Digital Twin based Remote Inspection
about.
We present a digital twin (DT) framework that brings robotic inspection and immersive VR together for civil infrastructure assessment. The system fuses multiple NDE modalities—Impact Echo (IE), Ultrasonic Surface Waves (USW), Infrared Thermography (IRT), Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electrical Resistivity (ER), and High-Resolution Imaging (HRI)—and augments them with real-time robotic data collection using a laser surface profiler (LSP). Built around FHWA’s Virtual NDE Laboratory case study, the platform projects 2D NDE results into 3D, reconstructs surfaces, and enables teleoperation so inspectors can request new scans on demand, all inside a unified VR environment.
challenge.
Traditional NDE workflows are siloed and manual, making cross-sensor interpretation and repeatability difficult.
Prior work rarely integrates multiple NDE techniques into a single, interactive VR platform with live robotic updates.
Stakeholders need visually rich, interpretable outputs and remote operation to reduce risk and streamline decision-making.
results.
Six-sensor fusion in VR: IE, USW, IRT, GPR, ER, HRI shown on switchable layers with transparency controls, plus 3D projection of 2D maps for holistic interpretation.
High-fidelity surface capture: LSP on a robotic arm acquires crack geometry at ~0.004 mm resolution; point clouds become smooth meshes via marching cubes and post-processing.
Subsurface visualization: 3D reconstruction from GPR slices reveals rebar layout and depths directly in VR.
Tele-robotics loop: Users mark regions of interest in VR; the robot executes scans and streams new data back to the DT for immediate visualization.
Operational impact: More quantifiable, consistent inspections, improved situational awareness, and a centralized database for tracking condition changes over time.
testimonial.
“The DT-VR framework changed how inspection procedure is precieved. The overlay of IE, USW, IRT, GPR, ER, and imaging data in one place, can request a robotic scan of a suspect area, and see results update instantly. It’s faster, safer, and the insights are far clearer than traditional workflows.”
Ali Ghadimzadeh
Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
