Anomaly detection in Pipeline using 3D Map generated by UAV

Abstract

In a geothermal power plant, the soundness of steam-pipeline is an essential factor that could influence power generation efficiency. However, it is laborious and dangerous for staff to inspect the state of pipes. Therefore, authors have developed a system that automatically conducts inspections using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and RGB/Infrared Rays camera. In this research, authors focus on misalignment, deformation, surface colour change, temperature change detection on piping. The authors propose a piping model in the 3D-map generated by the UAV to detect these abnormal sections in pipes. The experimental results show that our system could detect misalignment less than 25 mm in horizontal view on the straight pipeline and deformation larger than 2 cm. Recall of colour-changing detection on the test was 96.2%, and the result of temperature-changing detection on dummy data also show the effectiveness of our methods.