Robotic Platform Rabit for Condition Assessment of Concrete Bridge Decks Using Multiple NDE Technologies

Current assessment of concrete bridge decks relies on visual inspection and use of simple nondestructive and destructive evaluations. More advanced, but still manual nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies provide more comprehensive assessment. Still, due to a lower speed of data collection and still not automated data analysis and interpretation, they are not used on a regular basis. The development and implementation of a fully autonomous robotic system for condition assessment of concrete bridge decks using multiple nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies is described. The system named RABIT (Robotics Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool) resolves issues related to the speed of data collection and analysis. The system concentrates on the characterization of internal deterioration and damage, in particular three most common deterioration types in concrete bridge decks: rebar corrosion, delamination, and concrete degradation. For those purposes, RABIT implements four NDE technologies: electrical resistivity (ER), impact echo (IE), ultrasonic surface waves (USW) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). Because the system utilizes multiple probes or large sensor arrays for the four NDE technologies, the spatial resolution of the results is significantly improved. The technologies are used in a complementary way to enhance the overall condition assessment and certainty regarding the detected deterioration. In addition, the system utilizes three high resolution cameras to image the surface of the deck for crack mapping and documentation of previous repairs, and to image larger areas of the bridge for inventory purposes. Finally, the robot’s data visualization platform facilitates an intuitive 3-dimensional presentation of the main three deterioration types and deck surface features