ABSTRACT
Conventional inspections are based on intensive visual investigations. Though, the process of data capturing and post processing for extracting significant structural information, i.e. geometrical changes, is a complex task. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) offer a significant improvement of inspection and guarantee high quality images which are essential for reliable inspection results. The gathered data can be geo-referenced which offers the possibility of a highly accurate 3D modelling of structures in relation to a direct referenced visualization of detected changes or damages. The paper shows a case study of UAS-based monitoring of bridge pier deformations. An approach for a simplified extraction of basic geometries from 3D point clouds for a quantification of deformations generated from aerial images by the use of Computer Vision methods is introduced. A reproducible workflow for the recording, processing and evaluation of a change detection and condition documentation is provided with regard to Building Information Modelling (BIM).
