The overarching aim of the project is to produce a helicopter based system which can automatically assess line condition and produce reports on any issues for the end user in an appropriate form. In order to achieve this, the existing sensing capabilities need to be assessed and recommendations for improvements made, the new sensing system shall be integrated with existing asset databases and a condition monitoring system developed.
It is anticipated that the sensing capabilities shall be limited to commercially available cameras but the subsequent developed system shall be scalable to include future hardware such as LIDAR and RF PD
It is not anticipated that the system shall replace the observers’ role within the inspection regime but rather will become the observers’ tool for inspecting.
1) Identify the optimum helicopter mounted sensing system which will enable long range data acquisition in the most operator friendly manner. The system should be able to present data in a format which can be integrated with other technologies and also used within analysis software2) Produce a data analysis package capable of autonomously gathering data in order to identify faults and deterioration. The package should integrate with existing asset records and GIS data to produce reports and record inspection against existing records.3) Produce a system capable of the real-time reporting of condition back to interested parties on the ground