IAMDA
Inspection of Sewer Systems Using Autonomous Drone
Project Motivation
The traditional sewer inspection process is expensive, slow, risky, and subjective in defect analysis. Our project aims to change this by providing safe and effective tools for conducting preventive inspections, achieving precise knowledge of the condition of the pipelines, and optimizing investment in repairs and replacements.
Project Objective
Our main objective is to acquire the industrial capability to conduct autonomous inspections, without human intervention, of at least 250 meters of pipe within a collector of size equal to or greater than 600 mm in diameter, a problem that has not yet been commercially resolved.
Autonomous Inspection in Four Stages
01
Preparation of the Inspection
The area is marked, the access chamber is opened, and communication equipment is installed if necessary.
02
Development of the Inspection
The drone is autonomously introduced into the pipe and conducts the inspection (round trip or one-way). It is then extracted autonomously.
03
Integration with SEWDEF
The collected data is sent to the cloud for analysis using SEWDEF, our defect analysis platform.
04
Sending Results
Detailed reports are generated and sent to the client, showing the condition of the infrastructure.
Technical Challenges
Environmental Conditions
Communication Limitations
There are restrictions on communications with the outside and a lack of GPS signal, making it essential for the inspection to be autonomous rather than manually controlled.
Hostile Environment
The conditions inside the sewer present a challenge due to humidity, the presence of water, potential corrosive gases in the atmosphere, and other factors that limit visibility.
Operational Limitations
The size of the drone, its energy autonomy, and inspection time are other operational challenges in the inspection task.
Sewer Mapping
3D recognition of the environment for identifying structural elements and autonomous navigation.
Precise Location of the Drone within the Sewer. Necessary for both the UAV’s navigation and the identification of potential defects in the infrastructure.
Autonomous Navigation
Essential for automating the inspection of the infrastructure.
Development of a robust control system and trajectory generation (path planning) during the inspection.