Robotic bridge statics assessment within strategic flood evacuation planning using low-cost sensors

Abstract

Scenario: A rescue team needs to cross a partially damaged bridge in a flooded area. It is unknown whether the construction is still able to carry a vehicle. Assessing the construction's integrity can be accomplished by the analysis of the bridge's eigenfrequencies. Rather than using proprietary expensive Vibration Measurement Systems (VMS) we propose to utilize off-the-shelf smartphones as sensors - which still require to be placed at the spot on the bridge best suited for picking up vibrations. Within this work, we use an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) featuring a robotic manipulator. It allows a non-technician operator to optimally place the device semi- automatically. We evaluate our approach in a real-life scenario. Demo video: https://youtu.be/u_3pe0nZ5tw