The influence of the spatial distribution of 2D features on pose estimation for a visual pipe mapping sensor

This paper considers factors which influence the visual motion estimation of a sensor system designed for visually mapping the internal surface of pipework using omnidirectional lenses. In particular, a systematic investigation of the error caused by a non-uniform 2D spatial distribution of features on the resultant estimate of camera pose is presented. The effect of non-uniformity is known to cause issue and is commonly mitigated using techniques such as bucketing, however, a rigorous analysis of this problem has not been carried out in the literature. The pipe’s inner surface tend to be uniform and texture poor driving the need to understand and quantify the feature matching process. A simulation environment is described in which the investigation was conducted in a controlled manner. Pose error and uncertainty is considered as a function of the number of correspondences and feature coverage pattern in the form of contiguous and equiangular coverage around a circular image acquired by a fisheye lens. It is established that beyond 16 feature matches between the images, that coverage is the most influential variable, with the equiangular coverage pattern leading to a greater rate of reduction in pose error with increasing coverage. The application of the results of the simulation to a real world dataset are also provided

Development of an industry-based habitat mapping/monitoring system FRDC Project No 2011/021

Mapping / monitoring in the marine environment can be a very costly exercise. Scientists from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; Fisheries Division (FD) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have developed a small, low-cost automated camera system that, when fitted to commercial fishing gear, can achieve this at minimal cost. The POTBot (Pictures Of The Bottom) system is a cheap, small “smart” camera that can track its position globally and the date and time, and can record high-definition video and water temperature readings when it determines it has been deployed into the ocean

Single-pass inline pipeline 3D reconstruction using depth camera array

A novel inline inspection (ILI) approach using depth cameras array (DCA) is introduced to create high-fidelity, dense 3D pipeline models. A new camera calibration method is introduced to register the color and the depth information of the cameras into a unified pipe model. By incorporating the calibration outcomes into a robust camera motion estimation approach, dense and complete 3D pipe surface reconstruction is achieved by using only the inline image data collected by a self-powered ILI rover in a single pass through a straight pipeline. The outcomes of the laboratory experiments demonstrate one-millimeter geometrical accuracy and 0.1-pixel photometric accuracy. In the reconstructed model of a longer pipeline, the proposed method generates the dense 3D surface reconstruction model at the millimeter level accuracy with less than 0.5% distance error. The achieved performance highlights its potential as a useful tool for efficient in-line, non-destructive evaluation of pipeline assets

Measuring the interior of in-use sewage pipes using 3D vision

Sewage pipes may be renovated using tailored linings. However, the interior diameter of the pipes must be measured prior to renovation. This paper investigates the use of 3D vision sensors for measuring the interior diameter of sewage pipes, removing the need for human entry in the pipes. The 3D sensors are residing in a waterproof box that is lowered into the well. A RANSAC-based method is used for cylinder estimation from the acquired point clouds of the pipe and the diameter of these cylinders is used as a measure of the interior pipe diameter. The method is tested in 74 real-world sewage pipes with diameters between 150- and 1100 mm. The diameter of 68 pipes is measured within a tolerance of ±20mm whereas 8 pipes are above. It was found that the faulty estimates can be detected in the field using a combination of human-in-the-loop qualitative and quantitative data-driven measures.</p

Autonomous and scalable control for remote inspection with multiple aerial vehicles

© 2016 Elsevier B.V.A novel approach to the autonomous generation of trajectories for multiple aerial vehicles is presented, whereby an artificial kinematic field provides autonomous control in a distributed and highly scalable manner. The kinematic field is generated relative to a central target and is modified when a vehicle is in close proximity of another to avoid collisions. This control scheme is then applied to the mock visual inspection of a nuclear intermediate level waste storage drum. The inspection is completed using two commercially available quadcopters, in a laboratory environment, with the acquired visual inspection data processed and photogrammetrically meshed to generate a three-dimensional surface-meshed model of the drum. This paper contributes to the field of multi-agent coverage path planning for structural inspection and provides experimental validation of the control and inspection results

Reduction of Automobile and Aircraft Collisions with Wildlife in Indiana

Conflicts between wildlife and human interests have increased in recent decades due to growing human populations and the resulting expansion of anthropogenic pressures into wildlife habitat. Our overall objectives were to evaluate the the potential impacts of wildlife on transportation in Indiana and vice-versa. The results presented in this final report summarize two aspects of our research: the impact of automotive traffic on wildlife (“road kill”; Part I), and the wildlife hazards present at general aviation airports around the state (“airstrike”; Part II). The road kill dataset indicated that at 13 survey routes traversing 180 linear km of road, 11,068 animals were killed by traffic. These animals included mammals, birds, reptiles, and (mostly) amphibians. GIS data indicates that nearby wetlands were typically associated with a high incidence of road kill. While road kills were detected in all months, there were obvious seasonal and weather related patterns in the data. Most road kills occurred from July through September, which was concurrent with peak temperatures and precipitation levels. We highlight a variety of animal-friendly engineering options that can be used to effectively reduce encounters between wildlife and drivers, resulting in fewer accidents and less road kill. With regard to the airstrike dataset, airport habitats consisted mainly of short grass (40.2% of total airport area), soybean fields (10.3%), corn fields (9.5%), runway systems (8.1%), other development (6.6%), woodlots (5.2%), medium grass (4.8%), tall grass (4.6%), and hayfields (3.2%). At least two types of wildlife attractants were present at each airport property, and the most common wildlife attractants included standing water (ephemeral), open culverts, crop fields, woodlot refugia, and gravel piles. Proportion of airport perimeters fenced ranged from 7.5% to 100%, but most airport perimeters were \u3e40% fenced. Most airports with \u3e25% of the perimeter enclosed by chain-link fencing had 0.2-0.5 openings per 100 m of fence, with gaps and dig-holes being the most common openings. Considering the most hazardous species, 0-92 white-tailed deer and 0-28 coyotes were observed at individual airports combining all survey methods across a year. Of 16 bird species groups identified as hazardous to aircraft, American kestrel, blackbirds-starling, crows-ravens, mourning dove, shorebirds, sparrows, and swallows were present at 9-10 of the airport properties; geese, hawks (buteos), and vultures were present at 7-8 of the airport properties; and ducks, herons, and rock doves were present at 5-6. Questionnaires indicated that pilots using focal airports were accustomed to wildlife hazards: 69% of respondents reported that they had altered aircraft operation due to wildlife within the past year, and 25% reported involvement in a wildlife strike during the past year. Furthermore, 88% of respondents felt that wildlife populations at Indiana airports were at least “somewhat hazardous”. Despite pilots’ awareness of wildlife hazards, less than 70% of respondents supported the use of fencing or wildlife deterrents, 43% supported modification/elimination of wildlife habitat, and only 38% of respondents supported for lethal removal of wildlife on airport properties. Hazards associated with deer and coyotes can be alleviated by installing suitable fencing; for airports with extant fences, care should be taken to monitor fences regularly and repair gaps as soon as they are discovered. Presence of deer and coyotes inside airport fences should not be tolerated. Birds are best managed by maintaining airport habitats in a manner that minimizes availability and/or quality of food, water, cover, and loafing sites for hazardous species. Furthermore, several new technologies and refinements in techniques for wildlife damage management at airports have emerged recently and may benefit small airports, such as advancements in electric fencing and the use of dead bird effigies to repel some hazardous bird species

Implementation of ISO19650 based framework for asset management in logistics centres for a major food retailer

Dissertação de mestrado em Modelação de Informação na Construção de Edifícios BIM A+A relevância da informação tem acelerado a par da importância das profissões que envolvem dados, com a gestão da informação a assumir um papel central. Para a indústria AECO (Arquitectura, Engenharia, Construção e Operações) BIM representa dados (geométricos e não geométricos) e verifica-se, em muitos casos, que os dados originados na construção são pouco ou nada utilizados durante as fases de exploração dos edificios e na manutenção dos mesmos. Com base nesta realidade é de grande importância investigar a gestão de ativos e sua integração com BIM. Esta pesquisa aborda o tema através de pesquisa estruturada quanto á utilização passada e presente da metodologia BIM na gestão de ativos e manutenção. A pesquisa também aponta a questões em torno da implementação da norma ISO-19650 para as indústrias de operações e manutenção, pelo desenvolvimento duma estruturação que identifica e lista os requisitos de informação relevantes aplicáveis (OIR, AIR e EIR), bem como o nível de informação necessário. A revisão de literatura aponta a que há poucos casos de implementação na área da gestão de ativos com recurso a BIM. Verifica-se que os gestores de manutenção e ativos procuram casos de sucesso verificáveis para convencer proprietários e/ou investidores nas vantagens da adoção de BIM. Ao definir os requisitos de informação para a operação e manutenção de ativos utilizando os dados recolhidos no caso estudado, esta dissertação contribuiu para o aprofundar de conhecimento na implementação da referida gestão. Uma vez que a gestão com recurso à integração BIM é ainda nova nas operações e manutenção, há pouca pesquisa verificável no tema, como já apontado. Para melhor percebermos o nível de implementação BIM em operações e manutenção, o autor estudou sistematicamente o processo de gestão de ativos da logística do maior retalhista alimentar em Portugal, SONAE MC. O objetivo desta pesquisa é criar uma estrutura de trabalho para a implementação dum sistema de gestão de ativos baseado na norma ISO-16950 e que será aplicável a um ‘site’ real da empresa. Esta dissertação também procura utilizar a capacidade de visualização e exploração isométrica BIM, dando à equipa de gestão uma nova ferramenta que garante informação geométrica e que permite melhorias no planeamento das intervenções de manutenção, resolução de problemas e uma intervenção que se prevê mais rápida e produtiva. Como parte da implementação da norma ISO-19650 esta dissertação explorou ainda a modelação direcionada à gestão de ativos, pelo estudo da importação e exportação de dados COBie no sistema (CMMS) da empresa (IBM MAXIMO), em paralelo com a integração desses dados COBie num ‘plugin’ de visualização BIM (Autodesk Forge), que foi instalado no ambiente de gestão existente. Este processo permitiu a reengenharia do sistema de gestão de ativos na logística SONAEMC, permitindo um processo único, sequencial, poupando tempo e garantindo uma organização mais eficaz dos dados e exploração dos mesmos no processo de gestão.In recent times, the relevance of information has grown in prominence with roles involving data or information management taking centre stage. For the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations) industry BIM represents data (geometric and non-geometric). The data from construction has been put to little or no use in the operation and maintenance stage. Based on this proposition it is of great value to investigate BIM-asset management integration. This research approaches the subject by carrying out structured research into the past and present use of BIM methodology in asset management. It also highlights issues around ISO-19650 implementation for the operations and maintenance industry, by developing a framework that promotes the creation of relevant ISO 19650 information requirements documents (OIR, AIR and EIR) and level of information need. The literature review reveals that there is a lack of case study implementations in the area of BIM-asset management. Asset managers generally require verifiable data from case studies to convince building owners and investors to adopt BIM. By defining the information requirements for operation and maintenance using the data collected from the case study, this dissertation has contributed to increased knowledge in BIM- asset management implementation. Since BIM- asset management integration is still new in the operations and maintenance areas, there is little verifiable research on this topic. To understand the status of BIM implementation in the operations and maintenance fields, the author systematically studied the logistics operations asset management process of the largest food and consumer goods company in Portugal, Sonae MC. The objective of this research is to create a framework for the implementation of an ISO 19650 compliant BIM based asset management system, for the case study in which such system will be applicable for a chosen existing facility. This dissertation also aims to use BIM visualization capabilities to provide the asset management team with tools containing both geometric and other asset relevant information and that will allow for improved maintenance planning, better problem solving and faster reactive maintenance response times. As a part of the ISO 19650 implementation process, this dissertation explored subjects on modelling for asset management purposes, importing and exporting COBie data in a Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) IBM Maximo. Alongside COBie data integration, a BIM viewer plugin (Autodesk Forge) was installed within Maximo asset management environment. This implementation process allowed the reengineering of the asset management system in Sonae MC, namely simplifying the existing workflow, saving time spent uploading individual asset information and improving the overall information storage and management process.Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Programme – ERASMUS+ European Master in Building Information Modelling BIM A

Technologies for safe and resilient earthmoving operations: A systematic literature review

Resilience engineering relates to the ability of a system to anticipate, prepare, and respond to predicted and unpredicted disruptions. It necessitates the use of monitoring and object detection technologies to ensure system safety in excavation systems. Given the increased investment and speed of improvement in technologies, it is necessary to review the types of technology available and how they contribute to excavation system safety. A systematic literature review was conducted which identified and classified the existing monitoring and object detection technologies, and introduced essential enablers for reliable and effective monitoring and object detection systems including: 1) the application of multisensory and data fusion approaches, and 2) system-level application of technologies. This study also identified the developed functionalities for accident anticipation, prevention and response to safety hazards during excavation, as well as those that facilitate learning in the system. The existing research gaps and future direction of research have been discussed