David Lattanzi

George Mason University | GMU · Department of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering

Traffic speed forecasting is an important task in intelligent transportation system management. The objective of much of the current computational research is to minimize the difference between predicted and actual speeds, but information modalities other than speed priors are largely not taken into account. In particular, though state of the art p...

This paper explores the intersection between forensic science and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), focusing on the pivotal role of visual indicators. These indicators are crucial in both contexts - from discerning injuries on humans to identifying structural defects. We present a novel approach utilizing computer vision-based diagnostics to aid...

This is a poster for "From structure health monitoring to forensics: adapting computer vision to support victims of violence".

In the evolving field of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), the integration of diverse sensing techniques is pivotal for comprehensive structural analysis. This study introduces a novel data fusion methodology that synergizes the precision of strain gauges with the broad coverage of computer vision techniques. Aimed at advancing SHM practices, our...

Detecting anomalies over real-world datasets remains a challenging task. Data annotation is an intensive human labor problem, particularly in sequential datasets, where the start and end time of anomalies are not known. As a result, data collected from sequential real-world processes can be largely unlabeled or contain inaccurate labels. These char...

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies are increasingly used to provide information about the subsurface integrity of structural components. While NDE can provide powerful insights, efficiently and consistently correlating information from different NDE sources poses significant challenges. Heterogenous NDE data capture different representati...

Recent improvements in remote sensing technologies have shown that techniques such as photogrammetry and laser scanning can resolve geometric details at the millimeter scale. This is significant because it has expanded the range of structural health monitoring scenarios where these techniques can be used. In this work, we explore how 3D geometric m...

Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technologies are increasingly used for structural condition assessments. Over the lifespan of a structure, a variety of NDE techniques may be employed, leading to a scenario where a structure’s life-cycle time history is depicted through a variety of complex and heterogeneous measurements. Therefore, improved underst...

3D remote sensing technologies have improved dramatically over the past five years and methods such as laser scanning and photogrammetry are now capable of reliably resolving geometric details on the order of one millimeter or less. This has significant impacts for the structural health monitoring community, as it has expanded the range of mechanic...

Forecasting traffic flows is a central task in intelligent transportation system management. Graph structures have shown promise as a modeling framework, with recent advances in spatio-temporal modeling via graph convolution neural networks, improving the performance or extending the prediction horizon on traffic flows. However, a key shortcoming o...

For automated robotic manufacturing, a key aspect of monitoring is the identification and segmentation of core actuation processes captured in sensor logs. Once segmented, the behavior of an industrial system during a particular actuation can be tracked to detect signs of degradation. This study presents a technique for performing such an analysis...

Recent advances have enabled the use of modern remote sensing technologies to create high-resolution 3 D point clouds that capture the in-situ geometry of infrastructure systems. However, there is a need for new methods of analyzing and leveraging these complex data types. In this paper, the authors present an approach to quantifying textural deter...

To maintain infrastructure safety and integrity, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies are often used for detection of subsurface defects and for holistic condition assessment of structures. While the rapid advances in data collection and the diversity of available sensing technologies provide new opportunities, the ability to efficiently pr...

Modern remote sensing technologies now provide the basis for flexible and highly accurate three-dimensional geometric modeling of structures in the form of point clouds. To date, most efforts are focused on how to use these point clouds to form a digital twin of an asset, but these models can also be used to augment and improve condition assessment...

The evaluation of geometric defects is necessary in order to maintain the integrity of structures over time. These assessments are designed to detect damages of structures and ideally help inspectors to estimate the remaining life of structures. Current methodologies for monitoring structural systems, while providing useful information about the cu...

The evaluation of geometric defects is necessary in order to maintain the integrity of structures over time. These assessments are designed to detect damages of structures and ideally help inspectors to estimate the remaining life of structures. Current methodologies for monitoring structural systems, while providing useful information about the cu...

Remote sensing is gaining in popularity for structural condition assessment, and in current practice, engineers are collecting large amounts of data throughout a system’s life-cycle. These data must be interpreted to characterize defects, and to help engineers estimate a structure’s remaining life. The challenge is that remotely-sensed defects are...

Dams are a critical infrastructure system for many communities, but they are also one of the most challenging to inspect. Dams are typically very large and complex structures, and the result is that inspections are often time-intensive and require expensive, specialized equipment and training to provide inspectors with comprehensive access to the s...

Accurate and rapid condition assessment of in-service structural components is critical to ensure safety and serviceability. One major assessment consideration is the detection and quantification of structural section loss due to deterioration, for instance, from corrosion. Modern three-dimensional (3D) imaging techniques, which generate high-resol...

Dams are a critical infrastructure system for many communities, but they are also one of the most challenging to inspect. Dams are typically very large and complex structures, and the result is that inspections are often time-intensive and require expensive, specialized equipment and training to provide inspectors with comprehensive access to the s...

Structural system design is the process of giving form to a set of interconnected components subjected to loads and design constraints while navigating a complex design space. While safe designs are relatively easy to develop, optimal designs are not. Modern computational optimization approaches employ population based metaheuristic algorithms to o...

Structural system design is the process of giving form to a set of interconnected components subjected to loads and design constraints while navigating a complex design space. While safe designs are relatively easy to develop, optimal designs are not. Modern computational optimization approaches employ population based metaheuristic algorithms to o...

A key phase in the bridge design process is the selection of the structural system. Due to budget and time constraints, engineers typically rely on engineering judgment and prior experience when selecting a structural system, often considering a limited range of design alternatives. The objective of this study was to explore the suitability of supe...

Modern remote sensing technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) laser scanners and image-based 3D scene reconstruction are in increasing demand for applications in civil infrastructure design, maintenance, operation, and as-built construction verification. The complex nature of the 3D point clouds these technologies generate, as well as the often...

Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in the field of robotic inspection systems, in particular Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). These systems afford many advantages in terms of reducing the cost of condition assessments and expediting the data acquisition while improving the monitoring process efficiency. However, robotic technologi...

Dense three-dimensional (3D) point clouds of infrastructure systems, generated from laser scanners or through multi-view photogrammetry, have significant potential as a source of nondestructive evaluation information. The growing maturity of these techniques make them capable of reconstructing photorealistic 3D models with accuracy on the millimete...

Dense three-dimensional (3D) point clouds of infrastructure systems, generated from laser scanners or through multi-view photogrammetry, have significant potential as a source of nondestructive evaluation information. The growing maturity of these techniques make them capable of reconstructing photorealistic 3D models with high precision at the mil...

Every structural design incorporates biases from the professional experiences of engineers involved in the design process, resulting in choices that do not necessarily lead to optimal designs. And, while the design codes provide a methodology for safe design, optimal design is not explicitly considered. In response, artificial intelligence and adva...

Modern remote sensing technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning or photogrammetry are in increasing demand for civil engineering applications such as infrastructure maintenance and as-built construction verification. In order to leverage the resulting point clouds, reliable estimation of the normal vector for each point in a cloud...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are now a viable option for augmenting bridge inspections. Utilising an integrated combination of a UAV and computer vision can decrease costs, expedite inspections and facilitate bridge access. Any such inspection must consider the design of the UAV, the choice of cameras, data acquisition, geometrical resolution, sa...

After any disaster, there is an immediate need to assess the integrity of local structures. When available, the displacement time history of a structure during the event can provide an invaluable source of triage assessment information. Although conventional sensors such as accelerometers readily provide this information, many structures are not in...

In order to minimize the costs, risks, and disruptions associated with structural inspections, robotic systems have increasingly been studied as an enhancement to current inspection practices. Combined with the increasing variety of commercially available robots, the last two decades have seen dramatic growth in the application of such systems. The...

Accurate and rapid condition assessment of in-service infrastructure systems is critical for system-wide prioritization decisions. One major assessment consideration is structural section loss due to deterioration, for instance from corrosion. Modern 3D imaging, which generates high-resolution 3D point clouds, is capable of measuring this degradati...

Accurate condition assessment of in-service infrastructure systems is critical for system-wide prioritization decisions. Current protocols require lengthy inspections and expensive equipment to examine large infrastructure systems. Furthermore, changes in inspection protocols over time can create discontinuities in recording and understanding the t...

Video monitoring of public spaces is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, particularly near essential structures and facilities. During any hazard event that dynamically excites a structure, such as an earthquake or hurricane, proximal video cameras may inadvertently capture the motion time-history of the structure during the event. If this dynamic ti...

Modern remote sensing technologies have enabled the creation of high-resolution 3D point clouds of infrastructure systems. In particular, photogrammetric reconstructions using Dense-Structure-from-Motion algorithm can now yield point clouds with the necessary resolution to capture small-strain displacements. By tracking changes in these point cloud...

This paper considers the viability of applying computer vision techniques for estimating the peak experienced seismic displacement of damaged bridge columns, for use in postdisaster triage assessment. The primary objective of the associated study was to determine if there is a statistically robust relationship between peak seismic displacement and...

Currently, most infrastructure inspection standards require inspectors to visually assess structural integrity and log findings for comparison during future inspections. This process is qualitative and often inconsistent. Furthermore, changes in inspection protocols over time can create discontinuities in understanding the time-history of a structu...

Reinforcing cages for large columns requires shoring during the fabrication and erection stages of construction before concrete is placed to form a permanent load-bearing structure. Many column-reinforcing cage collapses have occurred, resulting in injuries and fatalities because the cages were not properly supported in the temporary condition. Guy...

Over the last decade, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology has matured to the point that it is now a viable option for augmenting more traditional bridge inspection methods. Any UAS-based inspection must address questions regarding the design of the aerial platform, the choice of on-board inspection cameras, and the protocols for the human pilo...

The ability to accurately and rapidly assess structural integrity after a disaster is critical from both a safety and economic perspective. Existing post-disaster inspection methods are time-consuming and expensive, requiring highly trained inspectors to travel to target sites and manually collect data. Automated analysis of civil structures from v...

This paper provides a comparative study of two methods for reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) scenes from monocular two-dimensional (2D) images with respect to their applicability to robotic civil infrastructure inspection. The two methods considered are dense structure from motion (DSfM) and image mosaicing (IM). The primary metrics used in the...

This paper presents a computer vision framework supporting automated infrastructure damage detection, with a specific focus on surface crack detection in concrete. The approach presented is designed to provide a significant increase in robustness relative to existing methods when faced with widely varying field conditions while operating fast enoug...

Civil inspection images are notoriously difficult to interpret for those who were not present during an inspection, and so they have historically had limited value in ongoing condition monitoring applications. Within the last decade, the advent of inexpensive digital imaging has compounded this problem by making it possible and common to capture an...

A modern framework for bridge monitoring is proposed. It is intended to, in effect, bring bridges virtually into engineers' offices, enabling computer-assisted inspection using visual/spatial navigation and interaction, augmented with computer vision recognition and analysis techniques developed for flaw and damage detection. The technical challeng...

Following the 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake, teams of students and faculty members from the United States and Haiti surveyed 170 reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Port-au-Prince and Leéogaâne. This paper summarizes the survey results and compares them with results from a similar survey done after the 1999 earthquakes near Düzce, Turkey. The...

This paper describes a study evaluating increase in design strength, performance and capacity when including bridge parapets in a bridge analytical model. Traditionally, concrete parapets are treated solely as superimposed dead load in an overall bridge structural design. Parapets are detailed from a safety standpoint to resist impact forces from v...

The five automotive suspension bridges in New Englnad are being replaced by cable stayed systems. Amongst the suspension bridges, the Claiborne Pell Suspenion Bridge, located in Newport, Rhode Island, uses prefabricated parallel-wire strands. The bridge development planning was began in the year 1934 and federal aid was provided to complete the pro...