Paper Info
Title
Robot assisted gas tomography - Localizing methane leaks in outdoor environments.
Abstract
In this paper we present an inspection robot to produce gas distribution maps and localize gas sources in large outdoor environments. The robot is equipped with a 3D laser range finder and a remote gas sensor that returns integral concentration measurements. We apply principles of tomography to create a spatial gas distribution model from integral gas concentration measurements. The gas distribution algorithm is framed as a convex optimization problem and it models the mean distribution and the fluctuations of gases. This is important since gas dispersion is not an static phenomenon and furthermore, areas of high fluctuation can be correlated with the location of an emitting source. We use a compact surface representation created from the measurements of the 3D laser range finder with a state of the art mapping algorithm to get a very accurate localization and estimation of the path of the laser beams. In addition, a conic model for the beam of the remote gas sensor is introduced. We observe a substantial improvement in the gas source localization capabilities over previous state-of-the-art in our evaluation carried out in an open field environment.
Year
DOI
Venue
2014
10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907798
ICRA
Keywords
DocType
Volume
chemical variables measurement,distance measurement,gas sensors,mobile robots,optimisation,organic compounds,remote sensing by laser beam,3D laser range finder,compact surface representation,convex optimization problem,gas distribution maps,gas sources,inspection robot,integral gas concentration measurements,localizing methane leaks,outdoor environments,remote gas sensor,robot assisted gas tomography
Conference
2014
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
1
1050-4729
9
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.79
9
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Victor Manuel Hernandez Bennetts1747.30
Erik Schaffernicht2668.54
Todor Stoyanov326026.07
Achim J. Lilienthal41468113.18
Marco Trincavelli510811.24