FAU to develop unmanned marine vehicles for bridge inspections
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 - 09:00
in Earth & Climate
The task of inspecting and maintaining Florida's extensive network of approximately 11,450 bridges is arduous, especially since so many of the state's bridges span rivers, canals and saltwater areas. Researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University have received a one year, $187,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to research and develop the use of unmanned marine vehicles for on-water bridge inspections. Unlike manned vessels, which are continuously teleoperated by a human user, unmanned surface vehicles or USVs are capable of operating autonomously without human intervention for prolonged periods of time.