Mobile and Sensor-Based Infrastructure Inspections

Inspections are often conducted to ensure the safety and health of civil infrastructure systems, such as bridges, highways, and tunnels. Inspections involve both intrusive and non-intrusive (i.e., non-destructive) procedures to evaluate conditions and maintenance needs. Performed by experienced personnel with special equipment, inspections involve setting up instruments, collecting field data, analyzing information, and documenting the results. Often consultation with off-site experts is necessary. Unlike laboratory tests, these in-situ tests vary significantly from one site to another; furthermore, it is costly and time-consuming to set up instrumentation for these tests. Due to budget and resource constraints, most municipal, state, or federal agencies can only conduct periodic inspections subject to available personnel, resources, and budget. As a result, many problems that could have been detected and repaired cost effectively end up as major costly rehabilitation. New advances in information technologies—especially in sensors, mobile computing, and wireless communications—provide a unique opportunity to rethink the paradigm of infrastructure inspections. This paper presents an ongoing research project that utilizes these technologies for inspection tasks. A schematic design of the system is presented, followed by a discussion of relevant technologies, lessons learned, and the plan for the future.