Bridge collapses are expensive and often tragic events that need to be avoided by detecting faults early. This project aims to create a coordinated aerial swarm system to inspect the cracks in bridge structures, improving the monitoring coverage and efficiency.
Outcomes
The developed bridge inspection system, using drones that fly in a swarm formation, will monitor the bridge structures without interfering with traffic or endangering human inspectors. More importantly, the project targets to monitor the structural integrity of bridges and flag any potential issues using machine learning and computer vision, helping to avoid the tragedies like the Morandi bridge collapse.
Method
Experimental
Next Steps
While this technology worked well for this project, there are structural barriers to its adoption that would need to be overcome. Machine learning and other existing technologies used in this project require people with specialist skills, and there may be a lack of willingness to invest the time and money in this technology at this point in time.
Presentation at CDBB Week 2019
