Super-Resolution Appearance Inspection for Reactor Structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current appearance inspection methods using TV cameras for large reactor internal structures face inefficiencies due to low pixel resolution, image degradation from compression, and difficulty in detecting small defects, leading to poor working efficiency and potential missed defects.
Innovation Solution
An appearance inspection apparatus and method that involves a TV camera performing relative scanning motions, capturing digital images, measuring camera motion, and generating high-definition images with resolutions higher than the camera's native pixel resolution, along with recording position information to enhance defect visibility and inspection quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If TV camera is used for inspecting large reactor internal structures, then inspection coverage is improved, but pixel resolution becomes insufficient for detecting small defects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from capturing images at a single camera position to capturing multiple images from different positions and synthesizing them into a super-resolution image. This dimensional change in the imaging process enables higher effective resolution without requiring a higher-resolution camera, thus resolving the contradiction between inspection coverage and pixel resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple low-resolution images captured from different camera positions to generate a single super-resolution image. By merging the information from multiple images, the system achieves higher effective resolution than any single image could provide, resolving the contradiction between using a standard TV camera and achieving high detection precision.
2Quantity of substance
If image data is compressed using MPEG or other compression methods, then data storage efficiency is improved, but image quality degrades due to block noise and information loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs super-resolution processing on image data before compression and storage. By enhancing the resolution and quality of images in advance, the system ensures that even after compression, the images maintain sufficient quality for defect detection, thus resolving the contradiction between storage efficiency and image quality.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple video tapes are used to record inspection pictures, then inspection coverage is improved, but working efficiency decreases due to difficulty in searching through multiple tapes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a super-resolution copy of the inspection area by synthesizing information from multiple images. This consolidated high-quality image serves as a comprehensive copy that replaces the need to search through multiple video tapes, thus improving working efficiency while maintaining complete inspection coverage.
Data Source
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AI summary
Visibility of defects is improved for inspection of structures and the like, by generating an image having higher resolution than pixel resolution of a TV camera itself. An appearance inspection apparatus is provided with a TV camera (101); a camera driving device (102) for making the TV camera scan an inspection object; an image capture device (105) for capturing the image in the TV camera as a digital image; a camera motion measuring device (104) for measuring scanning motion of the TV camera; a high definition image generating device (106), which generates a high definition image having a higher pixel resolution than that of the TV camera, based on the digital images captured by the image capture device and the TV camera scanning motion data measured by the camera motion measuring device; and a recording device (108) which records and stores positional information of the inspection object.