Image-Based Infrastructure Monitoring for Life Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing monitoring systems for infrastructure objects like bridges and railroads require complex installations of multiple hardware sensors, increasing complexity, reducing flexibility, and raising costs, while also being inefficient in estimating remaining life time.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus comprising an imaging unit to capture sequences of images or videos, an image analysis unit to determine movement-related physical parameters, and a model analysis unit to assess the object's status, which can estimate remaining life time using statistical methods and simulation, without the need for multiple sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a complex system of multiple hardware sensors, wires, and components is installed to monitor the status of infrastructure objects, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and system costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the monitoring function from complex hardware sensor systems and implements it through software-based image analysis. Instead of installing multiple physical sensors on the infrastructure object, the system uses existing imaging devices (cameras, satellites, drones) to capture images and extracts status information through computational analysis of these images, thereby eliminating the need for complex sensor installations while maintaining monitoring capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical sensor system with an optical-computational system. Physical sensors that directly contact or attach to the infrastructure are substituted by optical imaging devices that capture remote images, followed by computer-based analysis algorithms that process the visual data to determine structural status, thereby replacing mechanical installation complexity with software-based analysis
2Reliability
If multiple hardware sensors and components are installed on infrastructure objects, then monitoring capability is improved, but ease of operation and flexibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal monitoring system that can assess multiple types of infrastructure objects (bridges, buildings, dams, tunnels) using the same image analysis methodology. The system processes images from various sources (ground-based cameras, aerial drones, satellite imagery) and applies consistent analysis algorithms to determine status and remaining lifetime across different structure types, thereby achieving broad applicability without requiring object-specific hardware installations
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables infrastructure objects to be monitored without requiring physical access or installation on the structures themselves. Existing publicly available or easily obtainable images are used, and the computational analysis is performed automatically by the processing system, eliminating the need for manual sensor installation, calibration, and maintenance on the infrastructure objects
3Measurement precision
If a comprehensive monitoring system with multiple sensors is deployed, then remaining life time estimation accuracy is improved, but system costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual model or digital twin of the infrastructure object's structural behavior by analyzing image data. Instead of physically measuring stress, strain, or material degradation with expensive sensors, the system generates computational representations of the structure's status based on visual observations, thereby estimating remaining lifetime through software-based modeling rather than physical measurement equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the monitoring approach by changing the measurement parameters from direct physical quantities (stress, strain, displacement) that require expensive sensors to optical parameters (image intensity, pixel coordinates, image sequences) that can be obtained from standard imaging devices. The system then computationally derives structural status from these optical parameters, achieving cost-effective monitoring through parameter transformation
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for monitoring an object, comprising an imaging unit 10 configured to image an object 100 to be monitored and to output a sequence of images, an image analysis unit 20 configured to determine values of parameters from the sequence of images, and a model analysis unit 30 configured to receive the determined values of the parameters and to determine a status of the object 100.