Advances in Computer Vision–based Civil Infrastructure Inspection and Monitoring

April 22, 2022

Advances in Computer Vision–based Civil Infrastructure Inspection and Monitoring

Bill Spencer, Nathan M. & Anne M. Newmark Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Abstract: Computer vision techniques, in conjunction with acquisition through remote cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), offer non-contact solutions to civil infrastructure condition assessment. The ultimate goal of such a system is to automatically and robustly convert the image or video data into actionable information. This presentation provides an overview of recent advances in computer vision techniques as they apply to the problem of civil infrastructure inspection and monitoring. In particular, relevant work in the fields of computer vision, machine learning, and structural engineering are presented. The applications reviewed are classified into two types: inspection applications and monitoring applications. The inspection applications reviewed include identifying context such as structural components, characterizing local and global visible damage, and detecting changes from a reference image, with focus on rapid structural condition assessment of bridges and buildings after disasters. The monitoring applications discussed include static measurement of strain and displacement, as well as dynamic measurements of displacement and modal analysis, with application to inland waterway networks. The paper concludes with a discussion of promising areas of growth for research in the field of computer vision-based civil infrastructure inspection and monitoring, which will ultimately lead to smarter civil infrastructure.

Bio: B.F. Spencer, Jr. is the Nathan M. and Anne M. Newmark Endowed Chair of Civil Engineering, UIUC. His research has been primarily in the areas of structural health monitoring, structural control, cyberinfrastructure applications, stochastic fatigue, stochastic computational mechanics, and natural hazard mitigation. Professor Spencer has directed more than $50M in funded research and published more than 700 technical papers/reports, including two books. He has been selected as “Global Highly Cited Scholar in Civil Engineering” by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy and Elsevier. He led NSF's George E. Brown Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) system integration project. He was the PI on the NEES MUST-SIM facility at the University of Illinois focusing on hybrid simulation. Professor Spencer has received numerous awards, including the ASCE Outstanding Instructor Award, the ASCE Norman Medal, the ASCE Housner Structural Control and Monitoring Medal, the ASCE Newmark Medal, the Zhu Kezhen International Lectureship Award, the ANCRiSST Outstanding Senior Investigator Award, the Structural Health Monitoring Person of the Year Award, the J.M. Ko Medal of Advances in Structural Engineering, IASCM Takuji Kobori Prize, and the Raymond & Sidney Epstein Structural Engineering Faculty Award. Professor Spencer is a Fellow of ASCE, a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the North American Editor in Chief of Smart Structures and Systems, the Executive Managing Editor of the journal of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, and the past president of the Asia-Pacific Network of Centers for Research in Smart Structures Technology.