Robotic System for Inspection by Contact of Bridge Beams Using UAVs

This paper presents a robotic system using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for bridge-inspection tasks that require physical contact between the aerial platform and the bridge surfaces, such as beam-deflection analysis or measuring crack depth with an ultrasonic sensor. The proposed system takes adv...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez-Cuevas, Pedro Jesús, Ramón-Soria, Pablo, Arrue Ullés, Begoña C., Ollero Baturone, Aníbal, Heredia Benot, Guillermo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/85919
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/85919
https://doi.org/10.3390/s19020305
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Robotic bridge inspection
UAS applications
Aerial robotics
Aerial inspection
Aerodynamic ceiling effect
Descripción
Sumario:This paper presents a robotic system using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for bridge-inspection tasks that require physical contact between the aerial platform and the bridge surfaces, such as beam-deflection analysis or measuring crack depth with an ultrasonic sensor. The proposed system takes advantage of the aerodynamic ceiling effect that arises when the multirotor gets close to the bridge surface. Moreover, this paper describes how a UAV can be used as a sensor that is able to fly and touch the bridge to take measurements during an inspection by contact. A practical application of the system involving the measurement of a bridge’s beam deflection using a laser tracking station is also presented. In order to validate our system, experiments on two different bridges involving the measurement of the deflection of their beams are shown.