A Magnetic Crawler System for Autonomous Long-Range Inspection and Maintenance on Large Structures

Sensors

Pete Schroepfer¹  Georges Chahine¹  Cédric Pradalier²  Othmane-Latif Ouabi² 

[1] College of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA;IRL 2958 Georgia Tech-CNRS, 2 Rue Marconi, 57070 Metz, France;

关键词: robotics;    sensor fusion;    sensors;    autonomous inspection;    mobile robotics;    ship hull inspection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s22093235

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The inspection and maintenance of large-scale industrial structures are major challenges that require time-efficient and reliable solutions to ensure the healthy condition of structures during operation. Autonomous robots may provide a promising solution for this purpose. In particular, they could lead to faster and more reliable inspection and maintenance without direct intervention from human operators. In this paper, we present a custom magnetic crawler system, and sensor suit and sensing modalities to enable such robotic operation. We first describe a localization framework based on a mesh created from a point cloud coupled with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) readings. Next, we introduce a mapping framework that relies on a 3D laser, and explicitly state how autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance can be developed. Lastly, we present how ultrasonic guided waves (UGWs) are integrated into the system to provide accurate robot localization and structural feature mapping by relying on acoustic reflections in combination with the other systems. It is envisioned that long-range inspection capabilities that are not yet available in current industrial mobile platforms could emerge from the designed robotic system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown