Roof Inspection Research Articles

Application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for a safer roof inspection at high rise building

Application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for a safer roof inspection at high rise building

Computer Vision Implementation in Scratch Inspection and Color Detection on The Car Roof Surface

The automotive industry in Indonesia is one of the important pillars in the manufacturing sector. High speed productivity and high-level quality of their products are required for increasing the company value. The car roof inspection is still in low speed and inadequate quality control method for most of the car company’s manufacturing production line. This inspection process is highly dependent to human expertise and skill of the assembly operators. This study purposes to increase the productivity in the inspection line by eliminate human error using computer vision. This research aims to find an automatic and accurate method for visual inspection of the color quality and scratch defect on car roof surfaces, using the data generated from the standardized database QR Code. The proposed solution uses MobileNet-SSD method of computer vision in recognizing scratch defects, while color detection of the roof is attained through hue saturation method. The study employs data capture from a camera and compares the amount of object inspected in real time. The scratch inspection with 70 image samples and 4000 training steps results in a 3.33% error with color detection and inspection success rate of 80%.

Application of UAV and CSPI Matrix for Roof Inspection at Dewan Sultan Ibrahim and Dewan Tunku Mahkota Ismail UTHM

Roof inspections are simply inspections to determine the roof integrity, durability, and long life of roofs before they need to be replaced. Besides, the hazards presented by these features bring problems to roof inspectors as they face difficulty in performing rooftop inspection due to its high roof structure. The purpose of this study is to access defective buildings with visual inspection with the help of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), to classify roof building conditions using the CSP1 Matrix as a method of assessment and ultimately acquire the results of the roof condition between the two main chambers of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. The two main chambers were elected in the UTHM area namely the Sultan Ibrahim Hall (DSI) and Tungku Mahkota Ismail Hall (DTMI). The main equipment used is UAV while Condition Survey Protocol 1(CSP1) Matrix is a method for building inspections to analyze the assessment of building roof conditions and to identify the significance of defective buildings detected for each main hall. From the analysis, there are 20 and 21 defects for DSI and DTMI that have been recorded, respectively. The overall roof condition is calculated where for DSI is 2.3 (Green) while DTMI is 4.29 (Green) which indicates that the state of the building for DSI and DTMI is in a fair condition (score 1-4). The total defects recorded in these studies for both halls are 41 defects.

On-Site Solar and Roof Inspection Service Provider

On-Site Solar and Roof Inspection Service Provider

Algorithm for Numerical Calculations of Robotic Group Movement During Transport Mission

The paper considers an algorithm for searching for the time of residential roof inspection using an unmanned aerial system, which incorporates unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) of a multicopter type with a thermal imaging device as a transporting load. Algorithms and their implementation for the problem are considered. The problem of multicopter group movement with restrictions on load, range, roof height and other characteristics is solved. An original algorithm for the system functioning is proposed and justified. The advantage of the algorithm is a quick solution search, visibility and the ability to be verified by the user. There are some disadvantages, such as the resulting solution being suboptimal, the memory complexity growing exponentially, and the UAV charging time being out of consideration (in the absence of a replacement battery). The algorithm is implemented in the MatLab environment, and the example of calculations is presented, the computational experiment is conducted. In further research, it is planned to introduce a larger number of restrictions and conditions and also to test the dynamic change in logistics routes for UAV failures.

Fusing tie points' RGB and thermal information for mapping large areas based on aerial images: A study of fusion performance under different flight configurations and experimental conditions

Three-dimensional thermal mapping from aerial images can be used in energy audits. Tie points that define the location of object points in a 3D space for reconstructing a 3D model, also include thermal information, which plays an important role in energy audits. However, it is often harder and less accurate to extract common features and determine tie points from low-resolution thermal images. It is more effective and accurate to use high-definition RGB images to determine tie points and fuse the RGB and thermal information. In this study, we investigate how to utilize high-definition RGB images that allow for more accurate tie point detection, how different flight configurations affect tie point data fusion, and how tie point data fusion performance can be improved. We propose a tie points' thermal and RGB data-fusion framework to create district-level thermal mapping to solve such problems. This paper aims to evaluate how different flight configurations affect the results of the proposed data fusion approach. Flight configurations include different camera altitudes (60 m and 35 m), distinct camera angles (45 degrees and 30 degrees), diverse flight path designs (mesh grid and Y path), and various building styles (campus buildings and city buildings).We find the following results in this paper: (1) higher flight altitude is not suggested for our data fusion approach; (2) a 30-degree thermal camera angle is suggested for roof inspection, while a 45-degree thermal camera angle is suggested for façade inspection when using the tie point data fusion approach; (3) a Y flight path performs better than a mesh grid path; and (4) our tie point data fusion approach performs better in traditional European city buildings than in modern campus buildings. We also demonstrate that pixels in the thermal images' central area can more accurately represent thermal information than pixels around the image edges for tie point data fusion. Additionally, our studies show that images taken at the edges of mapping areas have more errors. Thus, it is crucial to enlarge the survey area to obtain more accurate possible results.

The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Sloped Roof Inspections – Considerations and Constraints

Abstract Building roof inspections should be performed periodically to ensure repairs and replacements are done in a timely manner. These inspections get neglected on sloped roofs due to two factors: the inefficiency of manual visual inspections, and the difficulty of accessing sloped roofs. Walking a roof to inspect each tile is time consuming. As roof slope increases so does this difficulty, increasing the time needed for an inspection. Additionally, there is an inherent safety risk involved. Falls from roofs tend to cause serious and expensive injuries. These two factors, safety and efficiency, motivated this study, the purpose of which was to determine whether Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used to perform sloped roof inspections efficiently, thus eliminating the safety risk involved in manual inspections. The metric for determining whether this is possible was that there is a UAV available on the market that (1) produces images in sufficient quality to make maintenance decisions, (2) can be flown efficiently enough so that the inspection process can be done in less than two hours for a building with a roof of about 30,000 sqft, (3) can be controlled safely by amateur pilots, and (4) is reasonably priced. The study was done in three phases. Phase 1 addressed the choice of UAV. Phase 2 explored image quality and UAV flying. Phase 3 developed the optimal approach. The study found that an economic UAV can be used in a way that makes manual inspections unnecessary. Still images and manual UAV control were sufficient and large roofs could be done in well under two hours using a three-step approach with images taken at various heights. This study has therefore identified an economical and effective technology-based alternative process for sloped roof inspection using UAVs that eliminates the risk of working at height.

Aerial thermography from low-cost UAV for the generation of thermographic digital terrain models

AbstractAerial thermography is performed from a low−cost aerial vehicle, copter type, for the acquisition of data of medium−size areas, such as neighbourhoods, districts or small villages. Thermographic images are registered in a mosaic subsequently used for the generation of a thermographic digital terrain model (DTM). The thermographic DTM can be used with several purposes, from classification of land uses according to their thermal response to the evaluation of the building prints as a function of their energy performance, land and water management. In the particular case of buildings, apart from their individual evaluation and roof inspection, the availability of thermographic information on a DTM allows for the spatial contextualization of the buildings themselves and the general study of the surrounding area for the detection of global effects such as heat islands.

Roof deterioration and impact: A questionnaire survey

Roofing is one of the building components which is most subject to deterioration. Maintenance and renewal of roofs are, therefore, crucial and require frequent inspection and good understanding of roof deterioration with time. In an effort towards facilitating roof condition assessment and subsequent repair decisions, this article first discusses the previous studies related to roof inspection and deterioration, followed by a two-stage survey among roofing experts. The first stage elicits the most common defects, their contribution to failure, symptoms of poor and critical roofs, and impact of roof deterioration on other components. Fourteen survey responses were obtained from the Toronto District School Board related to school buildings with low-slope built-up roofs. Based on the first-stage results, a pictorial database of roof pictures with different defects was created and initially ranked. The ranking of pictures was then confirmed through the second phase of the survey. The research provides a better understanding of roof deterioration and the developed pictorial database acts as a visual guidance system to facilitate fast and less subjective inspection of roofs, and ultimately to better asset management of building facilities.

Membrane and Flashing Defects in Low-Slope Roofing: Causes and Effects on Performance

Good roof performance requires proper design and specification, quality materials, professional workmanship, and proactive maintenance. Shortcomings in any phase of roof asset management will compromise performance and shorten service life. The objective of this study was to identify relationships between roof asset management processes and performance problems identified in an inventory of United States Army low-slope membrane roofs. First a review of literature pertaining to roof asset management was conducted. Next, a large Army roof inspection database was analyzed to identify the types and relative frequencies of common defects, and their impacts on performance. The writers and experienced inspectors then applied both engineering and field experience to provide expert analysis of the data. Approximately 75% of the performance problems in the sampled inventory were attributable to deficiencies caused by factors other than natural degradation. The writers conclude that roof performance can be significantly improved by strengthening quality assurance processes during installation, particularly by ensuring that installers comply with contract specifications and utilize industry-accepted construction practices.

It's not just bad weather that does the damage

Improvements in insulation standards, coupled with the trend to accommodate service equipment in the roof‐space, have made factory roofs more susceptible to stress and damage. With the worst winter for 16 years not yet behind us, now is the time to carry out roof inspection and look at the various repair services and equipment now on the market.