Browsing by Author "Silva, Yago M.R. da"
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- Autonomous path follow UAV to assist onshore pipe inspection tasksPublication . Sousa, Lucas C.; Silva, Yago M.R. da; Castro, Gabriel G.R.; Souza, Caio L.; Berger, Guido; Lima, José; Brandão, Diego; Dias, João T.; Pinto, Milena F.Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being deployed in different applications due to their reduced time execution to perform tasks, more extensive coverage area, and more risk minimization to humans. In the Oil & Gas industry, its use for inspection activities is even more attractive due to the large structures in these facilities. Therefore, this research proposes deploying an autonomous UAV system to inspect unburied pipelines of onshore O&G facilities. The proposed UAV guiding system is based on image processing techniques Canny edge detection and Hough Transform to detect the line and on a path follower algorithm to generate the trajectory. The proposed strategy was developed in Robot Operating System (ROS) and tested in a simulated environment considering the practical oper-ational. The same controller was tested on a physical UAV to validate the results obtained in previous simulations. The results demonstrated the effectiveness and feasibility of deploying the proposed strategy for this specific task and the cost reduction potential for real-life operations, as well as reduced potential risks to the physical integrity of the workers.
- Computer vision based path following for autonomous unammed aerial systems in unburied pipeline onshore inspectionPublication . Silva, Yago M.R. da; Andrade, Fabio A.A.; Sousa, Lucas C.; Castro, Gabriel G.R.; Dias, João T.; Berger, Guido; Lima, José; Pinto, Milena F.Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are becoming more attractive in diverse applications due to their efficiency in performing tasks with a reduced time execution, covering a larger area, and lowering human risks at harmful tasks. In the context of Oil & Gas (O&G), the scenario is even more attractive for the application of UAS for inspection activities due to the large extension of these facilities and the operational risks involved in the processes. Many authors proposed solutions to detect gas leaks regarding the onshore unburied pipeline structures. However, only a few addressed the navigation and tracking problem for the autonomous navigation of UAS over these structures. Most proposed solutions rely on traditional computer vision strategies for tracking. As a drawback, depending on lighting conditions, the obtained path line may be inaccurate, making a strategy to force the UAS to continue on the path necessary. Therefore, this research describes the potential of an autonomous UAS based on image processing technique and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) strategy to navigate appropriately in complex unburied pipeline networks contributing to the monitoring procedure of the Oil & Gas Industry structures. A CNN is used to detect the pipe, while image processing techniques such as Canny edge detection and Hough Transform are used to detect the pipe line reference, which is used by a line following algorithm to guide the UAS along the pipe. The framework is assessed by a PX4 flight controller Software-in-The-Loop (SITL) simulations performed with the Robot Operating System (ROS) along with the Gazebo platform to simulate the proposed operational environment and verify the approach’s functionality as a proof of concept. Real tests were also conducted. The results showed that the solution is robust and feasible to deploy in this proposed task, achieving 72% of mean average precision on detecting different types of pipes and 0.0111 m of mean squared error on the path following with a drone 2 m away from a tube.