Construction, Transport & Infrastructure

Intelligent vision systems building a net zero carbon future

Construction

The Construction sector requires radical rethinking to reduce carbon emissions. It’s also essential to reduce the time it takes to construct a building and limit the costs involved. This is particularly important in the pursuit of affordable housing and in meeting the housing crisis.

Constructing house panels onsite in a floating factory using autonomous techniques driven by stereo vision integrated with machine learning technologies would cut construction times, reduce carbon emissions, and limit costs. Incorporating energy-smart technologies would allow this type of house to be energy self-sufficient, producing more energy than it uses, further reducing carbon emissions.

So-called Click-and-Build housing is a realistic and feasible method of enabling the Construction sector to achieve net-zero house-building targets.

Transport and infrastructure

The UK has an extensive transport infrastructure system which needs regular inspection

We’re helping to keep Britain moving!

  • ~ 250,000 miles of roads
  • ~ 50 road tunnels
  • ~ 20,000 miles of railway track, and,
  • ~ 30,000 rail tunnels, bridges and viaducts

Then there are the auxiliary structures such as drain covers and manhole covers – there are over 700 manhole covers in the London area alone!

All of these require inspection and maintenance to ensure they are undamaged, safe, and fit for purpose. Traditionally, inspection has been conducted by human operators aided by defect detection equipment. However, this inherently puts operators at risk from passing traffic, electrocution, and more.

i3D is providing stereo vision systems that can be robotically mounted and deployed remotely, limiting risk to humans. Stereo vision offers a more robust, more cost-effective solution to remote inspection than other 3D imaging technologies such as time-of-flight and LiDAR.