Abstract
Hydroelectric power plants often make use of tunnels to redirect the flow of water to the plant power house. Such tunnels are often flooded and can span considerable distances. Periodical inspections of such tunnels are highly desirable since a tunnel collapse will be catastrophic, disrupting the power plant operation. In many cases, the use of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) equipped with mechanical profiling sonars is a suitable and affordable way to gather data to generate 3D mapping of flooded tunnels. In this paper, we study the resolution of 3D tunnel maps generated by one or more mechanical profiling sonars working in tandem, considering synchronization and occlusion problems. The article derives the analytical equations to estimate the sampling of the underwater tunnels using mechanical profiling sonars (scanning sonars). Experiments in a simulated environment using up to four sensors simultaneously are presented. We also report experimental results obtained by a UUV inside a large power plant tunnel, together with a first map of this environment using a single sonar sensor.
Highlights
Man-made structures, such as channels and underwater tunnels, are often used in some types of hydroelectric power plants to direct water from the river to the power house
In this paper we present a clear way to analytically determine the resolution of a system equipped with a set of mechanical profiling sonars (MPSs) when they are used in tandem for mapping tunnels
We demonstrate that sampling with an MPS or multiple MPSs resides in two important metrics: the distance covered by the robot at each revolution of the system; and the angular step size of the sensor
Summary
Man-made structures, such as channels and underwater tunnels, are often used in some types of hydroelectric power plants to direct water from the river to the power house. Such tunnels can span from tens of meters to kilometers in length. While a full collapse of the tunnel is evident, partial collapses deform the ceiling or side walls and often throw debris on the floor. The detection of such features is key to the inspection of these tunnels.
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