This paper presents a new approach for energetic analyses of traffic accidents against fixed road elements using close-range photogrammetry. The main contributions of the developed approach are related to the quality of the 3D photogrammetric models, which enable objective and accurate energetic analyses through the in-house tool CRASHMAP. As a result, security forces can reconstruct the accident in a simple and comprehensive way without requiring spreadsheets or external tools, and thus avoid the subjectivity and imprecisions of the traditional protocol. The tool has already been validated, and is being used by the Local Police of Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain) for the resolution of numerous accidents. In this paper, a real accident of a car against a fixed metallic pole is analysed, and significant discrepancies are obtained between the new approach and the traditional protocol of data acquisition regarding collision speed and absorbed energy.

This paper presents an efficient and low-cost approach for energy analysis of road accidents using images obtained using consumer-grade digital cameras and smartphones. The developed method could be used by security forces in order to improve the qualitative and quantitative analysis of traffic accidents. This role of the security forces is crucial to settle arguments; consequently, the remote and non-invasive collection of accident related data before the scene is modified proves to be essential. These data, taken in situ, are the basis to perform the necessary calculations, basically the energy analysis of the road accident, for the corresponding expert reports and the reconstruction of the accident itself, especially in those accidents with important damages and consequences. Therefore, the method presented in this paper provides the security forces with an accurate, three-dimensional, and scaled reconstruction of a road accident, so that it may be considered as a support tool for the energy analysis. This method has been validated and tested with a real crash scene simulated by the local police in the Academy of Public Safety of Extremadura, Spain.

La subida de los precios del petróleo y el accidente nuclear de Fukushima han sacado de nuevo a la palestra un viejo debate acerca del aumento del abastecimiento de energía; en el presente artículo apoyamos que la mejor solución es la diversificación de las fuentes de energía, promoviendo las fuentes alternativas de energía al petróleo y en general las eficiencia energética. A modo comparativo estudiamos la estructura enérgica de ocho países latinoamericanos (Chile, Venezuela, España, Portugal, México, Brasil, Argentina y Colombia) mencionando las características más importantes de cada uno de ellos.p>

Esta publicación es un journal anual de carácter académico y sus artículos se agrupan en cinco secciones: Gestión de la Producción, Calidad y Medio Ambiente, Ingeniería de Negocios, Proyectos Empresariales Industriales, así como Ciencia y Tecnología.