Micromobility firm Superpedestrian has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a project that uses e-scooters to find structural cracks in bridges.
The project took place at the Cadore Viaduct in Italy, one of the longest and highest steel frame strut bridges in the world, with each strut 85 metres in length.
With the bridge now almost 40 years old, MIT researchers set about using Superpedestrian LINK e-scooters to test the structural integrity of the bridge and search for signs of weakness.
Researchers rode the LINK e-scooters, which feature 73 sensors, across the bridge at different speeds 100 times, with the results showing that the data collected was comparable to that collected by traditional car-based and fixed sensor methods.
Following the project, Superpedestrian released a video documenting the project and featuring footage of the team at work.
A Superpedestrian spokesperson said: “The results showed that data gathered from the e-scooters was not only equivalent to the data produced by car-based mobile sensors, but also comparable to conventional fixed sensors – opening up a whole new way to conduct health checks on major infrastructure, one that is fast, cost-effective and easily scalable.”
