Development of a solution for collecting crack images on concrete surfaces to assess the structural health of bridges using drone

ABSTRACT This study contributes an efficient method for assessing the structural integrity of concrete bridges by collecting images of surface cracks and defects with drones. The use of drones to gather crack samples reduces human error and is appropriate in adverse working conditions and short-duration examinations. This work introduces a new POI (Points of Interest) flying algorithm for typical flight paths, based on the drone flying criteria of safe viewing distance and the POI concept. In this research, the flight controller of the drone was combined with a Raspberry Pi4 to build and alter a typical flight path suitable for the mission, with the addition of interactive features that control flight mode switching, separation, and automatic return to the original orbit to meet expertly specified POIs. In other words, as drones approach a region requiring image capture, they automatically move to a safe distance to photograph cracks and then return to their predetermined orbit. An experiment at the Cau May bridge demonstrates that the path-planning algorithms created on an embedded computer can successfully coordinate with the flight controller switching three times to hover and zoom in on fractures during the inspection.