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    It is not rocket science : a sharper focus is required for New Zealand’s road bridges : a 60-credit Journalism project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Scannell, Mazz
    Bridge collapses due to age and external events occur all over the world, and New Zealand is no exception. Two recent bridge collapses in New Zealand have been attributed to adverse weather events. The ability of bridges to withstand environmental events is based on the quality of the bridge inspection regime and the resulting repairs and maintenance. This research aims to investigate the inspection regime of road bridges in New Zealand. Using case studies, it analyses how bridges are inspected, data is managed and the role of the asset manager in determining repair and maintenance programmes. Influencing factors including bridge age and the inspection practices and procedures of councils are compared to the bridge inspection guidelines published by the New Zealand Transport Agency. This paper will also investigate if New Zealand is ready to address the large number of bridges that are nearing the end of their useful life and will soon either require replacement or substantial remediation. The results show that local authorities are using the official guidelines as a guide rather than a minimum standard. The research and its findings are expected to allow for a better insight into decision making and priority setting for asset managers working in bridge management.
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    Real-time pipe inspection robot prototype development : a thesis in the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Turitea Campus, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Jones, Matthieu Lincoln
    Concrete pipes are used throughout the world in many different industries to transport wastewater. These pipes are prone to erosion which can sometimes be severe, with a large cost of repair or replacement. This presents the need to inspect the pipes for erosion. Robots that are used to detect cracks and holes in a pipe already exist, but those that are used to inspect for erosion lack the ability to inspect in real-time allowing for high-speed, fully-autonomous inspection. Furthermore, none of these systems provide a stable platform that can traverse a severely eroded pipe while passively resisting rolling. A mechanical platform capable of doing just this was designed through a mathematical study. This concept was then tested by varying key design and environmental factors such as the leg angle, starting orientation, and payload weight and offset to determine the effect on the robot’s movements and ability to resist rolling. It was found that the smaller the leg angle the less likely it was for the robot to roll but the more power was required to drive the robot. A leg angle of 20 degrees was found to be a good compromise between these two factors under varying conditions, although further study should be conducted over longer pipe lengths and real operating conditions. A real-time inspection system based on triangulation of a camera image and a laser line on the pipe surface was designed and optimized for implementation on a high speed FPGA. This was then tested and it was found that the inspection system was capable of accurately measuring erosion with a 0.3-0.9mm width resolution and a 0.2-0.6mm depth resolution for pipe diameters of 200-600mm. With a longitudinal resolution of 10mm this system could inspect at five metres per minute, and this could be doubled with suitable compression. This research provides the basis for developing an accurate, real-time pipe inspection robot. It also suggests an approach for developing a prototype capable of being used in varying diameter pipes consisting of an inspection system, an anti-rolling robot platform with position sensing, and a wireless communication system, with 3D result display software. Three research articles have been published from this research. Two of the articles are based on real time image acquisition and processing [1, 2]. The third article is on pipe robot mechanical system design [3].