WHO IS LANAMMEUCR?

The National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica (LanammeUCR) is an academic entity dedicated to investigation; it is assigned to the School of Civil Engineering. LanammeUCR’s principal objectives consist in the protection of human life as well as the safety of investments made in civil, road, and vital line infrastructure. Its work contributes to the better quality, cost reductions, and expansion of innovation technology from the perspective of modern engineering, essential for a key sector of the economy.

PROBLEM

• LanammeUCR had no data standardization (interpretation and assessment of bridges were given according to the inspector).
• Information relating to previous inspections was difficult to access.
• There was no digital classification of data, therefore, if any physical document was misplaced or damaged, the information was lost.
• Digital materials (photographs) were not associated directly with physical materials. This meant that after an inspection visit, staff could not remember which photographs were associated to which particular problem or observation.
• Inspectors should constantly fill in and duplicate known data (for example, the general information of bridges), which is information that rarely

SOLUTION

In order to solve the problems LanammeUCR presented, StartX decided to divide the development of the tool in two parts:

• Mobile Platform: allows inspectors to use the tool from any location, taking into account that many case sites are situated in places with difficult access.
• Web Platform: web site where all data gathered from inspections is centralized. As such, it allows for the grouping and presentation of data, in a scalable manner, according to the needs of the user.

RESULT

As a result, StartX developed two products with the following traits:

• Mobile Application for Android tablets:
  • Search and input of information pertaining to inspected bridges in a matter of seconds. Simply by searching for a bridge within the database of available information, all the related data can be obtained (sections, superstructures, blueprints, latitude, longitude, year of construction, route, etc.).
  • Information update and registration of bridges in situ.
  • Assessment standardization of evaluation categories. This allows for all inspectors to perform evaluations using the same standards.
  • Simple correction of data.
  • Data grouping improvements, resulting in a better user experience on part of inspectors. This allows them to see information from different sections in a swift manner.
  • Easier ways to register information (photography, audio, and text) according to the needs of the inspector.
  • All photographs, audio recordings, or texts are associated with the section or observation indicated by the inspector.
  • Markings of visual references in the blueprints, pointing to any observation or query that the inspector wishes to highlight.
  • Assessment control (visual aids and informative messages are shown in regards to incomplete data or pending evaluations so that no important details will be missed by the inspector).
  • Interactive user interface to guide the inspector so that all required data is evaluated according to the bridge’s characteristics (for example, based on the different types of materials used on the bridge’s various structures).
  • Data synchronization with the web server, allowing for the centralization of data as well as the immediate access of information without any need for physical relocation on part of the inspector.

• Management Web Site in the Cloud:
  • Look up centralized data of inspections that have taken place.
  • Look up information pertaining to any inspection without the need to visit the site.
  • Access to photographs, audio recordings, and textual comments related to any evaluation.
  • Swift search of information.
  • Report generation.
  • Bridge information management.