Autonomous Robot Inspection Situational Awareness via Forward Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Human inspection of industrial assets is time-consuming, hazardous, and prone to errors due to inaccessible locations and complex environments, making it difficult to monitor autonomous asset inspection robots effectively.
Innovation Solution
An industrial asset inspection platform that uses a three-dimensional model data store and inspection plan data store to provide situational awareness by receiving sensor data from autonomous robots, determining their location, and executing a forward simulation to visualize potential deviations in the inspection path, allowing human monitors to intervene through an interactive display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If human inspectors manually inspect industrial assets, then inspection accuracy can be maintained, but inspection time increases substantially and safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The inspection robot autonomously performs inspection tasks without continuous human intervention. The robot navigates independently, captures sensor data, and returns to charging automatically, enabling the inspection system to service itself and eliminating the need for continuous human monitoring while maintaining inspection accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual human inspection with an autonomous robotic system equipped with sensors and navigation capabilities. The robot substitutes human physical presence with automated mechanical and sensing systems, achieving both time efficiency and inspection accuracy by eliminating manual operations while maintaining detection capabilities
2Productivity
If autonomous inspection robots are used, then inspection time is reduced, but situational awareness and ability to handle unexpected situations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system provides continuous feedback to operators through a user interface that displays robot location, sensor data, and system status. This feedback loop maintains operator situational awareness by presenting relevant information about the autonomous robot's state and environment, enabling timely intervention when necessary
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a monitoring system as an intermediary between the autonomous robot and human operators. This intermediary processes robot data and presents it in a comprehensible format, bridging the gap between autonomous operation and human situational awareness without requiring continuous direct human control
3Reliability
If human operators monitor autonomous robots continuously, then safety can be maintained, but operational complexity and error potential increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the continuous monitoring function from human operators and transfers it to an automated monitoring system. The system separates safety-critical monitoring from complex decision-making, with the automated system handling routine monitoring tasks and only requiring human intervention when anomalies are detected, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining safety
Data Source
AI summary
A three-dimensional model data store may contain a three-dimensional model of an industrial asset, including points of interest associated with the industrial asset. An inspection plan data store may contain an inspection plan for the industrial asset, including a path of movement for an autonomous inspection robot. An industrial asset inspection platform may receive sensor data from an autonomous inspection robot indicating characteristics of the industrial asset and determine a current location of the autonomous inspection robot along the path of movement in the inspection plan along with current context information. A forward simulation of movement for the autonomous inspection robot may be executed from the current location, through a pre-determined time window, to determine a difference between the path of movement in the inspection plan and the forward simulation of movement along with future context information.