Background
The service life of asphalt pavement could be significantly enhanced by an increase in the density of an asphalt pavement, even as small as 1%. The importance of density has long been recognized by many transportation agencies, and density is widely acknowledged as one of the key indicators of the quality of constructed pavements. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recognized the criticality of achieving density and launched an initiative as part of the Accelerated Implementation and employment of Pavement Technologies (AIDPT) program. At the same time, the FHWA has recognized the benefits of UAV’s for nearly all aspects of highway transportation, from inspection to construction and operations.
Invention Description
Researchers at Arizona State University have developed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-assisted automated and real-time construction quality support protocol informed by thermal profiling, computed 3D heat maps, and tracked roller movements, maneuvers, and patterns. The main premise of this system is the ability collect key information affecting densification of asphalt pavements during construction and improve the quality of constructed pavements. This system is designed to give feedback to the paving crew to manage rolling patterns such that constructed quality of asphalt pavements can be improved to enhance service life.
Potential Applications:
- Highway transportation
- Construction inspection & operations
- Asphalt industry
Benefits and Advantages:
- Consistency- Real-time data from UAVs ensures uniform compaction across the entire mat
- Precision- Thermal data with roller movement allows for a more accurate assessment of compaction efficiency
- Efficiency- Real-time tracking of temperature and compaction improves the overall compaction process