Infrastructure assessment with small unmanned aircraft systems

As small unmanned aircraft systems become increasingly affordable, reliable, and formally recognized under federal regulation, they become increasingly attractive as novel platforms for civil applications. This paper details the development and demonstration of both fixed-wing and rotorcraft-based unmanned systems for infrastructure assessment tasks. Tasks such as inspecting pavement condition and vegetation encroachment on roadways, debris and tree coverage on railways, and corrosion on bridges and water towers are considered. Rationale for sensor, vehicle, and ground equipment selections are provided, in addition to developed flight operation procedures for two-man crews. Preliminary imagery results are presented and analyzed, and these results demonstrate that both fixed-wing and rotor-wing small unmanned aircraft systems hold promise in enabling rapid and cost-efficient infrastructure health assessment.