Gaze-directed UAV-UGV Coordination Framework for Onsite Quality Inspection of Precast Bridge Construction

Precast bridge components such as girders, decks, and columns facilitate accelerated bridge construction while offering improved construction quality due to the high quality control standards at the offsite precast plants. In the offsite precast plants, components need to go through rigorous dimensional and surface quality inspection, after which they are transported to the jobsite for final assembly. Contrastively, onsite quality inspection, which still largely relies on manual visual inspection on limited samples, is yet to match up with the standards of the offsite practices. Onsite quality inspection for precast bridge construction is crucial due to potential defects after the offsite construction phase. For example, damage and defects may occur during the component transportation process. The quality of onsite construction activities such as connection joint sealing, post-poured wet joints, and component localization and alignment, also significantly affect the overall structural integrity and durability. Recently, many sensing systems, such as laser scanning and vision-based systems have been developed for quality inspection of precast components. Most efforts have been dedicated to creating new data processing and analysis algorithms to improve accuracy, with very limited focus on improving the efficiency and accuracy of the data collection process using automated technology. There is a critical need to develop a robot-assisted platform to improve the efficiency and coverage of data collection and inspection for quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) of onsite precast bridge construction. The objective of this project is to develop a novel gaze-directed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) coordination framework for onsite quality inspection of precast bridge construction. Specifically, UAV will provide global coverage for inspectors to quickly identify the components and construction activities for inspection while UGV will navigate to specific locations for close inspection following human guidance. A new gaze-directed human-machine interface will be developed, where inspectors can express their guidance via natural gaze movements, to reduce worker mental load. By establishing a new multi-robot-human coordination framework with natural and intuitive interactions, this project will develop an efficient and automated infrastructure inspection approach, thus improving the quality and durability and eventually extending the life of precast transportation infrastructure.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Sponsor Organizations:

  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory
  Urbana, IL  United States  61801-2352

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas at San Antonio

  One UTSA Circle
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78249
• Principal Investigators:

  Cai, Jiannan

  Du, Ao

  Awolusi, Ibukun

• Start Date: 20240101
• Expected Completion Date: 20241231
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge construction; Drones; Eye movements; Human machine systems; Inspection; Precast concrete; Quality control; Robots
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Data and Information Technology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01903261
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 24 2023 8:41AM