ERD file format for storage and analysis of road profiles

Abstract

This document briefly describes the ERD file format used for storing, plotting, and analyzing engineering data. The ERD file format was developed within the Engineering Research Division (ERD) of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). ERD files were used internally by the ERD at UMTRI for storage and analysis of vehicle test data, vehicle simulation output, laboratory measurement of vehicle component behavior, and road profiles. Since ERD files were used as the standard data file format by the road profile analysis software “RoadRuf,” many practitioners of road profile measurement and analysis adopted it as a standard. As such, the need for public documentation of the ERD file format was identified. This document provides the documentation of the ERD file format that appeared in Appendix A of the RoadRuf Reference Manual, circa 1997.