Engineering Commons^™

Poster Awards Ceremony, Hongyan Ma

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

• 1st Place: Dongbin Kim, Missouri S&T, A Human-Embodied Drone for Dexterous Aerial Manipulation
• 2nd Place: Yu Otsuki, Georgia Tech, Autonomous ultrasonic thickness measurement using Martlet wireless sensing system integrated with a steel climbing mobile robot
• 3rd Place: Pu Jiao, Missouri S&T, INSPIRE UTC Bridge Inspection Field Campaign Update, 2021

Closing Remarks And Winners Announced, Hongyan Ma

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Closing Remarks and Winners Announced by INSPIRE UTC Graduate Student Poster Session Chair Dr. Hongyan Ma, Assistant Professor, Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, Missouri S&T

Improving 3d Metric Gpr Imaging Using Robotic Data Collection And Dnn Based Processing, Jinglun Feng

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

GPR is one of the most important NDE devices to detect subsurface objects and reconstruct the underground scene. There are two challenges for GPR- based inspection, which are GPR data collection and subsurface object imaging. To address these challenges, we propose a robotic solution that automates the GPR data collection process with a free motion pattern. It facilitates the 3D metric GPR imaging by tagging the pose information with GPR measurement in real-time. We also introduce a DNN based GPR data analysis method which includes a noise removal segmentation module to clear the noise in GPR raw data and a …

Encoding Time-Series Ground Motions As Images For Convolutional Neural Networks-Based Seismic Damage Evaluation, Xinzhe Yuan

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Earthquake records can be encoded as images to classify their resulting damage states to structures based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Different encoding techniques such as Recurrence Plot (RP) and Wavelet Transform (WT) can be used to transfer earthquake records to images. Presently, no consensus has been reached on the understanding of the most suitable encoding technique for CNN-based seismic damage classification. In this study, we develop a new encoding technique based on Time-series Segmentation (TS) and compare it to state-of-the-art RP and WT techniques. These techniques are mainly compared based on their classification accuracy and computation efficiency.

Reveal Underground Defects Through Impact Sounding (Is) And Impact Echo (Ie), Ejup Hoxha

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Impact Echo (IE) and Impact Sounding (IS) are well-developed non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods that are widely used for inspection of concrete structures to ensure safety and sustainability. However, it is a tedious work to collect IE and IS data along grid lines covering large target area for characterization of subsurface defects. On the other hand, data processing is very complicated and requires domain experts to interpret the results. To address the above problems, we present a robotic inspection system, to automate the data collection process and introduce data analytics software to visualize the inspection results allowing non-professionals to easily understand …

Autonomous Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement Using Martlet Wireless Sensing System Integrated With A Steel Climbing Mobile Robot, Yu Otsuki

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

The objective of this research is to develop an autonomous ultrasonic thickness measurement system for steel bridge members through the integration of wireless sensing and robotics. The ultrasonic thickness measurement is achieved using a transducer that requires access to only one side of a steel bridge member. Building upon the Martlet wireless sensing platform, this project first develops pulser and ultrasonic daughter boards to generate a pulse excitation and to filter and amplify the received ultrasonic signal. The developed Martlet wireless ultrasonic device is next integrated with a steel climbing mobile robot developed by University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The …

Drone Vision-Based Clamping Strategy For Bridge Inspection, Bo Shang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Most bridges in the United States are near their designed lifetime. So, policy needs bridges to be inspected every two years. Currently, most of those inspections are done by human which needs to block the traffic and can cause injury. MST INSPIRE-UTC’s project Bridge Inspection Robot Deployment Systems (BIRDS) tries to develop a flying and climbing platform that has the following benefit:

• Capturing high quality data for inspection without vibration;
• Free of blocking traffic;
• Operator and inspector are safe.

Gas Leakage Detection With Hyperspectral Imagery-Based Vegetation Stress Indices, Pengfei Ma

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

The objective of this research is to provide a basis for gas leakage detection with hyperspectral cameras. The gas leakage attacks vegetations, which yields some spectral signature changes. As the vegetation under different stressors may induce similar effect. The spectral signature changes can be similar. A lab test was arranged to test three kinds of plants under four common natural stressors with a reference. All plants are routinely scanned with hyperspectral cameras every three days to obtain every developmental stage. Linear discriminant analysis (LDR) was applied in the data analysis to discriminate the plant with gas leakage treatment from the …

A Human-Embodied Drone For Dexterous Aerial Manipulation, Dongbin Kim

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Current drones passively surveil. Drones equipped with robotic arms shift this paradigm: the drone is actively interacting with the environment rather than simply sensing it. This would be needed to robotically enhance bridge-related work, called dexterous aerial manipulation: drones could hose decks; drilling on surfaces; and epoxy cracks. Such research is important to advancing bridge maintenance and repair.

Recently, the worker’s experience was integrated in aerial manipulation using haptic technology. The net effect is such system could enable the worker to leverage drones to collaborative perform haptic assessments of the objects and complete tasks on the bridge remotely. However, the …

Probability Of Detection In Corrosion Monitoring With Fe-C Coated Lpfg Sensors, Ying Zhuo

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

This project aims to develop two statistical methods for determining the probability of detection in corrosion monitoring using long period fiber gratings (LPFG) sensors with thin Fe-C coating, validate these methods from independent laboratory tests, and determine the steel mass loss at 90% probability of detection and the largest steel mass loss that may miss from a corrosion inspection at 95% upper confidence bounds. LPFG sensors could reflect the corrosion process by the wavelength shift in the transmission spectrum due to the change of the refractive index of the Fe-C coating. POD is a method used to determine the capability …

Smart Sounding System For Autonomous Evaluation Of Concrete Structures, Deepak Kumar

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Impact sounding has been used successfully to detect defects in concrete structures. Recent research has shown that the sounding, such as chirp signal, can be generated by electronic speakers, and can be designed with controlled frequency characteristics to excite defects in concrete decks. The bottom of a deck cannot be conventionally sounded, and precise location of the damaged area is a challenge. The focus of this research is on development of a “Smart Sounding System” that can be used to inspect the underdeck and pier surfaces effectively and autonomously.

Inspire Utc Bridge Inspection Field Campaign Update, 2021, Pu Jiao

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Bridge inspection activities using robotic sensing system are surging in the recent years due to the increasing demand of infrastructure maintenance and development of commercial drones and open-source robotic platforms. On the other hand, the data acquired through bridge inspection is also booming, which stimulated the application of machine learning in infrastructure.

At INSPIRE UTC of Missouri University of Science and Technology, bridge inspection equipment’s are being developed and tested for comprehensive data collection using multiple sensing technologies. This paper presents and evaluates the drone-carried sensors’ abilities and applications after 3 bridge inspections in Missouri in 2021 and sketches the …

Multi-Directional Bicycle Robot For Steel Bridge Inspection, Son Thanh Nguyen

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

In contrast to the current climbing robots, this research presents a new design and implementation of a roller chain-based climbing robot to provide a practical solution for steel structure inspection (bridges, poles, pipes, etc.)

The proposed roller chain-like robot has 12 joints for moving and 3 pairs of joints for turning, which makes the robot very flexible. This setup allows the robot to traverse areas of complex geometry on steel bridges. The robot utilizes permanent magnets to be able to well adhere on steel structures while moving.

Inspire Utc Bridge Inspection Field Campaign Update, 2021, Pu Jiao

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Bridge inspection activities using robotic sensing system are surging in the recent years due to the increasing demand of infrastructure maintenance and development of commercial drones and open-source robotic platforms. On the other hand, the data acquired through bridge inspection is also booming, which stimulated the application of machine learning in infrastructure.

At INSPIRE UTC of Missouri University of Science and Technology, bridge inspection equipment’s are being developed and tested for comprehensive data collection using multiple sensing technologies. This paper presents and evaluates the drone-carried sensors’ abilities and applications after 3 bridge inspections in Missouri in 2021 and sketches the …

2021 Technical Program, Inspire - University Transportation Center

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

INSPIRE University Transportation Center 2020 Annual Meeting
August 10-11, 2021