Unmanned inspection of large industrial environments: Insights into the research project RoboGas Inspector

Abstract

Industrial plants are a vital and common asset of modern society in a various number of ways. Safety of large industrial complexes that handle hazardous chemical materials is of utter importance to prevent harm to employees, general population, our natural environment and valuable infrastructure. Therefore, besides the plant owner's own financial interest to guarantee faultless and safe operation, legal regulations have to be adhered as well. An important measure to ensure safety is the implementation of regular inspection tours by maintenance personnel, who examine the often widely-stretched process infrastructure on foot and locally search for signs of beginning leakage. The research project RoboGas Inspector was started to develop new means of aiding with the fulfillment of this essential task. This article gives an overview of this ongoing research project, where autonomous mobile robotics is combined with laser-based remote gas detection technology in order to create a proof-of-concept inspection system prototype, which can relieve humans of this monotonous and highly repetitive work. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.