UTA researchers earn TxDOT contract to use unmanned aerial systems to inspect highways, railroads

Aerial inspectionResearchers at The University of Texas at Arlington will lead a collaborative effort to use unmanned aerial vehicles to inspect highways and railroads remotely and develop guidelines for how to safely complete the task. Civil Engineering Professor Anand Puppala is the primary investigator on the two-year, $770,909 Texas Department of Transportation agreement. Teams from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Texas A&M’s Texas Transportation Institute also will contribute. Puppala and post-doctoral researchers Tejo Bheemasetti and Ujwal Patil, as well as Mike McNair