Stereo Line-Scan Camera System For Surface Distress Identification

We are proposing a method to estimate 3D road surface dimensions by applying photogrammetric reconstruction techniques to images of a simulated road surface acquired using two, color line scan cameras.  Estimated 3D dimensions of road surfaces will be compared to laser profilometer measurements to confirm their accuracy and resolution. Data analytics will provide dimensional data sufficient for determining deflections at every line-scan frame with sub-centimeter resolution. The color line scan cameras have a maximum sample rate of 13,000 lines/second with image file sizes on the order of 0.5 MB, enabling all image processing to be near real-time. We anticipate this technology being available within three years through licensing with commercially available equipment and proprietary software. Current methods for performing this type of engineering analysis require laser profilometry equipment, which is much more expensive than line scan cameras, requires huge amounts of data to be collected on road, and requires data to be processed off site after completion of testing.  The innovation for this project will be providing real-time analytics giving the customer information to make rapid determinations of surface conditions at a significant reduction in the overall system cost compared to current commercially available systems.