Aerial Crossing Inspection System (AXIS)

AXIS (Aerial Crossing Inspection System) is an innovative highway-rail grade crossing inspection system that will use UAVs and machine learning to perform inspections with unprecedented efficiency. AXIS is an end-to-end solution that will pre-plan inspection flight paths, use drone-mounted cameras to create a 3D model of the crossing, calculate the crossing’s risk profile and generate detailed technical reports.Instead of using expensive LiDAR hardware, AXIS will use high-end, but significantly less expensive, cameras to assess crossings by leveraging modern photogrammetry techniques. This imagery will also enable a high-quality 3D model of the crossing to be created, providing further context for decision making.In addition, AXIS will use drones to drastically decrease the time needed to perform inspections, utilizing machine learning to automatically evaluate a crossing’s risk profile. AXIS will make highway-rail crossing easier to evaluate and make inspection information accessible to key personnel, which will reduce safety related incidents.