Pipe Profile Template Matching for Cross-Section Defect Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The uncertainty about the location and condition of infrastructure assets, combined with a lack of comprehensive planning, leads to a reactive approach to maintenance, resulting in emergency situations and increased costs due to utility failures, which can cause damage, health threats, and service interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for determining cross-section profiles of underground fluid conveyance structures using a processor to compare profile scan datasets with templates, identifying profile deviations, and presenting them to users through a user interface, thereby enabling more proactive maintenance and reducing manual analysis time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual analysis of pipe profiles is used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but analysis time and labor costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital templates that are copies of ideal pipe profiles, which can be repeatedly used for comparison against actual scan data. These templates capture the essential geometric characteristics of pipes without requiring manual re-analysis, enabling rapid automated comparison while maintaining the flexibility to adapt templates to different pipe types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-defining template profiles that represent ideal pipe geometries before the actual inspection process. These pre-prepared templates allow for immediate comparison with scan data, eliminating the need for manual profile construction during analysis and significantly reducing processing time.
2Productivity
If automated template comparison is implemented, then analysis speed and consistency improve, but initial system setup complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes parameters by representing pipe profiles in terms of key geometric parameters (radius, curvature, cross-sectional area) rather than raw coordinate data. This parameterization simplifies the comparison process and enables automated template matching while maintaining accuracy in defect detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical analysis with automated computational processing. The template comparison system uses algorithmic processing to automatically identify deviations from ideal profiles, substituting human expertise with systematic computational methods that provide consistent and repeatable results.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive pipe profiling is performed, then defect detection accuracy improves, but data processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential geometric features from comprehensive pipe scan data that are necessary for defect detection. By focusing on key parameters such as radial deviations, cross-sectional area changes, and profile curvature rather than processing all raw data points, the system maintains high measurement precision while significantly reducing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing template comparison at strategically selected locations along the pipe rather than continuously analyzing every data point. This approach maintains detection accuracy for significant defects while reducing overall processing time through selective analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for determining cross-section profiles of underground fluid conveyance structures involves a memory configured to store a profile scan dataset of at least one pipe and at least one pipe template. A processor is configured to compare the profile scan dataset to one or more templates. Profile deviations in a pipe profile are determined using the comparison. A location and an areal measurement of the profile deviations is determined. A user interface is configured to present the profile deviations to a user.