A system has been developed for the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation for automated crack identification with lasers as the primary sensors. The system quickly and easily provides summary information of network pavement cracking for pavement evaluation. The development effort involved three stages. The first two stages determined the crack detection capabilities of the laser probes on the department's surface dynamics profilometer. The hardware obtained and software developed for implementing the real time crack identification and reporting system are described. The hardware includes the Selcom laser probes, the Motorola open-ended VME architecture, and a Compaq portable personal computer. The software implements two crack detection algorithms and crack reporting procedures. The system can provide real time measurements and reporting at normal highway driving speeds.
Abstract