Implementation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Assessment of Transportation Infrastructure - Phase II (original) (raw)
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Automating Highway Infrastructure Maintenance Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Construction Research Congress 2018: Construction Project Management, 2018
Capital investment in highway infrastructure is critical to economic growth and prosperity. The inspection and timely maintenance of such assets are crucial preventative measures against their failure. However, the need to sustain such infrastructure in acceptable working conditions is continuously challenged by the rise of road repair costs, political pressures to reduce public spending, and budget deficits. This research investigates the utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in assessing highway maintenance needs while reducing labor-intensive inspection. Specifically, the main objectives of this research are to: (1) explore the capacity of UAVs to collect data for roadway maintenance assessment; (2) investigate the reliability of automating pavement distress recognition using object recognition software; and (3) evaluate the viability of assessing highway maintenance needs using UAVs as compared to the traditional technique. Field experiments on collecting data using UAVs in the State of Kuwait are presented to illustrate the fulfillment of the above objectives. The results of this study should prove useful to infrastructure asset managers and departments of transportation, and could accelerate maintenance data collection, eliminate human error, and improve the reliability of maintenance assessment.
Construction Research Congress 2014, 2014
The continuous improvement in the function and performance of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) promotes the need for specific research to integrate this leading edge technology into various applications across Departments of Transportation (DOTs). DOTs of several states have started looking into using UAS technology for different purposes from tracking highway construction projects and performing structure inventories to road maintenance, monitoring roadside environmental conditions, as well as many other traffic management or safety issues, albeit individually focusing on specific usage scenarios. This study investigates various divisions and offices within a Department of Transportation to determine the operational requirements for UAS usage in specific divisions which have the potential to implement this technology to aid and supplement their daily operations. Through a series of interviews with subject matter experts at the management and operational levels, a matrix of user requirements for tasks that have the potential to use UAS is developed. This matrix is mapped to a UAS technical matrix that embeds the technological and technical requirements for development of a potential UAS. These matrices can be used by other DOTs for defining the design specifications for UAS that can fulfill their construction related operational requirements.
MATEC Web of Conferences
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), especially those allowing programmed flight paths, with stops and hovering, e.g. the quad and hex rotor drones, have gathered attention in recently for as their potential use in certain envisioned applications that may be difficult, expensive, or dangerous to do manually. One poignant use case important to the State of Louisiana is that of bridge inspection. In the Lafayette District of LADOTD alone, more than 1600 bridges require annual inspection. In this paper, considerations and criteria important UAV-based bridge inspection in Louisiana are researched and analyzed; experiments with actual UAVs are conducted, and findings provide insight into the problem and potential solutions. The conclusion recommends further research items.
Evaluating the Performance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Safety Inspection
2016
The potential use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAS) has come to the attention of the construction industry. However, its use still demands investigations for a better understanding of how this technology can be fitted to construction management tasks. This paper aims to evaluate the application of UAS for safety inspection on site, focus on its utility, equipment performance and risks associated with the use of that technology. For this, two case studies were performed in Brazil. Data was collected from flight tests on site for visual assets gathering and regular meetings with project personnel for feedback were held. The safety inspection analysis was based on the visualization of the safety requirements in the visual assets collected. Document analysis and interviews with project personnel and workers were performed for supporting the performance evaluation. As a result, the application of UAV could provide the visualization of 87.2% (Project A) and 58% (Project B) of the safety i...
Eyes in the Sky: Bridge Inspections with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
2018
Interest in the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in bridge inspection is rapidly growing within State transportation agencies, due to potential cost and time savings, as well as safety benefits. In particular, UAS may provide the capability to reduce use of bucket trucks, climbing, and lane closures in some inspections, by enabling high-resolution video and still imagery of bridge elements to be acquired from multiple viewing angles using onboard cameras. Additionally, imagery acquired with the UAS can be post-processed and further analyzed back in the office, facilitating detailed analysis and a possible shift of some tasks from the field to the office. However, in evaluating the use of UAS in bridge inspection, it is critical to understand both the capabilities and limitations of UAS, the aspects of an inspection that UAS can and cannot be used to satisfy, the regulatory aspects of UAS use, and the recommended operational procedures and workflows. Additionally, to assist ODOT and other transportation agencies in deciding whether to implement UAS-based inspection programs and procedures, costbenefit information is needed. This research project focused on addressing these needs. Because required inspections of communication towers pose similar safety and logistical concerns, this project also investigated the potential use of UAS in ODOT's tower inspection program. Following a literature review and a detailed analysis of UAS components and advantageous characteristic for structural inspections, six bridge inspections and three tower inspections were conducted. The results were used to compile recommended safety and operational procedures and to assess, item-by-item, the required reporting elements of an FHWA inspection report that can or cannot be aided by use of UAS. Finally, the project findings were used in conjunction with data provided by ODOT to perform a cost-benefit analysis for use of UAS in bridge inspection. The analysis yielded an estimated average cost savings of approximately $10,000 per bridge inspection and showed a benefit-cost ratio of 9 if a UAS bridge inspection program is implemented. 17.
Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Bridge Inspections
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2017
The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Collins Engineers have been researching the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) as a tool for bridge inspections. Phase 1 of an implementation study has been completed, and a Phase 2 study is nearing completion. Phase 3 of the research effort will start early in 2017. These research studies are looking at current FAA regulations and evaluating the advantages and challenges of using UASs for bridge inspections; the results are promising. The research has tested different types of UASs on eight bridges of varying configuration, size, location, and condition to determine the effectiveness of UASs as a tool to supplement bridge inspections.
Bridge inspections using unmanned aerial vehicles–A case study in Sweden
Luleå University of Technology, 2021
The aim of the current project is to digitalize inspections and monitoring of structures’ health using drones in order to identify and allow for easier inspection of damages in transport infrastructure. The objectives set are to perform aerial photogrammetry to recreate the as-is condition to enable off-site inspection of difficult to reach areas in structures and identify damages–eg cracks, spalling, corrosion. The drone is controlled either autonomously or with the use of a remote control by a pilot from the ground. The drone can carry a wide range of imaging technologies including still, video and infrared sensors. The high flexibility and accessibility of drones in hard-to-reach or risk exposed areas makes the airborne photogrammetry a better alternative to the ground-based method. Given the potential of UAVs to help bridge inspectors performing inspections off-site, the Swedish Transport Administration developed a demonstration project to evaluate the effectiveness and future opportunities within inspection field. Five bridges of varying sizes and types were selected as demonstrators. Data collection including the 3D model creation has been performed by three different contractors while the model-based inspection for all bridges was performed by the same team. It has been shown that the 3D models could serve as a tool for bridge inspectors from which measurements could be extracted and certain damages identified. A full off-site inspection is currently not feasible as some areas of the bridges were difficult to capture. The models are only providing near-surface information, and therefore, in-depth inspection should not be overlooked. The difficulty of capturing local defects such as delaminations and narrow cracks also reduces versatility. The main conclusion from the study is that drones cannot be used independently to conduct inspections. Currently, they can only be used as a complement to traditional inspections. The added value of a 3D model derives from the possibility of using it as a tool to better plan large inspections in the field and/or future maintenance work.
Bridge inspection: human performance, unmanned aerial systems and automation
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Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) have become of considerable private and commercial interest for a variety of jobs and entertainment in the past 10 years. This paper is a literature review of the state of practice for the United States bridge inspection programs and outlines how automated and unmanned bridge inspections can be made suitable for present and future needs. At its best, current technology limits UAS use to an assistive tool for the inspector to perform a bridge inspection faster, safer, and without traffic closure. The major challenges for UASs are satisfying restrictive Federal Aviation Administration regulations, control issues in a GPS denied environment, pilot expenses and availability, time and cost allocated to tuning, maintenance, post-processing time, and acceptance of the collected data by bridge owners. Using UASs with self-navigation abilities and improving imageprocessing algorithms to provide results near real-time could revolutionize the bridge inspection industry by providing accurate, multi-use, autonomous three-dimensional models and damage identification.
International journal of transportation science and technology, 2016
Acquiring and processing video streams from static cameras has been proposed as one of 27 the most efficient tools for visualizing and gathering traffic information. With the latest 28 advances in technology and visual media, combined with the increased needs in dealing 29 with congestion more effectively and directly, the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems 30 (UAS) has emerged in the field of traffic engineering. In this paper, we review studies 31 and applications that incorporate UAS in transportation research and practice with the 32 aim to set the grounds from the proper understanding and implementation of UAS related 33 surveillance systems in transportation and traffic engineering. The studies reviewed are 34 categorized in different transportation engineering areas. Additional significant applica-35 tions from other research fields are also referenced to identify other promising applica-36 tions. Finally, issues and emerging challenges in both a conceptual and methodological 37 level are revealed and discussed.