Nicholas E. Charron

Papers

Total Citations

147

H-Index

About

Nicholas E. Charron is a leading researcher at the intersection of civil infrastructure, robotics, and deep learning, with a primary focus on automating the inspection and condition assessment of concrete bridges. His major contributions lie in developing end-to-end robotic systems that replace subjective, labor-intensive manual inspections with objective, repeatable, and data-driven processes. Charron pioneered the integration of mobile ground robotics with advanced computer vision to autonomously detect and quantify critical area defects like spalls and delaminations. His most influential work, "Automated Defect Quantification in Concrete Bridges Using Robotics and Deep Learning" (2020, 82 citations), established a benchmark for combining robotic mobility with deep neural networks for precise defect measurement. This was complemented by his foundational work on mobile ground robotics for bridge inspection (2019, 55 citations), which demonstrated how robotic platforms can overcome accessibility and repeatability challenges inherent in traditional methods. Charron’s research has significantly advanced the field of structural health monitoring, providing a scalable, automated solution that enhances safety and reduces costs for aging infrastructure.