OPQ has, from the start, been the research and development company within the RST group of companies responsible for developing and marketing the above measurement system. Recent reorganization of that group has resulted in an expanded role for OPQ which now includes marketing and sales of the systems which OPQ has, from the beginning, produced.  Superior technical support during and following product sales is now also available directly from OPQ.

Our Products

OPQ's first product was a signal processing card. The Laser Road Surface Tester was subsequently built around this product. Over the years, we have accumulated solid experience in managing projects, typically with complete responsibility for system requirement analysis, algorithm development, design, integration, testing and system construction. Our company has designed and built systems that include software and hardware such as data processing cards of our own design as well as those from suppliers, digital and analog electronics, input transducers, power supplies and mechanical equipment. Successful design of measurement systems also requires an understanding of the theories of signal processing technology that are at the core of such systems.

The following are some of the applications which OPQ has developed:

• Laser Road Surface Tester - a complex vehicle-based system using laser optocators to measure in parallel a large number of parameters describing the road surface. This system was originally developed with VTI
• Road Deflection Tester - an enhancement of the Laser Road Surface Tester that uses additional transducers to dynamically measure axle load and road deformation. This system has been developed together with VTI
• BV11 Laser - A joint development project with VTI. The aim is to combine slip friction technology from VTI with laser-based texture technology from OPQ.
• PAVUE - a real-time in-vehicle image processing system that measures surface cracking. Image processing is performed in dedicated hardware to enable real-time analysis.
• Real-time Image Capture System - a system which digitizes and stores video images on a hard disk, thus eliminating the need for video tape storage.
• Automated Image Evaluation System (AIES) - a post-processing image processing system that measures surface cracking. Image processing is performed in dedicated hardware to enable real-time analysis. This system is a subset of PAVUE for use in the office.

All systems measure at normal traffic speeds of 10 - 90 km/h (and many as fast as 115 km/h), allowing measurement to co-exist with normal road usage.  Measurement survey results are vehicle and speed independent.

OPQ and International Cooperation

An important characteristic of OPQ is a close cooperation with other companies in achieving a number of its goals:

• A strong research and development focus and strives towards continually improving our products, thus making them as optimal as modern technology allows. We cooperate closely with both governmental and private companies in a number of countries throughout the world in achieving this goal.
• Work closely with measurement companies abroad, for example in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. This enables immediate adjustment to customer needs in the field.
• Cooperate closely with other companies in manufacturing our products. This ensures the involvement of the best expertise available in a number of related areas, and the development of the most modern equipment.
• Cooperate with governmental agencies and private companies in adjusting the system to a variety of modern pavement management systems being used throughout the world.

Product Profile - OPQ Laser Road Surface Tester

The OPQ Laser Road Surface Tester System is in its fifth generation of hardware and software.  As such, many implementation details have long
since been solved, and the system is highly stable. Measurement distances of up to 1,000 kilometers a day have been carried out.

• The system uses the most accurate sensors available on the market. In fact, the very popular Selcom AB laser that is now being used in many competing systems was improved by Selcom based on experiencs with the OPQ Laser Road Surface Tester
• The system measures just any number of parameters in parallel, thus requiring only a single pass over the measurement surface. As all parameters are integrated into a single control system, the operator does not need to learn the idiosyncrasies of numerous measurement systems.
• The system is configurable in software. It can be modified by simply changing the configuration in a menu. There is no re-wiring involved in changing the transducers used in a measurement application. The system also uses a secure operating system so that the user cannot destroy the software or system configuration.
• The data is analyzed in real time. This allows the operator to immediately determine whether the measurement is correct. The elimination of post-processing thus improves reliability in addition to decreasing the data management and post-processing problems associated with data recording systems.
• For those who still want to do post-processing the system allows collection of low-level data along with the processed data. The low-level data is properly tagged so that connections between the low-level and the processed data can be made.
• The system is extremely flexible. Products range from small, portable one-laser systems for customers who wish to start measurement without having the financial possibility of investing in a larger system to full-scale multi-function systems using up to twenty lasers and fully automated crack analysis.

History of the Laser Road Surface Tester

In the beginning of the 1970s, the idea of a system for measuring several road parameters simultaneously began to receive attention. A first attempt in this direction was the BV11J in which friction and roughness were measured. As a next step, the vehicle and aircraft developer SAAB, and the RST group at VTI, became involved in developing a system which measured a number of parameters simultaneously: roughness, friction, crossfall, water depth, curve radius, gradient, and rut depth. This system, the SAAB Road Surface Tester (Saab RST), was used to measure all main roads in Sweden on two occasions at the end of the 1970s.

Although successful in collecting reliable data, the need for maintenance and service of a mechanical measurement system was substantial. Working in a relatively small vehicle space also meant that system operators experienced physical discomfort. The most serious problem, however, was that the system was capable of measuring only 2.5 meters of road width.

In 1980, in conjunction with Selcom AB, a major manufacturer of laser optocators, the road measurement team at VTI developed a laser based system. Results from VTI showed that the lasers could be angled, thereby increasing road width measurement up to 4 meters, although the system itself was only 2.5 meters wide.

Since then, a fleet of Laser RST vehicles has been developed and used, not only in Sweden, but in many countries throughout the world. In Sweden the Laser RST has been used to measure a major part of the national road network annually since the mid-1980s. The system is under continual development and new variables have been added to those already being measured, e.g., texture and cracking.

For example,

• In Sweden, Ramböll Sverige AB maintains responsibility for measurements.
• In the USA and Canada, IMS RST Inc. is responsible for North America. 
• In Spain, AEPO S.A. manage measurement services in Spain, South America, and parts of North Africa.
• In Great Britain, the Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. manage measurement services in the United Kingdom

In addition, there are a number of companies that use the Laser Road Surface Tester as experts on a smaller scale.

A close cooperation between these companies and OPQ has ensured that development continues at high speed, and that OPQ have experts who give service and help when the local experts require. This involvement keeps OPQ closely involved with how various customers use our equipment. As such, we are in the best position to know what may or may not work for a system user.

OPQ sells small one laser units as well as very complex laser and video systems. As one might expect, where there is a wide range of products there is also a wide range of customers.