Indoor environment monitoring in search of gas leakage by mobile robot

Inspection based on mobile autonomous robots can assume an important role in many industries. Instead of having fixed sensors, the concept of assembling the sensors on a mobile robot that performs the scanning and inspection through a defined path is cheaper, configurable and adaptable. This paper describes a mobile robot, equipped with several gas sensors and a LIDAR device, that scans an established area by following a trajectory based on way-points searching for gas leakage and simultaneously avoid obstacles in the map. In other words, the robot follows the trajectory while the gas concentration is under a defined value and surrounding the obstacles. Otherwise, the autonomous robot starts the leakage search based on a search algorithm that allows to find the leakage position. The proposed methodology is verified in simulation based on a model of the real robot. The search test performed in a simulation environment allows to validate the proposed methodology.This work is financed by the ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation- COMPETE 2020 Programme within project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006961), and by National Funds through the FCT - Funda~ao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) as part of project UID/EEA/50014/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Probabilistic localization of gas emission areas with a mobile robot in indoor environments

This work deals with the problem of gas source localization by a mobile robot with gas-sensing capabilities. Particularly, we address the problem for the case of indoor environments, where the presence of obstacles and the possibly complex structure with multiple rooms, inlets and outlets provoke the chaotic dispersion of the gases. Under these challenging conditions, where traditional approaches based on tracking or mathematical modeling of the plume cannot be applied, we propose a two-stage methodology to split the search into coarse and fine localization. Focusing on the broad localization, we contribute with a novel approach to estimate, from a set of sparse observations, the likelihood of different regions in the environment to hold a gas source. Experiments demonstrate that our approach is suitable to locate gas emission sources.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Development and Hardware Implementation of IoT-Based Patrol Robot for Remote Gas Leak Inspection

The Internet of Things Robot (IoTR) is an emerging paradigm that brings together robotic systems with the Internet of Things (IoT) that connect sensors and smart objects pervasively embedded in everyday environments. With the recent developments in robotic system applications, it becomes apparent that the mobile robot has great importance in real-world applications such as navigation and surveillance. One of the most important applications of a mobile robot is patrolling and gas leak detection. This paper proposes a real-time IoT Robot (IoTR) that can be used indoors or outdoors for gas leak detection purposes. The proposed mobile robot is equipped with microphones, speakers, the hub of smart sensors that are necessary for patrolling and gas leak detection, a high-resolution IP video camera for live video streaming, Bluetooth for indoor applications and tracking, and GPS/GPRS for outdoor applications and tracking. The experimental testing of the preliminary prototype confirms the design objectives. The robot has been tested for indoor and outdoor modes; the robot can detect gas leakage and provides a live video streaming of the surrounding area, which can be tracked on Google maps. At the same time, the robot can be controlled remotely through a mobile app or website, the robot can move autonomously and avoid obstacles. The proposed work provides a low-cost IoT robot through the use of the available and cheap components and sensors, which featured a high quality at the same time. Our proposed system exhibits promising gas sensing performance in harsh environments, using intelligent gas sensors that have a fast response (>10s), low cost, high sensitivity, long life, robustness, and physical size

Multi-mobile robot and avoidance obstacle to spatial mapping in indoor environment

The advancement of technology and techniques applied to robotics contributes to increasing the quality of life and safety of humanity. One of the most widespread applications of mobile robotics is related to monitoring indoor environments. However, due to factors such as the size of the environment impacting the monitoring response, battery autonomy, and autonomous navigation in environments with unknown obstacles, they are still significant challenges in the diffusion of mobile robotics in these areas. Strategy adopting multiple robots can overcome these challenges. This work presents an approach to use multi-robots in hazardous environments with gas leakage to perform spatial mapping of the gas concentration. Obstacles arranged in the environment are unknown to robots, then a fuzzy control approach is used to avoid the collision. As a result of this paper, spatial mapping of an indoor environment was carried out with multi-robots that reactively react to unknown obstacles considering a point gas leak with Gaussian dispersion.This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UIDB/05757/2020. Additionally, this work was supported in part by the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development of Brazil (CNPq), in part by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level People (CAPES).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bio-inspired distributed sensors to autonomous search of gas leak source

This work presents multiple small robots in an unhealthy industrial environment responsible for detecting harmful gases to humans, avoiding possible harmful effects on the body. Mixed reality is widely used, considering that the environment and gases are virtual and real small robots. Essential components for the experiments are virtual, such as gases and BioCyber-Sensors. The results establish the great potential for applications in several areas, such as industrial, biomedical, and services. The entire system was developed based on ROS (Robot Operating System), thus the ease in diversifying different applications and approaches with multiple agents. The main objective of small robots is to guaranty a healthy work environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using a mobile robot for hazardous substances detection in a factory environment

Dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáIndustries that work with toxic materials need extensive security protocols to avoid accidents. Instead of having fixed sensors, the concept of assembling the sensors on a mobile robot that performs the scanning through a defined path is cheaper, configurable and adaptable. This work describes a mobile robot, equipped with several gas sensors and LIDAR, that follows a trajectory based on waypoints, simulating a working Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV). At the same time, the robot keeps measuring for toxic gases. In other words, the robot follows the trajectory while the gas concentration is under a defined value. Otherwise, it starts the autonomous leakage search based on a search algorithm that allows to find the leakage position avoiding obstacles in real time. The proposed methodology is verified in simulation based on a model of the real robot. Therefore, three path plannings were developed and their performance compared. A Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) device was integrated with the path planning to propose an obstacle avoidance system with a dilation technique to enlarge the obstacles, thus, considering the robot’s dimensions. Moreover, if needed, the robot can be remotely operated with visual feedback. In addition, a controller was made for the robot. Gas sensors were embedded in the robot with Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter to process the data. A low cost AGV was developed to compete in Festival Nacional de Robótica (Portuguese Robotics Open) 2019 - Gondomar, describing the robot’s control and software solution to the competition.As indústrias que trabalham com materiais tóxicos necessitam de extensos protocolos de segurança para evitar acidentes. Ao invés de ter sensores estáticos, o conceito de instalar sensores em um robô móvel que inspeciona através de um caminho definido é mais barato, configurável e adaptável. O presente trabalho descreve um robô móvel, equipado com vários sensores de gás e LIDAR, que percorre uma trajetória baseada em pontos de controle, simulando um AGV em trabalho. Em simultâneo são efetuadas medidas de gases tóxicos. Em outras palavras, o robô segue uma trajetória enquanto a concentração de gás está abaixo de um valor definido. Caso contrário, inicia uma busca autônoma de vazamento de gás com um algoritmo de busca que permite achar a posição do gás evitando os obstáculos em tempo real. A metodologia proposta é verificada em simulação. Três algoritmos de planejamento de caminho foram desenvolvidos e suas performances comparadas. Um LIDAR foi integrado com o planejamento de caminho para propôr um sistema de evitar obstáculos. Além disso, o robô pode ser operado remotamente com auxílio visual. Foi feito um controlador para o robô. Sensores de gás foram embarcados no robô com um filtro de resposta ao impulso finita para processar as informações. Um veículo guiado automático de baixo custo foi desenvolvido para competir no Festival Nacional de Robótica 2019 - Gondomar. O controle do veículo foi descrito com o programa de solução para a competição

Collective gas sensing in a cyber-physical system

This paper discusses a novel collective sensing approach using autonomous sensors specially designed to monitor gas leaks and search for gas sources. The proposed collective behavior aims to improve the gas-source search by sharing information between mobile sensors and reducing the risks associated with gas leakage. The group acts as a composite sensor that can move independently to search for an optimal sensing zone. The autonomous searching behavior is bio-inspired by colonies of bacteria that continuously seek energy sources throughout their existence. Each sensor makes its own autonomous search decision, considering the group sense, to move in the direction of a better energy source. The collective approach is based on autonomous agents sharing information to achieve a collective sense of gas perception and utilizes more intelligent searching. The method is evaluated in a cyber-physical system specially developed to safely experiment with gases and mobile sensors while reproducing the realistic dynamic behavior of the gas. Experiments are performed to clarify the collective gas-sensing contributions, and the gas search is compared through multiple mobile sensors with and without collective sensing. The proposed approach is evaluated in an unhealthy environment to elucidate its effectiveness. In addition to presenting the related differences between collective and individual sensory approaches, this work contributes with analyzes of the scalability of mobile gas sensing systems. This work also contributed as a simulated semi-physical experimental system to test algorithms' performance before applying it to practice. © 2001-2012 IEEEinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Viewfinder: final activity report

The VIEW-FINDER project (2006-2009) is an 'Advanced Robotics' project that seeks to apply a semi-autonomous robotic system to inspect ground safety in the event of a fire. Its primary aim is to gather data (visual and chemical) in order to assist rescue personnel. A base station combines the gathered information with information retrieved from off-site sources. The project addresses key issues related to map building and reconstruction, interfacing local command information with external sources, human-robot interfaces and semi-autonomous robot navigation. The VIEW-FINDER system is a semi-autonomous; the individual robot-sensors operate autonomously within the limits of the task assigned to them, that is, they will autonomously navigate through and inspect an area. Human operators monitor their operations and send high level task requests as well as low level commands through the interface to any nodes in the entire system. The human interface has to ensure the human supervisor and human interveners are provided a reduced but good and relevant overview of the ground and the robots and human rescue workers therein

A linear regression based-approach to collective gas source localization

This work addresses the problem of gas leaks and proposes a search strategy for identifying the source of a gas leak within a virtual simulation environment. The research focuses on designing and implementing simulation, control, and gas source search packages using swarm robotics. The simulation employs numerical integration strategies, while the robot swarm control is based on potential fields theory. The location of the gas source using a weighted linear regression strategy is used to estimate the gas concentration gradient, which plays a crucial role in the optimization strategy employed. The paper presents an overview of the key concepts employed and their relevance to different stages of the problem and highlights the main results achieved through the chosen strategies. A significant outcome of this work is the development of reusable software packages applicable to various research contexts in mobile robotics.The project is supported by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq (process CNPq 407984/2022-4); Fund for Scientific and Technological Development – FNDCT; Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations – MCTI of Brazil; Araucaria Foundation; and the General Superintendence of Science, Technology and Higher Education (SETI).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio