Last week at NDTCE 2025 in Izmir (24–26 Sept.), our colleague Ghezal Ahmad Zia from our consortum partner Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung presented exciting new work from Reincarnate:“Beyond Corrosion: Autonomous Real-Time Detection of Structural Cracks and Degradation Using Robotic Sensing and Digital Twins.”
This premier event was dedicated to advancing the field of nondestructive testing/evaluation (NDT/NDE) in civil engineering. It brought together researchers, industry experts, owners of structures, service providers and practitioners from around the globe to share the latest innovations, technologies, and methodologies that are transforming how we assess and ensure the safety and integrity of civil infrastructure.
Why it matters
Civil structures such as bridges, tunnels, pipelines, and facades age, crack, and sometimes leak hazardous gases. Detecting these issues early is essential to ensure public safety, enable sustainable maintenance and repair, and extend the lifetime of assets.Traditional inspections are often slow, labor-intensive, and risky. Single-sensor methods can miss important defects, while many multi-sensor systems still lack real-time capability.
What we developed
Our team designed a real-time, AI-powered inspection platform that integrates three complementary sensors:
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Optical (RGB) camera – detects visible cracks using MobileNetV2 (91% accuracy)
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Thermal IR camera – segments hidden or subsurface cracks using U-Net
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Gas sensor (MQ-135) – flags anomalies such as CO₂, NH₃, or VOC leaks in real time
All sensor data flows into a web-based dashboard that provides live detections, overlays, and alerts. The system is designed for deployment on a climbing robot capable of inspecting vertical or hazardous surfaces, making inspections safer, faster, and more reliable.
This research is part of Reincarnate’s work to apply digital twins, robotics, and AI-enabled non-destructive testing (NDT) in support of circular construction. By extending the lifetime of structures, reducing repair costs, and preventing premature demolition, these methods help keep valuable resources in use longer.
The Izmir presentation demonstrated how this approach goes beyond corrosion, addressing cracks, gas hazards, and defect evolution in a single unified platform – a step toward the next generation of digital inspection twins.
🔗 Open-source code: github.com/ghezalahmad/NDT-Rover