Chapter
Jan 25, 2024

An Optimization Framework for UAS-Based Infrastructure Inspection Path Planning

Publication: Computing in Civil Engineering 2023

ABSTRACT

Automated visual inspection of infrastructure and the built environment using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has found considerable traction among infrastructure owners and managers. These inspections rely on the limited battery and payload capacity of the UAS, and therefore optimizing the inspection path is essential for the scalable deployment of these systems. This preliminary study proposes a framework for planning UAS-based inspections by considering visual coverage as a constraint and an optimization objective function that could include path length as well as other performance metrics. The path parameters were optimized accordingly, and the influence of the hyperparameters on the path optimization results and their tradeoffs were also studied. The proposed framework lays the foundation for integrating structural engineering domain expertise into UAS-based inspection path planning.

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Go to Computing in Civil Engineering 2023
Computing in Civil Engineering 2023
Pages: 890 - 898

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Published online: Jan 25, 2024

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Yuxiang Zhao [email protected]
1Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Email: [email protected]
2Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Email: [email protected]
Ishfaq Aziz [email protected]
3Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Email: [email protected]
Mohamad Alipour, Ph.D. [email protected]
4Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Email: [email protected]

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