore the unit for use with ROCS by clicking on the latest backup file on the Storage Card via File Explorer Backup Password ROCSBACKUP Ensure that ROCS is installed and copy and paste data files from storage card archives as necessary D Contact Info Sean Graham Software and System Integration Research Assistant e sgraham coe montana edu e 406 994 7086 Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 31 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Appendix B 11 APPENDIX B ROCS FIELD USER S SURVEY Western Transportation Institute Page 19 Road kill Observation Collection System ROCS ROCS Phase II User s Survey WTI is eager to hear your opinions and ideas about how to improve the ROCS system The following survey was developed to gather information regarding your experiences using ROCS a
35. ly analyzed The system will allow for easy and quick identification of animal vehicle collision hot spots that may require mitigation It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of highway projects in reducing animal vehicle collisions via post construction monitoring If the field tests are satisfactory the ROCS has the potential to become a standard practice for a variety of agencies with highway safety and or wildlife conservation missions Benefits 1 User friendly standardized and spatially accurate animal vehicle data collection 2 Standardization digital format and software allow for easier and less labor intensive data integration analyses and interpretation 3 Standardized animal vehicle collision data illustrate the magnitude of the problem and potential changes over time This allows management to prioritize and evaluate efforts aimed at avoiding or reducing animal vehicle collisions 4 If such mitigation efforts are successful it will result in fewer animal vehicle collisions a reduction of associated human deaths injuries and financial costs and a reduction in maintenance costs related to carcass removal and disposal 5 Potential increase in the uses and purposes of PDA GPS systems already in use by some DOT maintenance personnel 6 The ROCS uses standard commercial hardware and software so that a variety of options can by used for data collection hardware and analysis software i e different vendors costs
36. na State University 17 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Outputs Data Outputs Each active session on the application produces a single directory The name of the directory corresponds to the date and time that the session was initiated For instance if the session was initiated on September 22 2006 at 4 49 24 PM then the directory corresponding to that session is named 2006 09 22T16_49_24 Figure 13 C Documents and Settings sgraham My Documents ReconS1 B Fie Edit wiew Favorites Tools Help ay Back Me F H Search Folders HA Address F 2006 09 22T16_49_24 J gt Go Folders GPSLog_2006 09 22T16_49_24 q Microsoft Office Excel Comma J 564 KB D GPSObs_2006 09 22T16_49_24 a Microsoft Office Excel Comma d 1 KB Roadkill Files X 2006 09 22T14_51_12 2006 09 22T15_21_27 2006 09 22T15_50_40 2006 09 22T16_13_51 2006 09 22T16_49_24 ObserverInfo_2006 09 22T16 Templates Microsoft Office Excel Comma F 3 RoadkillPDADem2 My Documents a 1 KB F O Security A Snaalt Catalog Figure 13 Session Directory In each session directory there are up to three comma separated data files Each data file name also contains the start time and date for which the session was initiated The three files are as follows e GPS Log this contains the GPS location information recorded every 5 seconds
37. ncel button to return to the main application screen and cancel the observation record Users can press Save to store the observation on the PDA and return to the main application screen Stopping the Application 1 If a session is currently active stop the session by pressing the Stop GPS button on the main application screen Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 16 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage 2 After the user presses the Stop GPS button the system prompts the user to verify that they want to stop the session GPS data continues to be logged until the user verifies that they wish to stop the session 3 When the user verifies that they wish to stop the session a session summary window appears Figure 12 showing the duration and number of observations associated with the recently stopped session Pres the OK button in the upper right portion of the session summary window to return to the Main Application Screen GPS Com Closed Last Message Latitude Session Complete ok Duration 00 07 11 Observations 2 Fix Quality Fix Status File About Figure 12 A session summary is shown after the session is stopped 4 Press the OK button in the upper right of the main application screen to end the application or press the Start GPS button to begin a new session Western Transportation Institute at Monta
38. nd what suggestions you may have that will lead to practical modifications and customization of the software to better meet your needs Please pass this survey on to all users in your organization that have used the ROCS system and or the resulting data and that may have insights about how to improve the user friendliness of the system or usefulness of the outputs For example if there were multiple users of ROCS or the ROCS data output e g field data collectors researchers computer technicians safety engineers GIS analysts we would be interested in feedback from all points of view SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS Please answer the following questions If elaborating on a point please type your responses after each question taking as much space as necessary When completed please save your responses and attach this file to an email and send to ahardy coe montana edu or fax to Amanda Hardy at 406 994 1697 or print out and send via mail to Amanda Hardy Western Transportation Institute PO Box 174250 Montana State University Bozeman MT 59717 4250 Thank you in advance for providing feedback we couldn t do this without you ROCS Survey Respondent Information Date Name Title Responsibility Organization Location ROCS unit number WTI MSU property number at bottom of unit ROCS Phase II User s Survey 2 PDA or GPS experience prior to ROCS e Did you have any previous experience with PDAs or GPS
39. ns currently stored on the PDA Care should be taken to only erase files with unimportant data or data that has already been transferred to a desktop computer This option is only active when a session is not currently in progress Users selecting the Exit option will immediately terminate the application Users clicking the OK button in the upper right of the screen will also immediately terminate the application Before the application is terminated the current session if a session is in progress is properly stopped Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 9 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage 4 Clicking the About option on the lower menu will present the user with the start up screen that first appears when the application is run Click the OK button in the upper right of the start up screen to get back to the main application screen Starting a Session A session must be started to begin recording roadkill observations using ROCS Once a session is started the application attempts to obtain a GPS fix Once a fix is obtained the application automatically logs location data about once every five seconds Each session is associated with a set of location data a set of observation data and information describing the session such as the observer district start and end times 1 On the main application screen click the Start GPS button St
40. nstitute at Montana State University 5 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Hardware The bottom of the Recon contains a power boot module Figure 2 The module is interchangeable and contains the battery power connector serial connector and USB connector Either the supplied 12V DC automotive power adapter or the AC adapter may be plugged into the power connector The serial port connector is not used by ROCS The USB connector is used to transfer data from the PDA to a PC via the supplied USB cable 7a Figure 2 Recon Power Boot Module The front of the Recon contains the screen and keys Figure 3 Most navigation tasks can be performed using the stylus although the navigation buttons may also be used Of particular importance are the Power key required to power up down the unit and for soft hard resets and the Start and OK keys required for hard reset Start key OK key Power key Return key Figure 3 Recon keys Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 6 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage ROCS Software Usage Opening the Application 1 Turn PDA power on by pressing the Power key Click on the info screen the start screen will appear 3 Click the start menu icon in the upper left portion of the screen a drop down list of programs appears Figure 4 Note that the programs on the list shown in Figure 4 may differ between different PD
41. ollect the requested road kill information and have backup memory so data won t be lost e Software programming that allows data collected by the ROCS units to be readily downloaded to a variety of commercially available software programs to analyze and view results e An instruction manual that provides new users to be familiarized and trained to operate the ROCS units Western Transportation Institute Page 14 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Conclusions 7 CONCLUSIONS As a result of Phase II development ROCS has been field tested and is capable of e Standardized spatially precise data e User friendly data entry in field e Data downloads that reduce post field data entry and simplify data management e Digital comma delimited output files can be imported into a variety of PC software programs e Distinguishes between monitoring and incidental observations e Tracks monitoring route and time spent collecting information and e With standardized and regular AVC monitoring efforts and spatially accurate data ROCS is better able to determine where to prioritize highway wildlife mitigation investments Western Transportation Institute Page 15 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Recommendations 8 RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of the development of software programs for Phase II hardware field testing and user feedback it is apparent that ROCS is a reliable and capable data collection sys
42. onal Conference on Ecology and Transportation Center for Transportation and the Environment North Carolina State University Raleigh NC USA Huijser M P McGowen P Fuller J Hardy A Kociolek A Clevenger A P Smith D and Ament R 2007a in prep National Wildlife Vehicle Collision Study A Report to the U S Congress Western Transportation Institute Montana State University Prepared for the Federal Highway Administration Washington DC USA Huijser M P J Fuller M E Wagner A Hardy amp A P Clevenger 2007b in prep Animal vehicle collision data collection Second Draft Report NCHRP Project 20 05 Topic 37 12 Western Transportation Institute Montana State University Prepared for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies Washington DC USA Western Transportation Institute Page 17 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Appendix A 10 APPENDIX A ROCS USER S GUIDE V 2 Western Transportation Institute Page 18 Roadkill Observation Collection system ROCS Western Transportation Institute College of Engineering M MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Introduction ROCS Introduction Project Background Animal vehicle collisions are an important issue across North America In the 1990s the number of ungulate vehicle crashes was estimated at 725 000 1 500 000 annually in the US These collisions were
43. ord as it is case sensitive Press the Restore button to begin restoration The unit will restart after completion 7 ROCS should now again be installed on the unit Users can click on the start menu and select ROCS to run the program 8 Data residing in the MyDocuments Roadkill Files directory is still missing since it was not backed up using Sprite Backup However ROCS automatically saves data files to the Storage Card in the Storage Card Roadkill Files directory Using ActiveSync users can copy and move desired files to a PC D Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 30 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Quick Guide and Contact Info ROCS Quick Guide Using ROCS 1 Turn PDA Power On 2 Click Start Menu gt ROCS 3 Click OK to exit ROCS splash screen 4 Click Start GPS to start an observation session ROCS begins by trying to obtain a GPS fix Fill out values for observer information fields If there is a GPS fix Record Obs is active Click Record Obs to record an observation Repeat as necessary When done with the session click Stop GPS 10 To exit ROCS click the OK button 11 Connect the PDA to a PC with the USB cable 12 ActiveSync should automatically detect that the PDA is connected Click Cancel to establish a guest partnership 13 Click explore and navigate to My Documents Roadkill Files for normal session files or My Device Storage Card Roadkil
44. ote A converted file may not contain all information found in the original file Help Figure 18 Standard Parntership folder information 9 Once a standard partnership is established ActiveSync will attempt to automatically ensure that the shared folder on the PC contains all files and Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 25 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer directories in the My Documents folder of the PDA Figure 19 Included are the roadkill data files contained in the Roadkill Files sub directory amp Microsoft Activesync lolx File view Tools Help Sync Schedule D Explore ReconS14A02983 Connected Synchronized Hide Details Information Type Status Windows PC Synchronized Figure 19 Automatic synchronization of files via a standard partnership Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 26 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide System Details System Details Power A full battery charge should allow ROCS to continuously run for between 10 and 15 hours Users can check to see how much charge remains by clicking on the battery icon in the upper right corner of the PDA start screen The remaining charge appears as the top main battery status bar The backup battery status bar should be ignored If the unit runs very low on batteries it will automatically shut itself off
45. our ROCS session with several observations consumes about 500 Kb of PDA storage memory The Recon contains approximately 100 Mb of memory out of the factory Users can check to see how much memory remains by clicking the Start Menu the System tab and the Memory icon It is recommended that users clear ROCS sessions logs using either ActiveSync or ROCS about once per week to avoid full memory issues Users should first make sure that files about to be erased are already transferred to a PC In addition to recording data to the internal PDA storage memory ROCS also archives the data to a 1 GB compact flash storage card Users can access the contents of the storage card by using the File Explorer program to navigate to the Storage Card directory Archived ROCS files are in the Storage Card Roadkill Files directory Users can see how much memory is left on the storage card by clicking the Start Menu the System tab the memory icon and the Storage Card tab It is recommended that users remove the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 27 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide System Details archived storage card files in the Roadkill Files directory about once per month to avoid memory issues Users must use ActiveSync to remove the archived directories and should make sure that the directories are already transferred to a PC GPS The length of time required to obtain a GPS fix depends on several
46. own on the screen varies depending on several factors including the presence of an active session and the presence of a GPS fix during an active session 1 When there is not a session currently in progress all fields are blank since the application is not actively collecting data If a session is currently in progress some or all fields are filled with data Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 8 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage Roadkill Data cc Yj 4 lt 5 39 GPS Com Closed Last Message Latitude Longitude Elevation ft Speed mph Heading Fix Quality Fix Status File About Figure 6 ROCS Main Application Screen when no session is in progress 2 Notice the three buttons on the lower right of the screen The Start GPS button begins a session either monitoring or incidental and is only active when there is no session currently in progress The Stop GPS button terminates a session and is only active when a session is currently in progress The Record Obs button initiates the recording of an observation and is only active when a session is currently in progress Notice the menu items on the bottom left of the screen Clicking the File menu item allows the user to select from two options Erase Log Files and Exit Users selecting the Erase Log Files option will permanently erase all log files of all sessio
47. roadkill related data e Were there any data fields that you felt were not needed e If your institution required you to report road kill using paper and pencil previously did you find ROCS to be more efficient or convenient YES NO o If NO Please explain e If your institution uses paper reporting systems approximately how many hours of data entry is required to manage these data annually Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 9 e Are there reasons why you believe ROCS is NOT a useful tool for wider deployment within your institution Please explain e Given your experience using ROCS what types of applications do you believe might benefit your institution Please check all that apply Daily road kill surveys across all jurisdictional roadways _____ Systematic monitoring of specific road segments of interest concern Other software applications to spatially inventory other features E g Highway infrastructure signs guard rails culverts etc Fish passage culvert inventory and assessment Accident reporting General Comments Please provide any other feedback that will help us further understand how you perceive the usefulness or user friendliness of ROCS and what suggestions you may have to improve this tool for use within your institution THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORTS Western Transportation Insti
48. scccesecesene ae 19 Western Transportation Institute Page iv Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS List of Figures List of Figures Figure 1 Deer Warning Sign Photo Marcel Huijser WTD ceeeeceeseesseceeeeeseeeeseesnaeenseeees 1 Figure 2 Proof of concept PDA GPS hand held data collector Photo Marcel Huijser WTD 3 Figure 3 PDA GPS Hand held Data Collector Photo Amanda Hardy WT eeeseeeeeeees 5 Figure 4 Example of Output on a Map from an Approximate 45 mile Data Collection Session Along US Highway 191 in Montana with 4 Roadkills Recorded eee eeeeeeeseeeeteeeeeeeees 7 Figure 5 Roadkill Locations on Google Earth Map eescesssecssecsseceseeeeseecsaeceseeeseeesseesnaeenseeees 8 Figure 6 User Interface for Desktop Application 0 eccceeesceeseecesneeceeseeceeneeceeneeceeeeecseneeeneeeesaes 9 Figure 7 Virginia Training Session Photo Amanda Hardy WTD 0 0 0 ceseeeseeseeesteceseeeeeeeenees 11 Figure 8 Washington Training Session Photo Amanda Hardy WTI eceesseeeseeeseeeeeeeeees 13 Western Transportation Institute Page v Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION Animal vehicle collisions are an important transportation challenge across North America In the 1990s the number of ungulate vehicle crashes was estimated at 725 000 1 500 000 annually in the US These collisions were estimated to cause more than 200 human fatalities and o
49. se II User s Survey 7 o If YES to any of the above please explain what happened how the unit responded and whether the unit required any special attention in order to function properly afterwards e Do you prefer the size of the Recon PDA over a larger form factor device such as a laptop computer or electronic tablet YES NO o Please explain e Would you use ROCS on a less expensive non rugged commercially available PDA YES NO o Please explain e Do you think the length of time the device can operate under battery power is sufficient for your institution s typical application YES NO o If NO please explain e Do you think the storage capacity of the device is sufficient YES NO o If NO please explain Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University ROCS Phase II User s Survey 8 Institutional Applicability e Prior to using ROCS did your institution have standard methods for reporting road kill carcasses or animal vehicle collisions YES NO NOT SURE o If YES were these data recorded on paper or via some type of computer digital technology Please describe e Do you think having the ability to remove or add species to the drop down list would be helpful or would this complicate efforts to standardize these data within your institution Please explain e Do you have any suggestions for adapting or adding fields for
50. servation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage District the district in which the session occurred e Observer the name or initials of the user o Search Effort a drop down list containing Monitoring and Incidental Choose Monitoring for a typical monitoring session in which there may or may not be any observations Choose Incidental for an opportunistic observation Road Name the road name on which the session occurred o Sides Inspected a drop down list containing One and Both Choose One if the user inspects only one side of the roadway for observations Choose Both if the user inspects both sides of the roadway for observations Notes Screen Press the Add Note button to enter additional session information in the Observation Notes Screen Figure 9 Users can use the keypad screen to enter free text into the notes text box Users can clear existing notes text by pressing the Clear button Users can cancel note entry and return to the Monitoring Information Screen by pressing the Cancel button Users can save the notes for the session and return to the Monitoring Information Screen by pressing the Save button If notes were saved the Add Notes button on the GPS Observation Information screen now reads Edit Notes Users can press this button to edit or delete existing notes for this session Western Transportation Institute at Montana
51. ship with the PC currently exists ActiveSync allows the user to select the type of data wished to be automatically synchronized Figure 17 By default calendar email tasks and other personal information is checked to be synchronized It is highly recommended that only the Files item is checked to avoid synchronization of personal information with the PDA Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 24 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer Synchronization Setup Wizard 1 x Synchronization Options Choose the information you want to synchronize with your Pocket PC from your computer Windows PC Information Type 23 Contacts Calendar E mail Tasks Notes C Favorites H ie AvantGo O Media O Select an information type above and click Settings to change synchronization options for that type Settings lt Back Cancel Figure 17 Standard Partnership Options 8 Check the Files item for synchronization A window is displayed to inform the user that a synchronized files folder will be setup on the PC Figure 18 File Synchronization t Synchronized Files folder will be created on Your desktop computer Place files that you want to synchronize into this folder Microsoft ActiveSync may need to convert files when synchronizing between your mobile device and this desktop computer N
52. t automatic they allow the user to retain control over which data is transferred at all times and can be used with as many PCs as desired The steps below show how to setup both a guest a standard partnership 1 Ifthe application is open and there is currently an active session stop the session by pressing the Stop GPS button on the main application screen 2 Make sure the PDA and the PC are running Plug the USB cable into both the PDA and the PC 3 In afew seconds ActiveSync should recognize that the PDA has been plugged in and will attempt to initiate a synchronization partnership with the Pocket PC Sync Setup Wizard Figure 14 Clicking the Next button on this screen sets up a standard partnership Clicking the Cancel button sets up a guest partnership Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 21 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Data Transfer Synchronization Setup Wizard x Welcome to the Pocket PC Sync Setup Wizard To set up a sync relationship between this computer and your Pocket PC click Next If you click Cancel you can stil Copy and move files between your Pocket PC and this computer Add and remove programs on your Pocket PC Cancel Figure 14 ActiveSync Partnership Options 4 If a guest partnership is established press the Explore button in ActiveSync Figure 15 to view directories on the device Western Transportat
53. tem If made available for further refinement and development to meet the needs of transportation and natural resource agencies it has the potential for e Additional data collection modules e g for culvert fish passage inventories roadway accidents structural maintenance features e Further customized development of data management visualization and analysis options e Broader geographic deployment e Encouragement for adopting national standards for wildlife vehicle collision data collection and e Use with an on line data center to archive access standardized datasets from across jurisdictions or the United States and Canada meta analyses Western Transportation Institute Page 16 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS References 9 REFERENCES Ament R Clevenger A P Yu O and Hardy A 2007 An Assessment of Road Impacts on Wildlife Populations in U S National Parks WTI MSU Technical Report REP 07 01 37 pp Cramer P C and J A Bissonette 2006 North American priorities for transportation and wildlife research and practice In J Bissonette ed Evaluation of the Use and Effectiveness of Wildlife Crossings Interim Report Prepared for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Transportation Research Board National Research Council June 2006 Huijser M P D E Galarus and A Hardy 2006 Software for Pocket PC to Collect Road Kill Data Page 640 in Proceedings of the 2005 Internati
54. the transportation community at the biennial meeting of International Conference of Ecology and Transportation 2005 Huijser et al 2006 Figure 2 Proof of concept PDA GPS hand held data collector Photo Marcel Huijser WTD Western Transportation Institute Page 3 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS A Multi Phase Development Process 3 2 Phase II Current ROCS Development and Status The Virginia Transportation Research Council and the Washington Department of Transportation partnered with WTI to further develop this tool for practical use by highway maintenance crews agency biologists or research scientists At the onset of this phase of development the ultimate purpose of the ROCS was to provide both management and maintenance personnel with a tool that allows them to efficiently and effectively fulfill information gathering tasks for roadway segments or at particular sites of interest The product was to provide maintenance and management personnel with a multi purpose tool that aids in 1 managing highway systems using quality information and procedures 2 reducing motor vehicle accidents involving wildlife and 3 planning means of mitigating highway impacts on wildlife populations It was envisioned that if the field tests were satisfactory the ROCS may be become part of the standard practice of road maintenance crews and other DOT staff for collecting animal vehicle collision data 3 3 Phase III Robust Broad Geogr
55. tions with the GPS unit This should appear when there is currently no session in progress Last Message the time of the last GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank Latitude the decimal latitude of the GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank Longitude the decimal longitude of the GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University 14 Roadkill Observation Collection System User s Guide Software Usage o Elevation the elevation in feet of the GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank o Speed the speed in miles per hour as measured by the GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank o Heading the direction of travel in degrees from 0 to 360 as measured by the GPS fix If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field is blank o Fix Quality the quality of the GPS fix A 2D fix indicates that three satellites are being used for the fix offering accurate latitude and longitude coordinates A 3D fix indicates that four or more satellites are being used for the fix offering accurate latitude longitude and elevation data If no fix is obtained or there is currently no active session this field
56. tured Content z Global Awareness io roads _ Places Figure 5 Roadkill Locations on Google Earth Map M KilllObservation Kill Observation Pointer 43231 45 02 N 114 18 21 49 W elev 5367 ft Streaming I 100 E ouomm jaman E j AINN Ww N 4 op 1 00cm it aco05 Soc SA KillkObservation NS La in J KilObservation Kill Observation was Kill Observation Kill Observation E EN Kill Observation EEN 7 v w oe Kil Observation Godgle A 177 70 ft 012007 EuropayTechnologies Eye alt The CSV format is useful for data import into spreadsheets and other applications Queries and exports can be conducted for both road kill observations and the coordinate log the pathway of each recording session See Figure 6 for an example of a spreadsheet of coordinate logs Western Transportation Institute Page 8 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS ROCS Technical Developments fev ROCS Desktop Application SEE 3 106 9 22 50 AM hugh 10 13 06 3 43 10 PM hugh 10 10 06 11 11 11 AM NY wW hugh 10 13 06 3 44 06 PM hugh Figure 6 User Interface for Desktop Application Western Transportation Institute Page 9 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Field Tests 5 FIELD TESTS The purpose of the Phase II of ROCS was to test the rugged PDA GPS data recorders in the field by prospe
57. tute Page 2 Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS A Multi Phase Development Process 3 ROADKILL OBSERVATION COLLECTIONS SYSTEM ROCS A MULTI PHASE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 3 1 Phase I Proof of Concept Completed In 2005 the Western Transportation Institute WTI used 15 000 of University Transportation Center UTC funding to develop a proof of concept system hardware and software An off the shelf Dell Axim Personal Data Assistant PDA Microsoft based and Pharos Global Positioning System GPS were integrated with custom developed software to form the proof of concept system Key features included e An easy to use interface that facilitates rapid data entry e Standard text based storage of observations and paths and e two modes continuous monitoring or incidental observation The unit was field tested by WTI and demonstrated to a number of prospective users A self tutorial CD to demonstrate the operation of the unit was also developed An evaluation of the project indicated that it was an effective and precise data collector and easy to operate One weakness known from the start was that the original PDA GPS combination was vulnerable to damage during field use Furthermore desktop computer applications would need to be developed to make the data easy to download display on maps and prepare for analyses This phase was completed in early 2006 The development and success of this proof of concept model was shared with
58. tute at Montana State University
59. ver one billion dollars in property damage a year These numbers are likely to have increased even further over the last decade In a growing number of states wildlife vehicle collisions are one of the top safety issues that generate interest and concern with the public To design effective countermeasures transportation agencies need accurate data about where when and how accidents occur Despite all the advancements that have been made in information technologies most data on wildlife vehicle collisions is still collected in sporadic efforts using a pen and paper From both management and research perspectives the information is difficult to analyze because of limited standardization and inconsistent or often poor spatial resolution A need for consistent spatially accurate data collection has been articulated by many transportation departments and natural resource agencies across the US and Canada The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University WTI is working with the Virginia Transportation Research Council and the Washington State Department of Transportation to develop a tool to help standardize accurate data collection of wildlife vehicle collision occurrences This tool integrates a handheld computer or personal digital assistant PDA with a global positioning system GPS that is supported by customized software to aid in easy spatially accurate and consistent wildlife vehicle collision data collection co
60. way Research Program NCHRP draft final report 2007b indicates that spatial accuracy of crash locations was often lacking In yet another NCHRP study currently being finalized of the 25 top research and practice priorities related to wildlife and transportation in North America number 7 is use standardized and vetted protocols for collecting and recording road kill carcass and animal vehicle collision data Cramer and Bissonette 2006 The facilitation of AVC data collection with a spatially accurate efficient and easy to use system that decreases manual collection and data entry has the potential to increase AVC data collection across North America by a variety of state provincial and federal transportation and natural resource agencies The advantages of a standardized animal vehicle collision data collection program as stated in Huijser et al 2007b are e The occurrence of incidents that affect human safety natural resource conservation and monetary losses are documented e Changes in animal vehicle collisions in time or space can be documented e Locations that may require mitigation can be identified and prioritized allowing for an effective use of resources and e The effectiveness of mitigation measures in reducing collisions can be evaluated This allows for modifications if needed and the application of lessons learned at other locations again allowing for an effective use of resources Western Transportation Insti
61. work was conducted as part of separate contracts with the Virginia Transportation Research Council VTRC and the Washington State Department of Transportation WSDOT We would like to thank Bridget Donaldson of VTRC and Kim Vaughn of WSDOT for their interest in partnering with WTI in pursuit of the development of this new technology The original concept was the brainchild of Marcel Huijser and Amanda Hardy both research ecologists and Doug Galarus a systems engineer all at WTI They published a poster on the proof of concept model at the 2005 International Conference in Transportation and Ecology The System s initial development was supported with funding from the U S Department of Transportation s Research and Innovation Technology Administration The following people provided support and assistance on the project Sean Graham for assistance in development and maintenance of the ROCS system and Carol Diffendaffer for her review and editing of this report Finally thanks to Marcel Huijser and Amanda Hardy of WTI for the use of photos from their research Western Transportation Institute iii Roadkill Observation Collection System ROCS Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Ve Introductionis saa SIS sees Ee EARS G GAB AIR esa he 6 1 23 Background z sorses De It Oe E Sasa R Tt R R 2 3 Roadkill Observation Collections System ROCS A Multi Phase Development Process 3 3 1 Phase I Proof of Concept Completed
62. ystem ROCS Field Tests Only one respondent received an error message while entering information in the ROCS device The GPS consistently obtained a two dimensional fix and consistently maintained it during the data collection sessions Transferring data from the handheld device to a personal computer was accomplished by four of the respondents Three used a guest partnership and one used a standard partnership Two of the four responded that development of automated upload software would help effectively transfer data Of the four responding all felt the organization of the data was intuitive 1 directory per session with up to three separate data files All respondents characterized the PDA GPS unit as reliable Respondents appreciated the unit was small and easy to handle The unit was tested in extreme cold moisture and dropped No functionality was lost as a result Four responded that the battery power was sufficient for their organization s use one did not Weaknesses Two respondents were not comfortable downloading information from the ROCS device to a personal computer average 6 4 where 10 is very comfortable downloading information One respondent s device had to be shut off and rebooted before it would get a fix of the satellites for the GPS Another respondent s unit would not start up or turn on Resetting fixed the problem One respondent had to perform a reset due to dead batteries howev

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