StreetBump - The total crowdsourcing of a pothole mapping app
1. By the People, For the People
the story of the crowdsourcing of StreeetBump
University College London May 29, 2013
Urban Data Management Symposium Fabio Carrera
3. Fabio Carrera
•Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
•BSEE, MSCS (WPI)
•PhD in Urban Information Systems and Planning (MIT)
•Venice, Boston and Santa Fe Project Centers (WPI)
•100’s of City Projects for past 25 years
•Several smartphone apps
Related Papers & Conferences:
•Scholar.google.com (Fabio Carrera)
•Carrera 2012 (AIC)
•Carrera 2004 (MIT Dissertation)
•Carrera & Ferreira (2007)
•Carrera & Hewitt (2006)
19. Venice Turbulence Mapper
Chiu, D., Lacasse, C., Menard, K., (2004). Mapping Turbulent Motorboat Discharges in the
Canals of Venice, Italy. WPI Major Qualifying Project.
29. Reporting Problems with Apps
Good idea, but user must…
a)know about app
b)have app installed
c)remember about it
d)use it to report
StreetBump eliminates issues c and d
31. StreetBump: a Pothole Mapping app
2008
• Android app
• Detects Bumps over threshold
• Records location on server and
• Acc. Forces (3 data windows)
• Orientation
• Bearing
• Entropy
• Downloadable data
• Settable parameters
32. StreetBump: Collecting Data Automatically
Turn it on and forget about it…
(originally intended for City vehicles)
34. StreetBump: Crowdsourcing Potholes
• No attempt at classification on the fly
• All Bumps over threshold are recorded on server
• Potholes are confirmed by REPEAT hits at same location
• Potholes have “signatures” that differ from
• Speed bumps
• Railroad tracks
• Bridge joints
• Manholes… etc.
• Swerving confirms presence of potholes
36. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
37. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
38. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
39. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
• Free app
• Automatic Mapping
• Open Source
40. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
• Free app
• Automatic Mapping
• Open Source
• $25,000 prize
• 700 solvers -> 3 Winners
• Post-Processing Algorithms
41. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
• Free app
• Automatic Mapping
• Open Source
• $25,000 prize
• 700 solvers -> 3 Winners
• Post-Processing Algorithms
• StreetBump.org
42. StreetBump: Crowdsourced all the way
• 6+ theses (publically available on the web)
• 15+ students
• Venice and Boston Project Centers
• $30,000 grant
• Shared IP
• Free app
• Automatic Mapping
• Open Source
• $25,000 prize
• 700 solvers -> 3 Winners
• Post-Processing Algorithms
• StreetBump.org
• 10,000 + downloads
• 1,000’s of contributors
• 100’s of staff users