In this study, an optical method of real-time displacement measurement of such bridges
was carried out by means of digital image processing techniques. A commercially available digital
video camera combined with a telescopic device takes a motion picture of the target panel with known
geometry, which is installed on the measurement location of a bridge. The displacement of the target
is calculated based on the captured images in real-time manner using image processing techniques,
which require a texture recognition algorithm, projection of the captured image, and calculation of the
actual displacement using target geometry and number of pixels moved. For the purpose of
verification of the presented method, a laboratory test was made using shaking table test and the
measured displacement by image processing techniques was compared with the data from a
contact-type sensor, a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT). The proposed method gave
close results to a conventional sensor. Field tests were carried out on a bridge with steel plate girders
and a bridge with steel box girders. The test results gave sufficient dynamic resolution in frequency as
well as the amplitude.
A Remote Laboratory for Real-Time Digital Image Processing on Embedded Systems