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Robotic Vision Inspects Tunnels, Enhances Safety
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Robotic Vision Inspects Tunnels
Researchers in Spain have developed a robot that will be used to inspect vehicle tunnels and feel with this technology it could negate the need for tunnel closures in the event of an accident.
A device, called the Robinspect system, was developed at the University of Madrid and is made up of a small vehicle equipped with a crane and a robotic arm that is equipped with an array of sensors. This vehicle, which looks like a small tractor, can navigate the tunnels and inspect for defects in the tunnel walls. The sensors, researchers explain, can detect “tiny fissures and deformities in a tunnel’s structure that are not visible to the eye.” The device also allows for inspections to take place without an interruption in traffic flow.
With the use of the robotic crane and its arm inspections can be performed from a distance of about 20 feet. Researchers explained that the “equipment has an extensive sensorial system (tactile, visual and ultrasonic) and provides the precision and intelligent movement necessary to carry out tunnel inspections.”
The data collected by the device will allow engineers to analyze any possible or potential defects in the tunnel surface and measure “radial deformities of the transversal section of the tunnels” and detect any open joints or parallel cracks.
Researchers hope to have the prototype of the device available by the end of 2014 and will test it in the London Underground, three subterranean sections of the Greek Egnatia highway and some tunnels in Switzerland. The device will also be useful for inspections in subway tunnels around the globe.
The researchers explained that the key to the development of the robotic device was made possible in part because of advances in intelligent robot control, sensor technology and artificial vision.
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