Use of gaming technology to bring bridge inspection to the office

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel method for bridge inspection that essentially digitises bridges using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) so that they can be later inspected in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The work uses conventional terrestrial LIDAR together with affordable VR hardware and freely available software development kits originally intended for authoring computer games. The resulting VR app is evaluated for a case study involving a typical masonry bridge, comparing the proposed technique with traditional inspection methods. The new approach promises to be highly effective in terms of interpretation of results, accessibility to critical areas and safety of inspectors. The work represents an important step towards the creation of digital twins of important assets in the built environment. Recent bridge collapse incidents have affected local economies, traffic congestion, and in some extreme cases led to a loss of life. The work is timely as law making agencies are paying greater attention to structural rehabilitation. This paper will be of particular interest to bridge engineers, construction professionals and law makers and could lead to future revisions of bridge inspection processes and standards. ARTICLE HISTORY

BIM-Based Digital Twin and XR Devices to Improve Maintenance Procedures in Smart Buildings: A Literature Review

“…This type is mainly used to provide an immersive environment for its user, leaving his or her hands free to interact with the real environment. There are two main subtypes of HMD that can be found in the literature: the optical and/or video see-through HMDs, which let the user see the real-word with immersive augmentations [25,26,43,47,66,67,[70][71][72][73]75,78,80] (see Figure 6b), and the occluded HMDs, where the user is entirely immersed in a virtual environment [25,47,75,78,79] (see Figure 6c). While the occluded HMDs are mainly seen as VR devices, the see-through HMDs are mostly used for AR and MR applications.…”

“…This benefit also seemed to be reinforced when the operator's position and orientation, relative to that of the equipment, are considered to hide or display the information. Some authors have also observed that VR devices can be used to perform inspection in the virtual environment [79], allowing remote stakeholders to provide their expertise on it. The use of artificial lighting on a 3D representation of the inspected element could help to identify otherwise hard-to-see damage (see Figure 10).…”

“…The need to change the maintenance organisation is even more important with the impact of the COVID-19. It is now necessary to think about new methods of remote collaboration, whether through the centralised source that is the DT but also through the use of XR technologies [16,22,25,29,32,33,38,40,41,65,69,70,72,78,79]. This collaboration can be achieved using an MR device, as proposed by Utzig et al for aircraft maintenance tasks [72].…”

“…This collaboration can be achieved using an MR device, as proposed by Utzig et al for aircraft maintenance tasks [72]. It can also be performed in a collaborative virtual environment accessible with a VR device where users can work together on the 3D representation of a piece of equipment, as shown by Omer et al for inspecting a 3D representation of a bridge [79]. Novack et al also observed that this collaboration in virtual space can also allow for collaborative work on the design of a system, such as a building, even if the stakeholders cannot move in reality, by allowing them to observe it at different scales [78].…”

Applications of Stratigraphic Analysis to Enhance the Inspection and Structural Characterization of Historic Bridges

“…Those studies are being supported by others aimed at integrating different tools and methods for an in-depth level of knowledge of these artifacts. In this sense, the attempts aimed at integrating digital photogrammetry procedures with non-destructive testing techniques, structural analyses, and virtual reality open the way to really attractive applications [19][20][21]. Another class of examples relies on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and deals with the development of parametric models to enable a digital management of the data resulting from the inspections and maintenance of the assets [22][23][24][25].…”