Identification of the dynamic parameters of bridge elements using unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The condition of the bridge may deteriorate due to the traffic that passes over it, as well as weather and environmental conditions. To ensure the safety and structural stability of the bridges, regular inspections of the bridge elements should be carried out. Recent advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide tools for accurate and even autonomous inspection of bridge structures without interrupting normal bridge operations. In this paper, we focus on the determination of the dynamic structural parameters of a suspension bridge. The proposed method is based on the estimation of the natural vibration frequency of the bridge cables using the videos captured by the UAV. We provide a detailed theoretical description of the algorithm and an analysis of the simulation results and the data collected during the experiments in the laboratory and in the real case study. In addition to the vision based method for estimating vibration frequency, we tested the ability of the UAV’s on-board sensors to record structural oscillations when the UAV landed on the surface of the bridge.