Abstract

This project aims to investigate and develop a software system that helps bridge inspectors work together with semiautonomous and autonomous robots that efficiently and effectively inspect truss bridges more thoroughly in less time. Our first project WD-2 effort developed a simulation training system for bridge inspection, enabling a heterogeneous group of simulated robots to accelerate comprehensive bridge inspections. This new project WD-3 will investigate and develop techniques to 1) map the simulated world to the real world, 2) connect simulated robots with real robots being developed in other INSPIRE projects, and 3) investigate and develop algorithms, protocols, and autonomy for maximizing inspection speed and completeness for human-robot bridge inspection teams on real bridges. The same system and command interfaces are being used for training human bridge operators in simulation and in an operational environment. We thus expect a straightforward transition from simulation training to on-site operation as the DOT moves to leverage our system’s AI and autonomy development to increase safety and reduce cost.

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

Comments

Principal Investigator: Sushil J. Louis, Ph. D.

Grant #: USDOT # 69A3551747126

Grant Period: 11/30/2016 - 09/30/2024

Project Period: 03/01/2019 - 08/31/2022

The investigation was conducted under the auspices of the INSPIRE University Transportation Center.

Keywords and Phrases

Simulation, robots, inspection, k-Chinese Postman Problem

Report Number

INSPIRE-013

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

October 24, 2022

Download

Share

 
COinS