ASAP

Project name: Autonomous System for Assessment and Prediction of Infrastructure          Integrity
Project acronym: ASAP
Dates: 20.12.2019 - 19.12.2022
Total budget: 7.199.141,25 HRK
Funding: ESI ERDF - European Regional Development Fund
Website: N/A

 


In order to ensure a more rational, planned maintenance of transport infrastructure and to minimize the risk of catastrophic consequences of the demolition of buildings, it is necessary to develop innovative solutions in the field of maintenance of transport infrastructure buildings. The aim of the ASAP project is to develop a system for autonomous inspection and prediction of the integrity of transport infrastructure, as part of intelligent transport systems and logistics for road and rail infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and management.

The system involves the autonomous conduct of experimental testing of materials and construction using robots and UAVs, real-time wireless data acquisition, and then post-process integration of experimental test results and numerical models to estimate the service life and residual load-carrying capacity of the structures, and store the data in a large database for end users.

The shortcomings of the current, classic inspection of transport infrastructure structures are the challenge and motivation for developing an autonomous inspection system for transport infrastructure buildings. In order to develop the system as a product of high added value and knowledge-based services, it is necessary to bring together three interdisciplinary expert groups and to develop three aspects of the ASAP system:

  • Protocol for the fast and efficient assessment of the condition of materials and structures and the prediction of useful lifespan and the assessment of the load-bearing capacity of structures, developed by the Faculty of Civil Engineering, which becomes a certified ASAP training program for training road construction examiners infrastructure;
  • A conceptual prototype of an autonomous robotic material and construction test system based on a robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle, developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing;
  • Collection of test data and model connectivity and storage in a format accessible to transport infrastructure managers, developed by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, with the concept of an alarm system for national safety authorities, if during a particular time period there is no response from the transport infrastructure manager which endangers the safety of road users.

The project coordinator is the Faculty of Civil Engineering (UNIZG-GF) and project partners are the Faculty of Electrical Enginerring and Computing (UNIZG-FER) and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (UNIZG-FSB).


News

Christmas robot party

The Advent fever did not bypass the robots and drones that occupied the Maksimir Center for Culture and Information at Švarcova 18 on Wednesday, December 22, from 1 pm to 8 pm, and served visitors hot drinks and Christmas treats!

Our lab members introduced visitors to robots Franka, Pepper, Kinova, and Schunk in the Advent house in front of the Center who rolled up their sleeves to warm the visitors in these cold days and brighten the upcoming holidays.

Robots prepared and served hot drinks and Christmas treats, and at the same time in front of the Center, there were presentations of robots intended for primary and secondary school students where they learned firsthand how robots can communicate with plants and learn how to fly drones.

Pupils could also drive robots and make a 2D map or find out how artificial intelligence can warn us in a cheap and environmentally friendly way about the quality of air, soil, and water in our environment. They also learned how robots and plants communicate with each other and how a 3D model of a building model can be made with a drone.

Four parallel workshops were conducted during the entire day: LIDAR workshop, WatchPlant workshop, ASAP/ENCORE workshop, HEKTOR workshop.

More photos from the event are available in the gallery.

Author: Barbara Arbanas Pascoal Ferreira
Pedestrian Bridge in Osijek Inspection 

Continuing the collaboration on the ASAP project, on 16 December 2020 LARICS joined their partners from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in the inspection of the pedestrian bridge in Osijek.

This inspection marked the first deployment of new upgrades to their UAV (gimbal, IMU and high resolution lidar), which allowed them to detect and measure frequency of bridge vibrations, which are now being validated against measurements of the partners' obtained through standard techniques. Although hindered by cold temperatures, the project team also used this opportunity to thoroughly test the Ouster lidar by mapping the pylons and using them as a reference for autonomous navigation.

Author: Ana Golec
Third project meeting

On 28 October 2020, ASAP project members held an online project meeting (MS Teams).

The main discussion was on the issue of intelectual property introduced and moderated by the exernal consultant dr. Zeljko Bihar. The discussion was followed by PhD students' presentations -  Suzana Ereiz (GF), Jurica Goričanec and Lovro Marković (UNIZG FER, LARICS), Ksenija Tešić, Matej Božić (FSB) and Filip Barišić (UNIZG FER). 

Project administrator Sandra Curcija gave an overview of administrative issues concerning the second and third reporting period. The last part was dedicated to tehnical meetings of research groups.

Author: Ana Golec
ASAP Second Project Meeting

On Wednesday, 27 May 2020, ASAP project members finally got to meet in person (project activites had been slowed down due to COVID-19 situation). The meeting was held at the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FCE) in Zagreb.

The first part of the meeting was dedicated to presentations about topics and activities relevant for project implementation, bridges and visual inspection of objects using UAVs, respectively, held by Gordana Hrelja Kovacevic (FCE) and Matko Orsag (UNIZG-FER). 

In the second part of the meeting, project administrator Sandra Curcija gave an overview of administrative issues, and the last part was dedicated to technical groups to discuss further steps.

Author: Ana Golec
LARICS team inspecting the Franjo...

One of the first activities on the ASAP project was helping the partners from the Faculty of Civil Engineering inspect the Franjo Tudjman bridge in Dubrovnik, which took place between May 12th and 14th 2020.

The need for the inspection arose from the strong wind-induced vibrations in early April, and this opportunity was used to get an inside look into the process of infrastructure inspection but also to evaluate which aspects of the inspection can be performed with UAVs. Aditionally, some of our 3D data collection algorithms for the ENCORE project were tried out.

While the environment of a steel reinforced bridge proved to be challenging for the UAVs, LARICS team will build upon these insights and is already looking forward to the next inspection!

Author: Ana Golec
ASAP Kick-off Meeting

On 14 January 2020, ASAP project kick-off meeting was held in the premises of the Project Coordinator - the Faculty of Civil Engineering  (FCE) in Zagreb. The meeting was used for project partners to meet and discuss the workplan.

The participants were welcomed by Dean of FCE, prof. Stjepan Lakusic. Project Leader Marijana Serdar held an introductory presentation to present project objectives, activities and indicators. Project members also used this opportunity to  discuss project procurement plan, forming of technical working groups, project meetings dynamics, etc. 

Author: Ana Golec
ESIF project ASAP commencement

On 20 December 2019, project 'Autonomous System for Assessment and Prediction of Infrastructure Integrity (ASAP)' officially began. The three-year project is funded by ESI European Regional Development Fund. Project coordinator, the Faculty of Civil Engineering (UNIZG-GF) is implementing the project together with their partners - Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (UNIZG-FER) and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (UNIZG-FSB).

The aim of the ASAP project is to develop a system for autonomous inspection and prediction of the integrity of transport infrastructure, as part of intelligent transport systems and logistics for road and rail infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and management. The system involves the autonomous conduct of experimental testing of materials and construction using robots and UAVs, real-time wireless data acquisition, and post-process integration of experimental test results and numerical models to estimate the service life and residual load-carrying capacity of the structures, and store the data in a large database for end users.

Author: Ana Golec