A project, coordinated by the University of Southern Denmark, has launched with the aim of developing an advanced drone system to continuously monitor the status of bridges and railways and report back if repairs are needed.
Drones being developed for better bridge safety
Keeping bridges safe from the sky These drones are being developed to inspect bridges and railways continuously for safety issues without direct human involvement Courtesy: University of Southern Denmark The project aims to develop a system //of autonomous, self-charging and collaborative drones// that connect to the internet and send data back for analysis (SOUNDBITE)(English) PROJECT COORDINATOR OF "DRONES4SAFETY" PROJECT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR EMAD SAMUEL MALKI EBEID, SAYING: "One of the main challenges is also to see how we can recharge the drones along this operation.
We made a preliminary analysis and we found out that 70% of bridges in Europe are within a three kilometre distance from high voltage cables.
So you can imagine the drone of the future that is flying autonomously near a bridge, when the battery is low they find the nearest high voltage cable, connect, recharge and then come back to inspect the bridge."