Governor David Gibson, as part of WOBO’s research into remote inspections, is pleased to provide information relating to details of his communications with Dr Andrew Agapiou in respect of his current research project into remote inspection.

“The use of advanced photogrammetry and Artificial Intelligence technologies will help data gathering and analysis with minimum human interaction with buildings.”

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have received funding to develop an online platform for remote building inspection.

The six-month project has received £35,000 from the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre i-Con Challenge, and will enable the management and monitoring of the construction phase of buildings and improve productivity and quality, with fewer defects in the long term.

The aim of the project is to introduce novel, state-of-the-art algorithms for defect detection and sizing in image data through an intelligent combination of state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms, traditional image processing techniques and VR interfaces.

A large, publicly-available dataset of building defect images will be created which can be used as a standard by the community for algorithm development, testing and comparison.

Dr Andrew Agapiou, senior lecturer in the Department of Architecture and the lead researcher on the project said: “The ability to accurately detect errors and defects in remote and hard-to-access buildings has significant value for the organisations.

In many situations, these structures are inspected extensively using digital cameras to capture images which can be analysed offline by experts who study the footage in detail…..