A Study on Pipeline Shape Correction Method Using Position and Orientation Information of the Beginning and End of a Pipeline

Abstract

In the inspection of sewage pipes, it is necessary to prepare a pipeline map in order to efficiently identify the damaged areas, which are often lost so it is necessary to prepare a pipeline map at the same time as the inspection. The authors have previously developed a peristaltic robot for sewer pipe inspection and have estimated the pipe shape using IMU sensors. However, the accuracy of the estimated map was not enough to be put into practice. In this study, we try to improve the estimation accuracy by measuring the information of the position and orientation of the start and end points of the pipeline to constrain the estimated pipeline shape. The authors represent the pipe geometry with only three parameters, and the correction is performed by iterative calculation using the inverse Jacobian matrix.