Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions

The ERDC encourages submission of proposals which address any and all aspects of this problem, however, a few key areas are identified below that could be addressed individually or combined in the proposal: (1) high-frame-rate, wide field-of-view passive camera systems that could fit in a nose-cone mount of a small, man-portable, and hand launch-able UAS and provide the imagery needed for mobile bathymetric mapping; (2) fast and robust error propagation algorithms and software that provide uncertainty estimates for littoral terrain observations; and (3) fused active and passive sensor packages and algorithms designed to collect high spatial resolution data in shallow, breaking wave environments that are capable of being mounted on a small to moderately sized UAS. These sensors and software packages will be utilized in support of 6.2 and 6.3 projects focused on SPOD Assessment. Pay off would be: Up-to-date GEOINT data in the highly dynamic littoral zone to ensure safe and efficient maneuverability for improved identification of ingress/egress routes at SPODs. Uses and applications include: Denied/Semi-denied reconnaissance; JLOTS exercises; Mapping of ingress/egress routes for post-disaster situational awareness, etc.

PHASE I: The initial phase will consist of identifying innovative technology and algorithms, conducting feasibility investigations, and preparing preliminary hardware/software design solutions, including initial assessments of various approaches. Preliminary designs must show capable promise in turbid and breaking-wave littoral environments and be capable of being integrated onboard a UAS or working with UAS-based data. The test equipment or software must also be designed to handle collection or processing of large data sets, as well as have a plan for handling and communicating uncertainty. The final product will be a report documenting the design processes and the assessments of the validity of approach in an open-coast littoral environment.

PHASE II: The second phase will include preparation of a final design solution, fabrication of a working prototype, and demonstration of the device under relevant site conditions. The demonstration will occur at ERDC-CHL’s Field Research Facility in Duck, NC and will be ground-truthed and evaluated using traditional and in-situ methodology (nearbed altimeters, direct GPS ground-surveys, terrestrial or manned-aircraft lidar surveys, acoustic surveys), or existing software packages. The working prototype must address the uncertainty of the data and provide error propagation through algorithms, where applicable. The working prototype code or technology will be delivered to the ERDC for testing, evaluation, verification, and validation. Up to two-weeks of new equipment or software training will be provided to the ERDC upon receipt of the prototype measurement or software package.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: A final prototype version of any measurement systems will be fabricated based upon extensive testing and evaluation by the ERDC. All software, including source code will be delivered to the ERDC with potential integration with existing DoD SPOD assessment approaches. It is anticipated that the new technology will provide the DoD with a greatly enhanced measurement tool or software package capable of aiding in the rapid, robust, reconnaissance of the littoral zone. This technology or analysis software would be applicable in both civil and military applications, providing increased accuracy and efficiency in mapping the littoral zone in pre/post-disaster assessments (e.g. Hurricanes), continual monitoring of coastal terrain (e.g. beach nourishments), as well as military austere entry applications. Based upon the obvious multi-use applications, a strong commercial potential is anticipated at the federal, state, and local levels.

REFERENCES:

1. Holland, K.T., Lalejini, D.M., Spansel, S.D. and Holman, R.A., 2010, April. Littoral environmental reconnaissance using tactical imagery from unmanned aircraft systems. In SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing (pp. 767806-767806). International Society for Optics and Photonics

2. Dugan, J.P., Piotrowski, C.C. and Williams, J.Z., 2001. Water depth and surface current retrievals from airborne optical measurements of surface gravity wave dispersion. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 106(C8), pp.16903-16915

3. Piotrowski, C.C. and Dugan, J.P., 2002. Accuracy of bathymetry and current retrievals from airborne optical time-series imaging of shoaling waves. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on, 40(12), pp.2606-2618

4. Snavely, N., Seitz, S.M. and Szeliski, R., 2006, July. Photo tourism: exploring photo collections in 3D. In ACM transactions on graphics (TOG) (Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 835-846). ACM

5. Harwin, S. and Lucieer, A., 2012. Assessing the accuracy of georeferenced point clouds produced via multi-view stereopsis from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Remote Sensing, 4(6), pp.1573-1599

6. Westoby, M.J., Brasington, J., Glasser, N.F., Hambrey, M.J. and Reynolds, J.M., 2012. ‘Structure-from-Motion’photogrammetry: A low-cost, effective tool for geoscience applications. Geomorphology, 179, pp.300-314

7. Mancini, F., Dubbini, M., Gattelli, M., Stecchi, F., Fabbri, S. and Gabbianelli, G., 2013. Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for high-resolution reconstruction of topography: The structure from motion approach on coastal environments. Remote Sensing, 5(12), pp.6880-6898

8. Colomina, I. and Molina, P., 2014. Unmanned aerial systems for photogrammetry and remote sensing: A review. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 92, pp.79-97

9. Plant, N.G., Holland, K.T. and Haller, M.C., 2008. Ocean wavenumber estimation from wave-resolving time series imagery. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on, 46(9), pp.2644-2658

10. Holman, R., Plant, N. and Holland, T., 2013. cBathy: A robust algorithm for estimating nearshore bathymetry. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 118(5), pp.2595-2609

11. McIntyre, M.L., Naar, D.F., Carder, K.L., Donahue, B.T. and Mallinson, D.J., 2006. Coastal bathymetry from hyperspectral remote sensing data: comparisons with high resolution multibeam bathymetry. Marine Geophysical Researches, 27(2), pp.129-136

12. Sandidge, J.C. and Holyer, R.J., 1998. Coastal bathymetry from hyperspectral observations of water radiance. Remote Sensing of Environment, 65(3), pp.341-352

KEYWORDS: Passive, Inexpensive Sensor, Lightweight, Man-portable small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS), Bathymetric Lidar, Littoral Reconnaissance, Littoral Terrain, Coastal Topography, Surf-zone Bathymetry, Error Propogation

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Design and build hardware and software components for an air-transportable system capable of measuring pavement deflections from a moving platform for determining pavement layer strength/stiffness values. Measured pavement deflections and calculated stiffness values would be used to aide in rapid evaluation of pavement load carrying capability. As a secondary goal, this system may also be useful in locating areas with potentially hazardous voids and/or identifying fragile pavement sections posing a high risk for catastrophic failures.

DESCRIPTION: This system is needed in support of DOD’s force projection and maneuver missions into austere areas with extremely marginal, aging pavement infrastructure. As we project forces in support of military operations or humanitarian relief missions, our logistical lines of communication including both aerial ports of debarkation and connecting roadways are essential for rapid decisive operations. These pavements will require large numbers of heavy cargo/transport aircraft and vehicles. Our force projection requirements will far exceed many of the NATO/host nation day-to-day operations, both in magnitude of wheel loading and number of missions. Pavement failures in the U.S. have been attributed to aging and dilapidated sub-surface drainage structures. Fortunately, these failures have not occurred during a critical deployment scenario, but it illustrates the type of problems to anticipate with aging infrastructure. As we plan for future deployments, we must consider the aging infrastructure of the host nations including both airfields and roads. Because many of their airfields and roads that will be utilized in the theater or operations are not being subjected to large numbers of heavy transport aircraft and vehicles, we may not see a problem until we deploy. Failures of the sub-surface drainage structures often result in a catastrophic punch through. There can be considerable damage to vehicles and aircraft, and pavement repairs can result in lengthy closures of a facility, critically degrading sustainable operations. An assessment tool is needed to rapidly and reliably assess structural integrity of airfields and roads. This tool could also identify potentially hazardous and/or weak areas that would hinder deployments.

The current state-of-practice for pavement structural assessments involves the use of a heavy weight deflectometer (HWD) in combination with ground penetrating radar (GPR), visual surveys, and cone penetration tests. For testing, an HWD (trailer-mounted) is positioned over a test point, its load plate is lowered to the pavement surface, its weight is hydraulically lifted and released, and the resulting dynamic load and surface deflections are recorded. This method provides discrete point measurements (i.e. measurements only at the HWD test location) and requires that the equipment be moved and set up at each new test location. Therefore, it is not feasible to conduct routine structural assessments of entire airfields or road networks in a rapid and global manner. This discrete point methodology also limits the usefulness of the HWD for secondary tasks such as void detection. Note that GPR is typically a more mobile technology and can identify some voids but is typically limited relative to the HWD in terms of its ability to identify voids in thick pavement systems such as those encountered in concrete airfield features. In addition, GPR technology maturity and ease-of-use of commercial systems limit its applicability for troop use. Recent developments in rolling wheel deflectometer (RWD) (i.e. continuous) equipment have demonstrated potential with regard to more rapid structural assessments; however, typical devices are large, cumbersome, and/or not fully validated with respect to performance, reliability, availability, and accuracy (see Flintsch et al., 2013). There is an urgent operational need to identify state-of-the-art testing technology with potential application to a continuous deflection measurement system from a moving platform.

PHASE I: The initial phase will consist of identifying innovative technology, conducting a feasibility investigation, and preparing a preliminary hardware/software design solution. Table 1 provides key design criteria where consideration should be given to accuracy, speed of testing, ease-of-use by novice users, and integration/fielding with existing military hardware/software for pavement assessment. Data output files must be in a format that interfaces with the pavement evaluation software PCASE (see Adolf, 2010). RWD equipment must be operable in remote areas from the moving vehicle platform. Depth of deflection measurement is dependent on applied load as well as effective sensor bar length and pavement layer properties. Therefore, required depth of measurement cannot be specified in an absolute sense. Alternatively, the RWD sensor package must be designed such that measurement depths are equivalent to that of the HWD for a similar applied load and pavement structure. Note that accurate void detection, while a beneficial use of deflectometer equipment, depends heavily on RWD coverage density (i.e. number of RWD passes per unit area of pavement). For this reason, specific void detection requirements (e.g. void size, depth of void, etc.) are not provided herein as this is more of an indirect use of the equipment, though it is an intended use nonetheless. Essentially, the ability to detect voids will ultimately depend more on operational procedures (e.g. number and spacing of passes) and less on equipment capability (a deflectometer capable of performing routine structural assessments should, consequently, be able to detect voids). The preliminary RWD design must include a cost estimate for a Phase I prototype. A final report documenting the design process and a formal presentation will be delivered to ERDC-APB upon completion of Phase I.

Table 1. Key RWD Equipment Criteria
Parameter; Objective; Threshold
Operating Speed; 60 mph; 30 mph
Applied Wheel Load; Variable 9 to 50 kips; Variable 9 to 25 kips
Load & Deflection Measurement Accuracy; Equivalent to HWD as defined in ASTM D4694; ---
Transportation; C-130 transportable; C-17 transportable
Data Output; PCASE compatible; ---

Notes:
-- Objective is targeted outcome of project; threshold is minimum acceptable outcome if satisfying objective is not feasible.

PHASE II: The second phase will include the preparation of a final design solution, fabrication of a working prototype, and demonstration of the device under relevant site conditions. Midway through the phase II effort, the prototype will be demonstrated to the ERDC-APB. The demonstration should include comparisons with results from traditional equipment such as the HWD and pavement-mounted instrumentation (LVDTs, velocity transducers, accelerometers). Upon successful demonstration of the first prototype, the hardware and software will be refined based on ERDC-APB comments and recommendations. A working prototype system will be fabricated and delivered to the ERDC-APB for testing, evaluation, verification, and validation. Two weeks of new equipment training (NET) will be provided to ERDC-APB upon receipt and delivery of the prototype measurement system.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: A final prototype version of the measurement system will be fabricated based upon extensive testing and evaluation (T&E) by the ERDC-APB. All software, including source code, will be delivered to ERDC-APB for potential integration with existing DOD infrastructure assessment software applications (e.g. PCASE). It is anticipated that the new technology will provide the DOD with a greatly enhanced measurement tool capable of rapidly and reliably assessing, by continuous measurement, the structural integrity of a pavement from a moving platform. This equipment would be applicable for routine testing of roads and airfields in the DOD inventory and the expedient assessment of force projection platforms and road networks in a theater of operations. The highway community would likely also benefit from the successful implementation and fielding of this equipment. For highway testing, the continuous measurement capability is particularly desirable for transportation management and safety assurance. Based upon the obvious dual use applications, a strong commercial potential is anticipated at the Federal, State, and Local levels.

REFERENCES:

1. Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA). 2002. Airfield Pavement Evaluation Standards and Procedures. ETL 02-19. Tyndall AFB, FL: Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency

2. ASTM International. 2009. Standard Test Method for the Use of the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer in Shallow Pavement Applications. Designation: D 6951-09. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International

3. Flintsch, G., S. Katicha, J. Bryce, B. Ferne, S. Nell, and B. Difenderfer. 2013. Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies. SHRP 2 Report S2-R06F-RW-1, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

4. Adolf, M. 2010. Pavement-Transportation Computer Assisted Structural Engineering (PCASE): User Manual, Version 2.09, US Army Corps of Engineers, Transportation Systems Center and Engineering Research and Development Center

5. ASTM International. 2009. Standard Test Method for Deflections with a Falling-Weight-Type Impulse Load Device. Designation D4694-09. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International
6. C-130 Cargo Aircraft Specs, Summary Table, 2 pages (uploaded in SITIS on 12/30/16.)
7. DD2130-13 – C-17 Load Plan, 1 page (uploaded in SITIS on 12/30/16).
8. DD2130-2 – C-130 Load Plan, 1 page (uploaded in SITIS on 12/30/16).

KEYWORDS: Airfield Pavements, Roads, Pavement Voids, Pavement Stiffness