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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 1 Nov 04 | |
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HIGH SPEED PROCESSING
Setting a Cracking Pace
By Patricia Howard
Imaging and computing technology is driving a revolution on our roads. In the blink of an eye a sports photographer can capture almost 100 megabytes of image data from a modern motor-driven digital camera. Among professional photographers it is a modern-day marvel despite the fact the camera has to stop for a few seconds to then load the images from its memory to its physical storage.
However, it is positively steam-age compared to the real world of high-speed processing – specially designed cameras and computers capturing and processing complex scenes, such as a whole airport, in real time and without ever needing to pause for saving and storing. Elements of this Australian-developed technology are already at work in installations such as the Safe-T-Cam system in NSW that tracks the movement of trucks to ensure drivers are taking the required number of rest breaks. It is also in place at Sydney airport for analysing the movement of aircraft along taxi-ways. But the most impressive demonstration of the possibilities being opened up by the CSIRO’s development of high-speed processing technologies is a technology called RoadCrack. Built into a specially-equipped truck, RoadCrack photographs and analyses road surfaces for early signs of wear and tear – while travelling at 80 kilometres an hour. The package of high-speed processing technologies that make up RoadCrack is set to revolutionise road maintenance, in Australia and internationally. RoadCrack was developed by CSIRO and the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, and it is now into its third and final prototype. It has been used continuously since 1997 to survey the state highways of NSW. Its formal description as a “fully automated visioning system which detects, classifies and reports on cracks as small as 1mm wide in road surfaces” understates the extraordinary technology that allows complex photographs taken by a camera beneath a fast-moving truck to be processed in milliseconds without pause. Aspects of the technology are expected to have application for a range of situations that require high-speed statistical analysis of data originating from captured imagery. In RoadCrack, identifying the first fissures means road maintenance programs can start when the damage is slight and much cheaper to repair. Given the current high costs of inspecting and maintaining the millions of kilometres of sealed roads around the world, RoadCrack is expected to find an enthusiastic global market. In Australia alone it is said to have the potential to take tens of millions of dollars off the national road maintenance bill each year – a not insignificant return on the estimated $3 million spent on creating and developing the technology. Michael Best, senior research engineer and project leader with CSIRO’s Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology, says there are essentially two specific breakthroughs behind the RoadCrack technology. “First, the camera system has been developed to photograph each millimetre of road surface as the truck travels over it. The faster the truck travels, the faster pictures are taken, with the technology able to cope with road speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour,” he says. “ A special reflector system creates enough light to capture images of even the smallest crack with a digital camera, and these are high resolution images. “The other breakthrough is that this information is then processed in real time by an on-board computer, which provides a full report on the severity of the cracking that determines what appropriate action is required.” The RTA has successfully used the RoadCrack system to survey its network of road surfaces during the past few years, completing more than 150,000 kilometres of survey work that would otherwise have been done manually. While similar purpose equipment has been developed elsewhere, RoadCrack is the first system that meets the RTA’s standards for automated, objective and accurate data collection. RoadCrack is now ready to be deployed throughout Australia and there has been considerable interest from overseas countries including the United States. All that is needed is for the right partner to be found to take the final prototype into full production. “The extent and importance of our road network requires more efficient road assessment systems to monitor the network and assist in determining effective maintenance strategies,” says Michael Bushby, a senior manager with the RTA. “Maintenance costs can be significantly minimised if small cracks are detected and treated before they develop and cause major damage.This system is designed to provide that sort of predictive power,” he says. RoadCrack will enable road maintenance departments to develop a full and comprehensive history of the wear and tear suffered by road surfaces as well as assisting in determining an holistic maintenance response to that wearing. “It will be able to tell more of the story about the wearing of any road surface, from the moment a piece of road is first built until its ultimate demise,” says Dr Grahame Smith, a principal research scientist with CSIRO Manufacturing & Infrastructure Technology. “The impact of this on road maintenance budgets will be enormous. It means most roads will be repaired early, when all that is required is a relatively simple resurfacing at a cost of a few dollars per square metre, rather than later, when more extensive and costly rehabilitation action is required,” he says. For further information contact: |
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