Under normal circumstances, bridge inspections can be perilous, expensive and time consuming. In the fall of 2018, when Alicia McConnell, Professional Engineer and UAS Operations Lead from Michael Baker International conducted the latest inspection of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge that crosses the Ohio River, she and her team were able to supplement traditional methods with the Intel® Falcon™ 8+ drone, giving them exceptional access and efficiency. Paired with Intel® Mission Control flight planning software, the combination saves man hours, money and enables a safer and more accurate inspection process. Indeed, the flight planning process, with a click of a button, is automated so that the data collected is consistent from one inspection to the next. “The value that all the Intel products – flight planning, the actual drone system, and Intel® Insight Platform - is farexceeding anything that we have used previously,” says McConnell. “It’s a valuethat we can't really replace or put a value on.”

Barritt Lovelace, Professional Engineer and Regional Manager from Collins Engineering concurs. “We need a seamless process that can be adopted and implemented with all of our engineers. Having a solution from the Intel drone hardware to the software makes everything easier for us.”

Challenge"Intel is transforming its focus into data-centric businesses," says Anil Nanduri, Vice President, GM Drone Group at Intel. "Today data is coming from our phones and other consumer devices. As we move forward, it will come from machines like autonomous robots, cars, even drones. They can produce vast amounts of data. Using drone technology for inspections, we can create a digital twin of the real world that we can monitor over time. People can share the data, collaborate, use AI and machine learning to automate and look for changes. This will make the workflow of the future very different from what it looks like today." Traditionally, inspectors examine bridges using rope access and confined space access techniques and monitoring protocols. Data was captured by hand, which made it difficult to repeat, and less efficient to communicate. “We have a lot of restrictions, especially with traffic - we are not allowed to close lanes very often,” says Jennifer Wells, State Bridge Inspector at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “We noticed that inspectors weren’t getting up close to elements that they needed to see in order to get accurate data. Because of that, when it came time to rehabilitate a bridge, the inspection data wasn’t accurate. The cost of the project would go up because fixes had to be incorporated that weren’t anticipated.” Lovelace voiced similar challenges when he and his team inspected the historic Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. An older masonry bridge poses unique challenges. “The geometry is so much more difficult,” he said.

The data collected in previous inspections would often be recorded by hand, and would be challenging to replicate for each inspection. “In the past with our pencil sketch records of the inspection, we would upload them to our database,” says Erin Van Zee at the National Bridge Inspection Standards Bureau for the state of Kentucky.

Intel has collaborated with two Departments of Transportation to improve bridge inspection processes, offering a powerful solution that is more automated, efficient, and safer than traditional inspection methods.At a Glance: A combination of drone hardware and software solutions from Intel work seamlessly together to change the way bridges are being inspected by:

• Capturing high resolution images withstunning detail

• Executing repeatable flights, enabling higher quality and consistency in the data they generate

• Providing the ability to store, share, manage, and process data via the cloud

• Offering a safer, more efficient toolset to enhance traditional bridgeinspections

Advancing Bridge Inspections with Intel's Drone Solutions

Figure 2. Engineers use Intel Mission Control software to design the flight plan for the inspection of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge.

Figure 1. Intel® FalconTM 8+ Drone inspects the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge that crosses the Ohio River.

CASE STUDY

Solution Intel® Mission Control software is utilized to design the mission (flight plan and image capture locations) which is carried out by the Intel Falcon 8+ drone. That mission can be duplicated for subsequent missions, giving inspectors an “apples to apples” comparison of the bridge’s quality and potential deterioration. Guided by Intel Mission Control software, the drone can capture detailed aerial data for 3D reconstruction down to millimeter accuracy for ground sample distance.

The Intel Falcon 8+ drone is extremely reliable, even under various challenging conditions. “We have been really impressed. This is a hostile environment,” says Lovelace.

With the Intel® Insight Platform, a cloud-based digital asset management tool, Intel is making it easier to scale operations with leading edge data processing tools for 2D and 3D models plus a range of data analytics options all in one place. It brings computing to the cloud to speed up the path to results, and perhaps more importantly, connect multiple datasets to an asset, giving the user the ability to monitor the asset over time. Each asset and its data can be easily recalled by name, location and date. The user can make notes directly on the data to keep track of observations or share them with the team.

Result The reliable Intel Falcon 8+ system is ideal for acquiring crucial information for relevant decision making. Intel Mission Control flight planning software plans flights so that they are repeatable in a precise fashion, delivering consistent quality in the data they generate. “We use Intel Mission Control software to plan the inspection. The next time we do the inspection years later we have all the original flight plans. The flight becomes even more automated because we have the previous mission preplanned,” says Lovelace.

All this enables digital asset management. With the data associated with each asset, it is easier to track changes over time and share that information via the cloud, utilizing the Intel Insight Platform. “Without this technology, it would be me looking at a piece of paper with a pencil sketch”, Van Zee continued. “[Now] I can look on the cloud and I can see a 3D model and get the information that we need in a shorter

amount of time, more efficiently. It's really cool.”

“Safety is #1," says Wells. "We save time as well. And we are realizing a cost savings of up to 40%. A company like Intel is proven and has a long track record of good customer service and products. That is more of a sure thing for us. Having problems with software is the last thing we need!”

The commercial drone industry is innovating at a rapid pace. Drones are helping industries become safer and more efficient. This industry is full of new and exciting ideas and is pushing technology and the uses of technology to transform our lives.

“Faster, cheaper, more efficient and safer. This has always been a process in which businesses have evolved,” Nanduri says. “Over the last five years the amount of innovations in drone technology shows the pace at which technology can improve traditional processes that have been used for decades.”

Case Study | Advancing Bridge Inspections with Intel's Drone Solutions

Figure 3. Intel® FalconTM 8+ Drone inspects the historic Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, MN.

Figure 4. Alicia McConnell from Michael Baker International planning an inspection of Kentucky's Daniel Carter Beard Bridge using Intel Mission Control flight planning software.

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