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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

An Automated, Drone-Based Inspection System

Document Series:
Research Results
Author:
  • Federal Railroad Administration
Report Number
RR 20-14
Office
RDI-21
Subject:
Grade Crossing TechnologyHighway-Rail Grade Crossings
Keywords:
UAS, unmanned, aerial, drone, automated, grade crossing, infrastructure, railway, slope, vertical profile
Document
MTRI Drone GX-A.pdf (900.53 KB)

MTRI Inc. and Michigan Technological University developed and demonstrated a drone-based system for automated inspection of grade crossings. The prototype system can determine whether vertical approach grades create a risk for vehicles to get stuck on tracks, assess the adequacy of visual sight lines at a crossing, and locate relevant assets such as gates, lights, signage, etc. It uses high-resolution images collected via drone/unmanned aerial system that are the processed into 3D data for analysis.


Last updated: Monday, August 24, 2020