Abstract
Automated solutions for infrastructure inspection are desirable. However, arduous engineering is delaying our progress. A complete system needs to deal with three main problems: (1) locomotive performance for high complexity of steel bridges including differential curvatures, transitions between beams and obstacles; (2) data collection capability, inclusive of visible and invisible damages, in-depth information such as vibration, coat, and material thickness, etc.; and (3) working condition made up of gust wind. To have such a complete system, this technical report presents novel developments in inspection-climbing robots. Four different robot versions are designed to look for the simplest and most effective configuration as well as control manner. Our approach started with: (1) a transformable tank-like robot integrated with a haptic device and two natural-inspired locomotion; (2) a roller chain-like robot; and (3) a hybrid worming-mobile robot; then (4) a multi-directional bicycle robot, the most potential solution to automated steel bridge inspection. For each robotic development, detailed mechanical analysis frameworks are presented.
Recommended Citation
La, Hung and Nguyen, Son, "Final Report - Climbing Robots with Automated Deployments of Sensors and NDE Devices for Steel Bridge Inspection" (2022). Project AS-2. 1.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/project_as-2/1
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Research Center/Lab(s)
INSPIRE - University Transportation Center
Sponsor(s)
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590
Keywords and Phrases
Bridge inspection robots, Climbing robot, Field robotics
Report Number
INSPIRE-010
Document Type
Technical Report
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
May 22, 2022
Comments
Principal Investigator: Hung La, Ph. D.
Grant #: USDOT # 69A3551747126
Grant Period: 11/30/2016 - 09/30/2024
Project Period: 03/01/2017 - 04/31/2021
This investigation was conducted under the auspices of the INSPIRE University Transportation Center.