Autonomous Robotic System for Bridge Deck Data Collection and Analysis

Bridge deck inspection is conducted to identify bridge condition deterioration and, thus, to facilitate implementation of appropriate maintenance or rehabilitation procedures. In this paper, we report the development of a robotic system for bridge deck data collection and analysis. The robotic system accurately localizes itself and autonomously maneuvers on the bridge deck to collect visual images and conduct nondestructive evaluation (NDE) measurements. The developed robotic system can reduce the cost and time of the bridge deck data collection. Crack detection and mapping algorithm to build the deck crack maps is presented in detail. The electrical resistivity (ER), impact-echo (IE) and ultrasonic surface waves (USW) data collected by the robot are analyzed to generate the corrosion, delamination and concrete elastic modulus maps of the deck. The presented robotic system has been successfully deployed to inspect numerous bridges.