ASSAI - Development of an unmanned Aerial SyStem for Advanced contact Inspection of civil structures

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer companies a potential reliable and safe solution to support their operations by accessing areas that are otherwise too difficult, without extensive manpower and support. Although rapid gains have been made in this field of technology, there remains the need to carry out advanced contact non-destructive testing (NDT) in order for UAS systems to truly become the primary method of facility inspection and monitoring of large civil infrastructure.

Currently, the sensor equipment being produced for use with UAS are limited to a range of imaging equipment such as video cameras through to thermal imaging cameras, surveying and mapping technology. As a result, human inspections coupled with advanced sensing systems are still required in parallel with the UAS system, especially for critical infrastructure inspections. As a result, UAS inspection systems are not realising their performance potential, and therefore unable to deliver productivity increases and cost savings.

The address this problem, the project consortium will develop an unmanned Aerial SyStem for Advanced contact Inspection (ASSAI). The ASSAI system will be initially tailored of civil structures, in particular bridges, but can be considered a platform technology with a wide range of potential future applications. The project will deliver significant productivity increases for our customers, and provide exciting growth to the industrial partners in the project.