Development and Implementation of a Laser–Camera–UAV System to Measure Total Dynamic Transverse Displacement
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 147, Issue 8
Abstract
Railroad bridge inspectors are interested in measuring the maximum total transverse displacement of railroad bridges under trains, but these values are generally not easy to obtain in the field without sensors. Engineers use LVDTs, analog accelerometers, or wireless smart sensors (WSS). However, these sensors need to be attached to the bridge prior to the train-crossing event, which requires time, costs money, and is unsafe for engineers. This paper describes the design of a new sensor-equipped, low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that enables the safe, cost-efficient, and noncontact total transverse displacements measurement of railroad bridges. The new system integrates laser and camera measurements from a UAV flying near the moving structure. The design and assembly of the new system is followed by methodology, field experiment, and results. The authors compared the estimations of the new system with ground-truth data obtained using an LVDT to quantify the capabilities of the new system. The results support the value of the proposed method to measure noncontact railroad bridge displacements in the field.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the National Academy of Science Transportation Research Board (TRB), Rail Safety IDEA Project 37: Measuring Behavior of Railroad Bridges under Revenue Traffic using Lasers and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Safer Operations: Implementation, Project No. 163418-0399. The authors greatly acknowledge this support and the feedback from project manager Dr. Velvet Basemera-Fitzpatrick. The authors extend their thanks to the TRB expert review panel for their input and constructive feedback: Dr. Rafael Fierro, Dr. Duane Otter, Dr. David Mascarenas, Martita Mullen, and Sandro Scola; and to the Smart Management of Infrastructure Laboratory (SMILab) affiliates Nicolas Cobo, Jorshua Diaz, James Woodall, and Dr. Su Zhang for their assistance in experiments, and Dominic Thompson for the UAV’s sketch.
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Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 147 • Issue 8 • August 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 8, 2020
Accepted: Feb 10, 2021
Published online: Jun 8, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Nov 8, 2021
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