Development of drone inspection system that focuses on inspection points

Abstract

For infrastructure equipment such as power plants and tunnels, automation and labor saving of patrol inspections are important issues. So far, humans perform inspection even in dangerous sites or at high places. Recently, inspections using drone have been carried out, but it is necessary for a skilled pilot to manually operate it remotely. We have developed a system that focused on patrols of inspection points in a tunnel. It specifies inspection points, creates flight routes from 3D models, and send flight commands from robot management systems to drone. This system eliminates a skilled pilot, allowing the drone to move on a safe flight route and approaching the inspection site to take high-quality inspection images.