Abstract

Recent advancements in robotics and machine vision enable automated vibration measurement for civil engineering structures. A variety of robotic platforms, including drones and land robots outfitted with advanced navigation and data acquisition systems, have been developed. Specifically, various cameras have been deployed on robotic platforms to capture videos of structures, and machine vision approaches to extract structural vibration from captured videos have been developed. This forward-looking review discusses robot-based hardware, machine vision approaches, and the capabilities of automated structural vibration measurement. The emphasis is on clarifying the capabilities, technical limitations, promising solutions, and practical performance of robot-based approaches in field measurements with low vibration amplitudes and long-term monitoring needs. The challenges and opportunities are discussed, and recommendations are made to help.