The sewer inspection robot MAKRO is an autonomous multi-segment robot with worm-like shape driven by wheels. It is currently under development in the project MAKRO-PLUS. The robot has to navigate autonomously within sewer systems. Its first tasks will be to take water probes, analyze it onboard, and measure positions of manholes and pipes to detect polluted-loaded sewage and to improve current ...

In this research, a model for optimal PM planning based on reliability is developed and solved for multi-component systems. In the proposed model, the type of PM actions for each inspection period is determined in such manner that the total weighted related costs are minimized while a minimum required system reliability is maintained. The planning horizon is divided into some inspections interv...

A CAD-guided vision sensor planning system is developed in our lab. To improve the efficiency of the inspection system, the path planning problem is rendered as a Traveling Salesman Problem(TSP). A new approach is developed to solve the TSP into its suboptimality quickly. First, viewpoints are clustered into several groups. Second, clustered Traveling Salesman Problem is solved by favoring the ...

This paper presents a combination of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) approach and navigation functions in the Traveling Salesman Problem with segment goals where paths between goals have to respect obstacles. Hence, the problem is called multi-goal path planning. The problem arises from the inspection planning, where a path from which all points of the given polygonal environment have to be “seen”. T...

The view planning problem, also known as the next-bestview (NBV) problem, for object reconstruction and inspection has been shown to be isomorphic to the set covering problem which is NP-Complete. In this paper we express a theoretical framework for the NBV problem as an integer programming problem including a registration constraint. Experimental view planning results using a modi ed greedy se...

We discuss the problem in which an autonomous vehicle must classify an object based on multiple views. We focus on the active classification setting, where the vehicle controls which views to select to best perform the classification. The problem is formulated as an extension to Bayesian active learning, and we show connections to recent theoretical guarantees in this area. We formally analyze ...

(1) Design. A collection of part geometry and part features for cars, pickup trucks, and vans. (2) Process planning. A hierarchy of alternative sequences of operations for fabricating specific parts of a car such as the body, seats, and engine; robot programs; numerical control programs; inspection programs; and kitting instructions for materials packaging. (3) Resource planning. Classes and in...

Solar-powered aircraft promise significantly increased flight endurance over conventional aircraft. While this makes them promising candidates for large-scale aerial inspection missions, their structural fragility necessitates that adverse weather is avoided using appropriate path planning methods. This paper therefore presents MetPASS, the Meteorology-aware Path Planning and Analysis Software ...

The present paper proposes a concept of Reliability Based Optimization (RBO) for quality assurance. In general the RBO approach is viewed as a minimization of the expected total cost of the structure including initial costs and costs due to failure, weight minimization with respect to reliability constraints, etc. The aim of the reliability based optimization is to find the best compromise betw...