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Bridge Inspection

Ok.

Just trying to be objective here.

So after watching The Martian movie and doing the groceries and finally sitting here. I am still baffled of what the video was about.

At first I thought to myself is will be a great informational video about the use of drone in specific and practical applications such as bridge inspection but after watching it 2x before I went on my activities I am still confused. Please help me understand...

What was the video supposed to show?

What was the objective of the presentation?

What are the details of the drone that did the actual inspection and what was it supposed to be looking for?

How did you base your conclusion on?

I ask these questions because there are about 3 of us members that are interested in getting into structural inspection and after having read some case studies I just don't see the point and purpose of your video.
 
Dear Outta Control
The purpose was just a video I put together for the client. It accompanied the written report I prepared and the photographs of different parts of the bridge.
I have been working on bridges ie filming for inspection purposes for two years. I am working with the Dept of Transport & Main Roads.
It is a long process here! Signed off to fly by the Director General and Ministers! That's the big boys with the yes or no. Public risk being the primary concern.
I started with a P2, then a P2 V, then a P3 I also have two inspires, a 3DR hex, octo and Iris +. These are ok on the outside...
Non do the job of underneath. Without 3rd party improvements....then there's prop protection...Are you getting a picture here?
So now I also have a custom built frame...that's the one in the video....
Then there's the camera, 20mp (no zoom unfortunately).
Then there's lighting.......hmm what else?
oh yes, you have to be able to get good picture of cracks 0.15 cm wide. No ability to measure though, going to try a laser with known diameter.
Wight, weight, weight! 4s battery, 9 minutes. Back down. Focus on joints and suspension of bridge between pylon and underside of deck.
Water is hard to calibrate on!
Bugger where do I stop...
Cheers
PS, it's scary!
 
Thanks Peter for the clarification. Now I can get a better picture and what you were doing. I guess what y'all do is a lot different than that is the expectation is here in Murica'.

Based on the case studies I have read is that an inspection are broken into phases.

I have no doubt it is scary and yes there will be no GPS help plus the winds that generate around the bridge is already a challenge.

Thanks again Mate'
 
Dear Outta Control
The purpose was just a video I put together for the client. It accompanied the written report I prepared and the photographs of different parts of the bridge.
I have been working on bridges ie filming for inspection purposes for two years. I am working with the Dept of Transport & Main Roads.
It is a long process here! Signed off to fly by the Director General and Ministers! That's the big boys with the yes or no. Public risk being the primary concern.
I started with a P2, then a P2 V, then a P3 I also have two inspires, a 3DR hex, octo and Iris +. These are ok on the outside...
Non do the job of underneath. Without 3rd party improvements....then there's prop protection...Are you getting a picture here?
So now I also have a custom built frame...that's the one in the video....
Then there's the camera, 20mp (no zoom unfortunately).
Then there's lighting.......hmm what else?
oh yes, you have to be able to get good picture of cracks 0.15 cm wide. No ability to measure though, going to try a laser with known diameter.
Wight, weight, weight! 4s battery, 9 minutes. Back down. Focus on joints and suspension of bridge between pylon and underside of deck.
Water is hard to calibrate on!
Bugger where do I stop...
Cheers
PS, it's scary!
I think you will find fitting any kind of laser to an RPAS is a big no no and will land you in hot water (unless your name is Martin E Dempsey)
 
Well we fly lidar scanning units which are laser based and specifically designed for UAVs - so I am intrigued as to why you say they are a no no




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Well we fly lidar scanning units which are laser based and specifically designed for UAVs - so I am intrigued as to why you say they are a no no




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Because certain countries ban outright the mounting of a laser or projectile firing device of any kind to any form of RPAS.
Obviously, an individual needs to satisfy themselves (and the law) that they are acting in accordance with their local or national air laws when mounting anything that radiates or fires from their UAV.
 
Dear Outta Control
The purpose was just a video I put together for the client. It accompanied the written report I prepared and the photographs of different parts of the bridge.
I have been working on bridges ie filming for inspection purposes for two years. I am working with the Dept of Transport & Main Roads.
It is a long process here! Signed off to fly by the Director General and Ministers! That's the big boys with the yes or no. Public risk being the primary concern.
I started with a P2, then a P2 V, then a P3 I also have two inspires, a 3DR hex, octo and Iris +. These are ok on the outside...
Non do the job of underneath. Without 3rd party improvements....then there's prop protection...Are you getting a picture here?
So now I also have a custom built frame...that's the one in the video....
Then there's the camera, 20mp (no zoom unfortunately).
Then there's lighting.......hmm what else?
oh yes, you have to be able to get good picture of cracks 0.15 cm wide. No ability to measure though, going to try a laser with known diameter.
Wight, weight, weight! 4s battery, 9 minutes. Back down. Focus on joints and suspension of bridge between pylon and underside of deck.
Water is hard to calibrate on!
Bugger where do I stop...
Cheers
PS, it's scary!


Peter, thanks for sharing. your information regarding safety from a public agency point of view is valuable. we have not been paying enough attention to that. Have you developed any protocol / requirements in that regard?

there is an article might be of your interest for the crack recognition (too bad that only the abstract is in English, I did communicate with the author and they expect the technology will be available early next year. I also heard a simpler way to calculate the crack width by calibrating your camera zoom length)
Bridge crack measurement system based on binocular stereo vision technology
 
Dear Laisui
Hmm measuring hairline and other cracks, this is very difficult especially using visual aids on a moving platform.not sure about the stereo vision method, the abstract doesn't say it's on a UAV.
My next move, if we go to actual measuring would be to look at lasers with a well defined width. Haven't tried it yet!
Cheers
 
Hi Carlsberg
Allot of LED lights arnt bright enough for me, so we use a camera with flash
Cheers
 
Hi Carlsberg
Allot of LED lights arnt bright enough for me, so we use a camera with flash
Cheers


you're not looking hard enough then and it's hard to look at what you are looking for during the split second the flash is lit. I do tons of inspections and my lights kick ***! Lezyne is the company and they have some very nice, very bright lights with tiny self contained lipos, usb charge.
I'm sure they have something for your needs.
(you are benefitting from a weeks worth of my researching, so have a look).
 
Last edited:
Sorry Carlsberg I think you misunderstand me. I have a head torch mounted on the copter, a couple of thousand lumens, with rechargeable lipos. They light up areas 100 m distance. But for the photographs I use a camera with a flash.
 
Sorry, all my comments were based solely on viewing your video, and from what I saw, there was no lights on the drone and the view of it underneath the bridge was darker than ****, (no way to see what you're doing or looking for). As a professional aerial drone inspector I guess my only advice would to be to actually use the lights you boast about, (especially during video presentations), show off your assets/capabilities :)

Using your lights would be much more impressive ;)
 
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