The monitoring of structures is one of the ultimate challenges to engineering companies today. As a matter, ageing and increasing number of extreme events (e.g. earthquakes or strong wind) are degrading the long-term performance of the structures. A collapse or closure of structure can also lead to chaos, significant financial losses, and, in some cases, heavy casualties. The recent collapse of the Morandi bridge (Genoa, Italy) due to ageing structures and poor maintenance led to 43 deaths and €600 million loss. Whereas, a single-lane closure of the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland due to the safety risk caused a €734k loss daily.

Unfortunately, the current solutions are expensive, slow and unreliable, leading to ineffective monitoring and reduced number of analysis. The currently adopted techniques request the installation of permanent devices on the structure to be monitored, implying: high installation and monitoring costs, time-consuming monitoring and low versatility.

To address these problems, Imetrum has developed VG360, a revolution in structural monitoring technology. VG360 is a non-contact, full field digital measurement system for remote structural health monitoring of any type of structure, 24×7×365. It consists of a digital camera connected to a commercial Robotic Total Station (RTS), computer, and intelligent field software. The software is based on Imetrum’s proprietary algorithms for pattern recognition and Digital Imaging Correlation (DIC) for robust image tracking. VG360 delivers a prism-less, dynamic, multi-point total station. The key to doing this accurately and efficiently for an end user has been a combination of Imetrum’s core technology, and new IP generated around sensor fusion. The device is simple to calibrate, and mimics the workflow of existing devices.