HIGH-RESOLUTION MULTISENSOR INFRASTRUCTURE INSPECTION WITH UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

Abstract. This paper reports on the investigations made at Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (IZFP) where different rotary wing micro UAS have been used to scan infrastructures including bridges and monuments at high resolutions for remote damage assessment and monitoring purposes. The aerial pictures taken at high speed and frequency have then been stitched together to obtain full 2D and 3D building reconstructions at a resolution allowing damages and cracking to be observed still in the millimeter range. With these ultra hi-res building reconstruction models a specific data base could be created for each object in order to provide extensive information for long term evaluation and life cycle management. The UAS also have been equipped with sensors for damage size estimation, which combined with an image processing software developed to allow automatic cracking pattern recognition could be used for further analysis.