Review of robot-based automated measurement of vibration for civil engineering structures

Recent advances in robotics and machine vision enable automated measurement of vibration for civil engineering structures. Various types of robotic platforms such as drones and land robots instrumented with advanced navigation and data acquisition systems were developed. Particularly, various cameras have been deployed on robotic platforms to capture videos of structures, and machine vision approaches were developed to extract structural vibration from captured videos. This forward-looking review discusses the robot-based hardware, the machine vision approaches, and the capabilities of automated measurement of structural vibration. Emphases are placed on the clarifying the capabilities, technical limitations, promising solutions, and practical performance of robot-based approaches in field measurements that involve low vibration amplitudes and long-term monitoring requirements. Challenges and opportunities are discussed, and recommendations are provided to facilitate practical applications. This review will encourage the development and applications of robots for automated condition assessment of civil engineering structures.