TotaLite^®: A Novel Optical Sensing System for Contactless Deformation Monitoring

Abstract

Asset owners across the world are facing the challenge of ageing infrastructure. Critical assets such as bridges, tunnels, roads and sluices are approaching the end of their theoretical lifetime and the costs for renovation and replacement are rising rapidly. Asset owners are increasingly looking to make the transition from corrective or preventive maintenance to condition-based, predictive maintenance. By using a data-driven approach to asset management, the actual state of an asset can be understood better, maintenance can be optimized and the remaining lifetime estimated more accurately, whilst always guaranteeing the continued safety of the asset.

The current methods for monitoring the behavior of civil infrastructure are not scalable to meet the needs of the industry in the coming decades. They either require labor-intensive manual inspections, or large numbers of electronic sensors involving complex, hazardous installation and maintenance procedures.

Fugro has developed TotaLite^®, a novel optical sensing system to overcome many of the issues associated with conventional deformation monitoring methods. TotaLite^® combines innovative optics, smart image analysis algorithms and IoT data processing technology to deliver accurate contactless monitoring of displacements and deformations. Compared to existing deformation monitoring techniques, TotaLite^® is easier to install, less invasive and uses less energy. It provides significant cost savings for existing projects, but will also make monitoring feasible for applications where currently no cost-effective methods exist at all.

We present the measurement principles and data processing architecture underlying TotaLite^®, as well as results of the first trials, comparing TotaLite^® with existing monitoring techniques.