Experimental Study on Measuring and Tracking Structural Displacement Based on Surveillance Video Image Analysis

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Geophysics

Background:

• Non-contact structure health monitoring is crucial for infrastructure.
• Digital image processing offers economic and convenient solutions for deformation monitoring.
• Traditional methods can be costly and intrusive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a non-contact online monitoring method for structural displacement using image processing.
• To investigate the influence of imaging parameters on measurement accuracy.
• To assess the feasibility of millimeter-level displacement monitoring for bridges.

Main Methods:

• Utilized image processing techniques to extract deformation information from surveillance video.
• Experimentally studied the impact of imaging distance and angle on the pixel-to-displacement conversion coefficient (η).
• Conducted laboratory-scale experiments to measure and track structural displacement under idealized conditions.

Main Results:

• Imaging accuracy is sensitive to the relative position of the imaging device and the structure, affecting the conversion coefficient (η).
• Increased distance between the structure and monitoring equipment significantly alters the η value, showing a linear relationship.
• Shooting angle also influences the η value.

Conclusions:

• Digital image-based monitoring can achieve millimeter-level online monitoring of structural displacement.
• The study confirms the feasibility of measuring and tracking structural displacement using surveillance video images.
• The findings highlight the importance of accounting for imaging parameters in non-contact deformation monitoring.