The Ultimate Guide to Digitally Assisted Road Inspection, Blog 4/5
The right insights give road owners a level of control and engagement that is truly transformative. Using a simple, affordable GoPro camera, road owners can independently collect critical road data firsthand. This process is used to create an interactive digital twin of the road network, providing a virtual representation that reflects actual conditions on the ground.
This self-collected data opens up avenues for collaboration and expertise. Road owners can choose to conduct their own visual assessments, or request on-demand inspections by professionals using, for example, the INSPECH Assessment tool. [There is currently no comparable tool on the market, so we have to be a bit self-focused here. But bear with us, this information is useful]. Engineering firms or specialized parties can use the data-rich digital twin to conduct professional assessments, providing in-depth insights in compliance with local standards.
| Accessible pricing is what you need
Why is so much money spent on inspections when all they do is produce a report? The (not nearly enough) amount of money that is available for taking care of our roads should be spent on repairs, to try and deal with at least some of the backlog. Or, the real question that road owners should be asking is:
"How can I throw money at the right problem?"
In a typically underfunded situation such as road maintenance, it is important to look carefully at the impact of the money spent. You can only spend your money once.
Choosing the right way to spend limited funds is a constant cycle of challenges: Which preservation, overlay or reconstruction activity should be applied to which segment, and when (now or in the future)?
| Start low and pay as you grow
Road data can be collected using professional high-resolution equipment or a simple GoPro camera. With the introduction of “anywhere, anytime” data collection (i.e. the ability to collect data with a GoPro camera), users are able to conduct digital road inspections at a significantly reduced cost compared to traditional methods.
Users can now choose to collect data with a GoPro camera, significantly reducing the upfront capital expenditure (CAPEX) required for road inspections. By enabling this anywhere, anytime data collection approach, we enable users to conduct inspections faster, cheaper, safer and more efficiently, maximizing the return on infrastructure investment.
Using GoPro also increases the flexibility of when and how data is collected. For example, large vehicles are impractical and likely to be banned from sidewalks and walkways, whereas smaller EVs with a GoPro may not be.
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