NRI: Collaborative Research: Minimally Invasive Robotic Non-Destructive Evaluation and Rehabilitation for Bridge Decks (Bridge-MINDER)

桥梁是现代交通基础设施的重要组成部分。由于材料老化、过度使用和超载、环境条件、维护不足以及检查和评估不足，桥梁会随着时间的推移而老化。基于机器人和自动化技术的最新进展，该项目的目标是开发一种新型的微创机器人非破坏性评估和修复桥面。 该项目为可持续的民用基础设施开发新的机器人系统、算法和控制方案，包括（1）开发一种新型的机器人辅助交通系统，用于高效、安全的桥面检查和诊断;（2）开发一种新的机器人康复系统，用于快速、经济、微创的桥面维修和维护;（3）人在回路中的机器人协调以最小化交通干扰;以及（4）所提出的系统的实验平台和现场性能评估。该项目还提供了见解，以推进真实的时间场景理解，多机器人协调，以及复杂机器人系统中的人机协作。如果成功，该项目可以大大降低桥梁维护成本，并减轻传统桥梁检查和维修下关闭桥梁交通流所带来的负面影响。项目成果，包括源代码、数据集和出版物，将在研究界和公众之间共享。该项目还包括一些综合研究和教育计划，以吸引来自代表性不足的群体的学生进入工程领域，并让学生参与机器人研究。

Bridges are critical components of modern transportation infrastructure. Bridges deteriorate over time as a result of material aging, excessive use and overloading, environmental conditions, inadequate maintenance, and deficiencies in inspection and evaluation. Building on the recent advances in robotics and automation technologies, the objective of this project is to develop a novel Minimally Invasive robotic Non-Destructive Evaluation and Rehabilitation for bridge decks. The project develops new robotic system, algorithms and control schemes for sustainable civil infrastructure, including (1) development of a novel robotics-assisted in-traffic system for highly-efficient, safety-guaranteed bridge deck inspection and diagnosis; (2) development of a new robotic rehabilitation system for delivering fast, cost-effective, minimally invasive repair and maintenance for bridge decks; (3) a human-in-the-loop robotic coordination for minimally traffic interference; and (4) experimental platforms and field performance evaluation for the proposed system. The project also provides insights to advance real time scene understanding, multiple robot coordination, and human-robot collaboration in complex robotic systems. If successful, this project can drastically reduce bridge maintenance cost and mitigate negative impact caused by closing the bridge traffic flow under traditional bridge inspection and repair. The project outcomes, including source code, datasets, and publications, are to be shared among research community and the general public. The project also includes a number of integrated research and education programs to attract students from underrepresented groups into engineering and involve students into robotics research.