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About

Jia-Ruey Chang is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of robotics and civil infrastructure, whose work has fundamentally advanced the automation of pavement inspection. His primary research areas include autonomous robotic systems, pavement distress detection, and infrastructure condition assessment. Chang’s major contribution lies in demonstrating that autonomous robots can reliably perform tasks traditionally requiring human inspectors. In his landmark 2009 study, he equipped a Pioneer P3-AT robot with odometers, a CCD laser, and a SICK sensor to successfully measure the International Roughness Index (IRI)—a critical metric for pavement ride quality. This work, which has garnered 27 citations, proved that robots could replace manual profilometer measurements. His 2011 follow-up paper (28 citations) expanded this framework by integrating Virtual Reference Station (VRS) positioning, enabling robots to inspect pavement distresses across sites 60 km apart with high accuracy. Chang’s research has been instrumental in shifting pavement maintenance from reactive to proactive strategies, reducing costs and improving road safety. His foundational 2007 study laid the groundwork for general-purpose autonomous inspection robots, establishing him as a key figure in the emerging field of robotic infrastructure monitoring.