Towards Autonomous UAV-Based Dynamic and Seismic Response Monitoring of Bridges

Several global technologies are on the rise such as aerial robotics, which are commonly referred to as unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or simply “drones”. Many of the critical lifelines and infrastructure systems such as bridge networks or power grids and transmission lines have taken serious steps towards adopting UAVs for regular maintenance and inspection. Using bridges as one example of critical infrastructure systems, the research team finds that a large deal of research studies has been sponsored, mostly through various Departments of Transportation (DOTs), to use UAVs for visual bridge inspections. However, none of the ongoing or emerging efforts have properly considered the use of UAVs for dynamic vibration and structural system identification of bridges or other infrastructure systems, nor considered real-time or near real-time structural assessment in the case of extreme events such as earthquakes. Future applications of UAVs to rapidly inform post-disaster decisions such as assessing a bridge condition to open it for traffic or not would be of great importance, which is the specific motivation of this project.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $65000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747121

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC)

  Florida International University
  10555 W. Flagler Street
  Miami, FL  United States  33174

  University of Nevada, Reno

  1664 N. Virginia Street
  Reno, Nevada  United States  89557

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Principal Investigators:

  Moustafa, Mohamed

• Start Date: 20210101
• Expected Completion Date: 20220501
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridges; Drones; Earthquakes; Seismicity; Structural analysis; Vibration
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01768943
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (ABC-UTC)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747121
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Mar 31 2021 9:04PM