Two Waterloo professors in civil and environmental engineering, Dr. Chul Min Yeum and Dr. Sriram Narasimhan, have created a smart city infrastructure monitoring and alerting system.
The Remote Inspection Platform (RIP) uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide an alternative approach to the typically costly, difficult and tedious process of manually inspecting bridges.
The RIP was developed thanks to research funding and support from Rogers. The robot scans the bridge, transferring real-time data through cameras and LiDAR into the Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) via Rogers' 5G network.
"With the recent development in robot technology, sensors, augmented and virtual reality, supported by advances in 5G mobile connectivity, remote inspection of civil infrastructure is now a feasible option," says Yeum.
With the project extended for a third year, Yeum aims to incorporate a drone into the RIP to enhance data collection capabilities at close range. The team will also initiate collaborations with the Ministry of Transportation Ontario for bridge inspections and indoor inspections at nuclear power plants.
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