Peel, H orcid.org/0000-0002-9432-3438, Luo, S, Cohn, AG orcid.org/0000-0002-7652-8907 et al. (1 more author) (2018) Localisation of a mobile robot for bridge bearing inspection. Automation in Construction, 94. pp. 244-256. ISSN 0926-5805
Abstract
Bridge bearings are a critical component of a bridge and require regular visual inspection to ensure the safe operation of the bridge throughout its life. However, the bearings are often located in spaces that are difficult or hazardous to reach, which can impact how often the bearings are inspected. In addition, these spaces are small and offer significant challenges for tele-operation due to line-of-sight restrictions; hence, some level of autonomy is required to make robotic inspection possible. In this work, a robotic solution to bridge bearing inspection is presented, and localisation methods are assessed as the first, and most, important step towards automation. Robot localisation is performed in both a lab environment and a real bridge bearing environment. In this paper, Adaptive Monte-Carlo Localisation is considered for localisation in a known map and gave comparable results to Hector-SLAM, with all results less than a defined error threshold of 10 cm. A combination of both of these methods are proposed to give a more robust approach that gives errors lower than the defined threshold in the real bridge. The experiments also show the need to provide an accurate starting point for each inspection within the bearing, for which we notionally suggest the use of a docking station that could also be used for improved autonomy, such as charging. In addition, proof-of-concept approaches for visual inspection tasks, such as geometry changes and foreign object detection are presented to show some of the proposed benefits of the system presented in this work.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Bridge bearings; Robot; Inspection; Localisation |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Computing (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/N010523/1 Royal Academy of Engineering LTSRF1516/12/90 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2018 11:02 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 21:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.autcon.2018.07.003 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133350 |