This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is for the advanced development of an automated nondestructive evaluation (NDE) system for pavement (I.e. roads, highways and airfields) surface condition assessment. An early version of this system has been developed at Illinois Institute of Technology which is based on the Shadow Moire technique and utilizes advanced video image processing equipment and related technologies to produce objective, machine-readable information concerning out-of-plane pavement surface distress. The primary data is acquired by means of optical and video equipment mounted in a special vehicle which travels at normal highway speeds. The cost of the entire system, exclusive of the vehicle, is expected to be $60,000 or less when the system has been completely developed and engineered. If successful, the project will provide an affordable, automated NDE system for infrastructure (pavement) condition assessment for use by the Federal, state, local and private pavement agencies. Sensing will be done automatically at highway speeds (55 mph).
