A process/system has to undergo routine maintenance checks in order to avoid sudden breakdowns and disruption of the process. Currently, maintenance of gas pipelines is a manual, time consuming and expensive process. Robots capable of autonomous navigation has been developed in the past. To use a robot for the application of pipe maintenance it has to autonomously navigate throughout the entire network and successfully identify damages. The PIRATE is being developed into one such robot to conduct autonomous maintenance of gas pipelines. Feature detection is a process that is a necessary step towards achieving this goal.
Two sensory systems are considered and compared with each other. The combination of a multi-point pattern and a camera to detect features that make up sensory system 1 and the use an array of 1D LIDARs (sensory system 2), using the changes in distance measurements to detect features.
Simulation-based experiments were conducted for sensory systems 1 and 2. The results from both the experiments have been compared, the method which is more adaptable for this project is concluded to be the better sensory system of the two. Both the experiments were tested in the same simulation setup (pipe network) and from the results obtained it is seen that the concept using LIDARs provided the best results.
Recommendations for improving feature detection and using these detected features, a map of the environment can be built by incorporating an IMU and an Odometer. Another option is the use of LEDs to increase the visibility of the environment which then further helps in using a broader variety of cameras and possibly eliminating the use of patterns. The addition of ultrasonic sensors can be used to determine the thickness of the wall of the pipes which helps in calculating pipe degradation, which is another factor to be checked during pipe maintenance. Further converting the simulated experiments into real-time experiments gives a better idea of the functionality of the sensory system which is another recommendation to be considered.
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